What started out as a social media site for sharing images with friends has grown into a powerful marketing tool. As the popularity of Pinterest increases, so do the reasons for incorporating Pinterest into your marketing plan.

Marketers consider Pinterest, which now has over 70 million users, to be a “top of the funnel” channel because of its traffic referral potential. Pinterest now drives more traffic and generates more revenue per click than Facebook and Twitter. According to Rich Relevance, Pinterest shoppers, on average, spend $140 to $180 per order at checkout compared with $80 on Facebook and $60 on Twitter. What makes Pinterest so successful as a marketing tool? Simple. It’s visual, it’s engaging and it’s easily shared. And these are all qualities you can put to work for you. Here’s how.

Optimize for Engagement

While the most obvious way to use Pinterest is to pin images of your own products to your company’s boards, there’s an art to organizing your content for optimal findability, click-through and sharing, and to encouraging engagement through all your channels.

Tips:

• Create “how-to” boards: Customers are drawn to tips and tutorials. Show them the many ways they can put your products to use.
• Feature your products in the Gift section: Products in the Pinterest Gift section are searchable by price. Tag your images by price so they’ll automatically appear on the Gift page.
• Frame your copy as a call to action: Your photos act as traffic sources when you add calls to action and links back to your website.

Cosmetics giant Sephora has a strong presence on Pinterest, with 59 boards featuring content around Beauty How-tos, New at Sephora, Trending Now, PRO Tips and Daily Obsessions. But it was its use of the Pin It button on its site and in its e-newsletter that sent pins and traffic from Pinterest soaring, according to this case study.

If you’re in the B2B space, don’t discount Pinterest. Many B2Bs have made Pinterest work for them by getting creative.

Tips:

• Pin visual business content: Include infographics, charts, blog images and photos of staff or customers.
• Go behind the scenes: Show off your company’s culture by pinning photos of your Christmas party or awards ceremony, or show your community spirit with pictures of the charity your company supports.
• Add links to your images: Lead people back to your site whenever possible. This is as important for B2Bs as it is for B2Cs.

FedEx has mastered its approach to Pinterest with boards on Community Involvement, Sustainability and FedEx Tools. It also pins infographics, videos and colourful images that give potential customers a reason to learn more about the company.

Use Pinterest In-store to Attract Customers

Integrating Pinterest into your bricks and mortar store brings integration to a whole new level. Companies like Nordstrom and Target have taken Pinterest to their shelves with labels that showcase popular Pinterest items. Nordstrom marks those products with a tag, while Target places a shelf card with the Pinterest logo next to the product.

Nordstrom was the first company to test this approach by allowing its almost 4.5 million Pinterest followers to dictate the contents of in-store displays. It had already been running similar displays on its e-commerce site.

Run a Pinterest Contest

A Pinterest contest or sweepstakes can make people aware of your Pinterest presence and encourage them to engage with your brand on this platform. Your concept can be as simple as inviting customers to choose and repin their favourite image from your boards.

Holland America Line asked its customers to pin their favourite Alaska shore excursion image for a chance to win one of five $500 American Express Gift Cards. It was an effective way for the cruise line to engage its audience and build content on its boards. Before you get started with your Pinterest promotion, be sure to check out its contest rules, which are updated regularly. For more contest ideas and examples, check out the Contests on Pinterest page.

We can help you get your contest or sweepstakes started! Our social promotions platform makes it easy to generate leads and engage with customers across social channels. Contact us for more details.