By Kara Frasca
The power of Pinterest for companies is in its ability to connect with current and potential customers, and ultimately drive those customers to make purchases. Not only is the site the third-largest source of referral traffic online, but Pinterest traffic converted into a sale 22 percent more times than Facebook traffic. To top it off, a whopping 70 percent of Pinterest users utilize the social media site for inspiration on what to buy. That’s 17.5 million of its 25 million members.
So Pinterest is an extremely powerful marketing tool, but is it right for your brand? Unless you’re targeting women between the ages of 25 and 54, the answer is “no.” Eighty percent of Pinterest users are women, and 50 percent of all users have children. Lifestyle brands typically have the best luck on Pinterest, but that doesn’t mean that a company selling dental insurance has no chance at Pinterest success. It’s all about creating good content and appealing to your target audience.
In order for companies to reap the benefits of Pinterest, it is vital that they follow these steps:
Pin often to win
By remaining fresh in a user’s newsfeed, a company has a better chance of capturing attention, and ideally, connecting users to its website. To save time and improve results, use a scheduling tool. Pingraphy and Curalate are two scheduling tools that also offer analytics. Saturday morning is the best time to reach pinners, so schedule more pins on that day to reach more people.
Crop your images
Because a user sees many different images from different sources in her feed, your pins will be competing with many others’ for attention. Statistics show that pins with taller images get pinned more, so it is vital to crop your images vertically. This cropped format matches Pinterest’s vertical scroll layout and your images will be more likely to catch the attention of users.
Optimize, welcome and convert
Fifty percent of users access Pinterest through a mobile app. In order to reach this demographic, companies must optimize their pin-linked websites for mobile devices. The website must load fast, be easy to read and navigate, and require minimal scrolling.
Since its inception in 2008, Pinterest has grown to become a leading social media platform for both businesses and consumers. That popularity is only increasing. By harnessing its attributes and incorporating these tips into your Pinterest strategy, you can further brand awareness in an effective way.
Have you achieved Pinterest success with your brand? What tips can you share?