3 Powerful Pinterest Tips From The Experts
Om Malik, editor of GigaOM, predicts we are witnessing the ‘Pinterest-ization of the web’. This is not only thanks to Pinterest alone, but other websites like The Fancy (recently raised $53m from Will Smith, American Express and others) who are moving into the space created at the intersection of social media and e-commerce: social commerce.
Malik cites “new kinds of discovery behaviors” and technological innovations.
Pinterest is to e-commerce what Facebook was to the digitization of real life. Brands like Martha Stewart and Hearst Corp’s digital media outlets have found much higher conversion rates than any other social network combined.
The question is: what can brands do in order to catch up to these shifts in consumer patterns?
When Online Meets Offline
One fashion brand that is successfully implementing an online and offline crossover strategy that benefits from these trends is the fashion retailer Nordstrom. In selected stores, Nordstrom are highlighting their most popular items on Pinterest as a way of showing shoppers what their 4.4 million fans are sharing this week.
This is an innovative approach to take.
At the end of the day, each brand has to do what’s right for their image and overall Pinterest marketing strategy. I caught up with a few Pinterest power users, who have a few Pinterest tips of their own.
1. Be Beautiful
Brittany Cozzens has over 3 million followers on Pinterest, has gained some media interest from an NBC affiliate, and she’s only a college freshman. Her advice is to put effort into the visuals:
“My advice to brands looking to advertise on Pinterest — be creative! Since Pinterest is such a visual platform showcase the products being used in real scenarios and not just displayed by itself. When photographing products for your website take into consideration aesthetic appeal that pinners would appreciate.”
2. Put Your Audience First
Kirsten Kuehn launched her very successful wedding e-commerce site, Kirsten Kuehn Designs, after producing her first range of wedding dresses in 2009 shortly after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She now has over 670,000 followers on Pinterest and is considered one of the more influential wedding taste makers on the social network.
Kirsten thinks carefully about the images she pins, how they look, their descriptions, and how they reflect on her brand and designs. The result has been an increasingly large volume of traffic to her website, resulting in a high conversion.
3. Consistency
Melissa Taylor is the author of Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers, and now runs the online course, Pinterest Savvy. She gained over 1 million followers after only 9 months. Her advice: “Focus on being awesome, not getting followers,” Melissa advises. When I asked her to expand upon her secret?
“Consistency, I pin frequently, and quality, I won’t pin images that aren’t beautiful or don’t seem like engaging content for my readers.”
For brands looking to leverage the vast potential of Pinterest these are the methods which have worked well for influencers and bloggers. Think of your audience first, be authentic, be consistent, and you will get the ROI you are looking for from Pinterest.
