How to generate Pinterest interest

Since our first look at Pinterest back in January, the site has soared in popularity. As of April, Pinterest is the third-largest social network after Facebook and Twitter, according to marketing firm Experian — outranking Google Plus, YouTube, and LinkedIn, among others.

Not only is Pinterest catching on fast, but it’s showing strong signs of driving tangible revenue for merchants. Nearly one in three users of Pinterest and similar image-sharing sites report buying products based on items they’ve seen there, according to Bizrate Insights. And eCommerce provider Shopify analyzed data from 25,000 of its online stores and found that Pinterest generates seriously qualified shopping traffic. Pinterest users:

• Are 10% more likely to buy than users coming from other social sites.
• Spend $80 on average when they buy — double the amount Facebook users spend.

If that weren’t enough, the past week has seen Pinterest receive $100 million in new funding from a Japanese eCommerce concern — raising the possibility that the site may become a shopping destination in its own right.

The upshot for merchants is clear: Pinterest is a social media priority. But before dashing to create a Pinterest profile and pinboards, merchants can gear up by optimizing their existing brand touchpojnts to promote pinning by individual consumers. After all, part of what makes Pinterest unique is the ease with which its members can create their own theme-based pinboards displaying items and ideas; brand followers can highlight favorite products — a word-of-mouth boon for merchants. To help shoppers pin products, and thereby promote your brand:

Think visual. Even more than Facebook’s revamped look for Pages, Pinterest is a visual medium, with pinboards composed of images that link to other sites. To entice consumers to pin your products, go beyond the usual array of detailed product photos and include lifestyle images that not only display items, but convey a mood — as MarketLive merchant Peruvian Connection does with its secondary photo of a silk scarf, which is displayed worn as a hair accessory.

And be sure to give shoppers plenty of images in collection-based categories (look books, “shop by room”) and theme-based categories (such as “Father’s Day” or “barbecue season favorites.”)

Add the “pin it” button everywhere. Incorporate functionality that allows shoppers to add items to Pinterest boards with a single click — not only on product pages, but on value-added content such as blog posts, buying guides and expert advice. Williams-Sonoma includes the “pin it” option, not only on product pages, but in its extensive content sections — including this cheeseburger recipe, part of a guide to summer grilling.

Invite participation – and promote across touchpoints. Offer brand followers an incentive to pin products, such as a prize drawing for the most innovative pinboard. To maximize participation, promote the campaign on other social media outposts as well as in email and on the eCommerce site. Home retailer Wayfair created an integrated contest that used email to invite followers to create Pinterest pinboards featuring the brand’s baby products, and then post links to the pinboards on Wayfair’s Facebook page.

In an upcoming post we’ll take an in-depth look at effective strategies for Pinterest profiles and pinboards. Meantime, how are you generating Pinterest interest?