The Pinterest Boom

by Janice Hostager

With 20-some guests ascending on my house for Thanksgiving dinner, I am in the midst of planning (as well as cleaning and list making). But truth be told, I think the most fun part of the event is the ‘pre-party planning’. Since I want my house to look like a Pottery Barn store and my meal to taste like Martha Stewart is cooking away in the kitchen, my first stop was Pinterest.

So what does this have to do with your business? If you’re not on Pinterest, you should be.

If you’re anything like me, the thought of adding one more social media task to your list is almost enough to put you over the top. But hear me out on this one: Pinterest is growing in ways that could be very resourceful for your business.

So how do you know if Pinterest is right for your business?

Do you want to drive traffic to your website or blog?

Pinterest is a force not to be overlooked. With 70 million users and 1.36 million visitors each day (as of September 2013), they generate more referral traffic than Youtube, Linkedin and Google+ combined. Yep, COMBINED. I don’t need to tell you that these are impressive numbers.

Do you want to sell your product?

Conversion rates for Pinterest traffic are 50% higher than conversion rates from other sites, meaning they are much more likely to purchase from you once they’re on your website. Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often, on more items than any of the other top 5 social media sites. And 47% of U.S. online consumers have purchased based on Pinterest recommendations. Pinterest drives more revenue per click than either Twitter or Facebook. And the Pinterest buyer spends an average of $160 per order.

Do you have a visual element to your product?

If you’re a consultant or a coach you may be tempted to immediately say no to this one. But Pinterest allows you to pin articles with special Article pins that can contain information about the author and a description.

Do you have statistics or facts that could be put into an infographic format? Sites like http://infogr.am/ or http://piktochart.com/ can make simple infographics, or create a custom infographic by contacting Papermark.  Infographics are a big part of  Pinterest and can drive traffic to your website.

This was pinned by http://www.fophotography.com/

Do you have a product that is purchased by women?

Women purchase for their whole family and are decision makers for 85% of all consumer purchases, from autos to healthcare. They make $7 trillion in consumer and business purchases in the United States, and 80% of Pinterest users are women.

Men are not left out of the picture either, and in fact use Pinterest differently than women. 31 % of men on Pinterest pin things they plan to buy later on, whereas the majority of women pin ideas and inspiration. So if a man is pinning your product, that is a good indication that a sale may be coming.

Can you show how your product can be used, or in a recipe?

DIY and recipes comprise a huge category of Pinterest pins and repins, so much so that Pinterest has a separate category of rich pins just for recipes. So if you have a food business, posting a recipe is an easy way to sell you product. And if you can show how your product can be used, a photo says it all.

Do you want an inbound link on the web with a long shelf life?

I must admit, my own pinning has slipped in recent months with a busy schedule. But a week doesn’t go by without an email notification that one of my pins has been repinned. Half of the average pin’s sales occur a full two and a half months after pinning. That is just testimony to the tremendous shelf life of Pinterest. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, which are essentially gone after a few hours,  Pinterest is really a search engine of ideas and pins. So pins stay online and can resurface until you remove them.

Do you want your product to be viral?

Each pin is, on average, repinned 10 times.  Pins are 100 times more viral than each tweet on Twitter. Getting to the top of a category’s list means your chance of getting repinned is great. But with everything else, creativity and innovation are key.

Do you sell your product online or can you give them information where to buy it?

A rich pin is a pin that includes extra information about your product. Rich pins have an 82% higher repin/pin ratio than other pins. Product pins include real time pricing (that updates during sales), availability, and purchase information. Recipe Pins include ingredients, instructions and purchase information for Pinterest cooks. Article Pins include headline, author, and story description, helping pinners find and save stories that matter to them. Movie Pins include ratings and cast information.

Are you ready to jump in?

Pinterest offers a nice step by step instruction to set up an account. As you see, Pinterest likely has a place for your business too. So come on over and follow me on Pinterest!

 Is your business on Pinterest? What have your experiences been? Leave me a comment to let me know!

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