With over 70 million users, Pinterest has become one of the fastest growing content sharing sites in the world. Hailed as an online scrapbook, Pinterest generates 27% more revenue per click than Facebook and four times that of Twitter making it a worthwhile addition to your existing social media marketing plan.
In this article we consider six ways to increase traffic and drive sales using this humble sharing site.
Just like LinkedIn and Facebook, Pinterest offers the opportunity to convert your Pinterest personal page to a business one. Although there seems to be no obvious difference in appearance to the user it does provide you with an added analytics feature to help you keep track of number of repins and visits to your site. Through careful analysis this kind of data can really help you identify where you’re going wrong (or right!) and work on the aspects that are failing.
It’s important to think of your social media pages as an extension of your website, and ultimately your brand. Keeping the same graphic used on your other sites as your profile picture and remembering to register yourself by your organisation’s name are really important in keeping it recognisable to customers. Modify your business type (e.g. ‘retailer’, ‘media’, ‘professional’, etc) and provide ‘About’ information and a link your website.
The Pinterest verify feature not only makes you look trusted but also enables your users to see the full URL of your company website on your profile and in search results. The more available this information is made the more likely users are to take a look if they enjoy your content.
Your Pinterest account shouldn’t just be redirecting your users to your main webpage though, why not integrate Pinterest share buttons onto your blog, homepage or other social media pages to drive traffic there? It’ll be surprising how many of your existing customers already use Pinterest.
The term ‘rich pins’ refers to content that includes extra information on the pin itself. The ability to include maps and contact information, headlines and descriptions for articles, as well as real time pricing and availability are all really great for increasing traffic and engagement. 
To apply for approval for these specific pins you will need to prep your website with appropriate Meta tags and validate them. Don’t be put off by this technology-based stuff because rich pins get a lot more overall clicks and really increase the visibility of your profile. Pinterest have a great tutorial for creating rich pins on their site.
The whole point of Pinterest is for users to upload and share interesting and exciting content. The great thing about using this particular site in your social media marketing is that you are forced to think in a visual manner. Although certain industries may be more image-friendly than others (think restaurants or car hire firms) you probably have a lot more to hand that you initially thought. Take advantage of your brand’s existing image assets, your white papers, web page graphics, staff and corporate event photographs or charts.
Don’t just share original, company-specific images. Take inspiration from the Starbucks Pinterest Page and think about pinning other inspirational, maybe even comical, content that other users will repin. These pages aren’t just for self-promotion.
When uploading your own, unique content, whether it’s a company graphic or promotion advertisement it is important to remember to include a concise, readable image description. Adding keywords is a sure fire way to optimise your pins for search and maximise traffic. Remember to give context to your content so that people want to take a look and share it themselves, with only a 500 character limit it’ll need to remain as concise as you can make it but that’s not a bad thing!
6. Interact with CustomersSocial media marketing isn’t just about securing sales but securing customers that will return again and again. Just like Facebook and Twitter, engagement levels make a real difference to the overall success of your marketing. When a customer comments on one of your pins, reply as quickly as you can and make sure to tag them in it so that they can see your reply. Follow other users or businesses that share your interests and like or repin content that you find interesting.
Pinterest is one of the most ecommerce-friendly social media sites available and with a growing user-base is perfect for driving traffic to a company website. Keeping a balance between company-specific and exciting content is key to building a Pinterest profile that users return to again and again.
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