In the past I have had clients ask “what is Pinterest, and why should I include it in my social media strategy?”. This got me thinking about how the real value of Pinterest is misunderstood – so I decided to share the strategy behind it, and reasons why businesses should consider it a valuable tool.
2016 Pinterest Stats
- Pinterest has 170 million registered users worldwide
- 71% of users are female
- 75% of usage takes place on a mobile device
- 93% of pinners shopped online within the last six months
- The number of people who see your pins is greater than your number of followers
- Pins with prices get 36% more likes than those without
- Images without faces get 23% more repins
- Promoted pins perform long after campaigns end
That being said it is clear that businesses who are not taking part in Pinterest are missing out on a large piece of the pie. Some may think that it is simply a time killer, but it is much more than that.
I conducted a very small survey of family and friends who use Pinterest. Here are my results:
- 20/20 said they are on Pinterest at least two or more times per week
- 7/20 stated that they spend ten or more minutes on Pinterest each time
- 13/20 said they follow more than ten people and at least five brands
- 11/20 said they had made a purchase after finding a product on Pinterest
- 12/20 said they look for “Pin” buttons when browsing the web so they can save pages they like and want to return to in the future
Although my survey was small, it does an excellent job of demonstrating the power of Pinterest. All of the people I asked said they are on weekly, spend a decent amount of time on the website, have made a purchase because of the site, and look for the Pin button when surfing the web. I use it a little bit more than the average user – but I do work in social media. I have bought more than ten items because of Pinterest, whether it was me looking around, or friends sharing something with me. The key to Pinterest is sharing useful content so that others can also benefit from it, so why continue to miss out on free referrals?
Pinterest Tips to Keep in Mind
- Add the Pin button to your website, and make sure that your website is optimized for Pinterest. Anything programmed in Flash cannot be pinned, and many JavaScript preview tools block pinning.
- Add links in the descriptions of your pins that navigate back to your website – this is the best way to increase traffic.
- Use hashtags in the descriptions of your pins – which will help your pins be picked up in search results.
- Schedule pins in the evening – 9:00 pm is peak time for pinning. You want to make sure that you are active when users are active. Posting at peak hours will ensure the highest amount of engagement with your Pins.
- Focus on the quality of your Pins, and don’t worry so much about quantity. Pinterest users are happy to share Pins, but they have to be worth sharing.
- Make sure that you share your Pins on Facebook and Twitter – the key to a great social media strategy is integration, so make sure you share cross-platform.
Convinced you need to start using Pinterest in your social media strategy? If you are, but still have questions, feel free to contact us. We would love to help you create an effective and engaging Pinterest strategy for your business.
