Behind Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is the third most popular form of social media with over 11 million total users and 4 million active users every day. In the past we have highlighted the need for social commerce, with a particular focus on Facebook and Twitter as they have substantially more traffic then other social media platforms. However, recent studies have found that buyers who are referred to your store from Pinterest are 10% more likely to buy something than those who have come from other social media platforms. Furthermore, these customers also spend on average 10% more than other referrals, underpinning the increased revenue stream that Pinterest can bring to your ecommerce store.
The beauty of Pinterest is that it combines all aspects of social media as well as some aspects of mobile commerce. The Pinterest app has received over 250,000 downloads on to android and smartphones. If a customer comes across an image of your product, they can then use the application to access the mobile version of your store, increasing the mobile commerce aspect of your business. Not only that, but you can also use Pinterest to create some form of convergence within your social commerce. When a customer finds an image they can not only access the mobile store, but also share this image across other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This level of convergence dramatically increases the number of customers who will become aware of your products as although Pinterest has 11 million users, if one of these users shares the image, your product then has the potential to reach over 900 million on Facebook and over 100 million on Twitter.
While Pinterest is better for certain businesses in comparison to others, as the social media platform is free to use, there is no harm is using it to help generate added traffic to your site. Out of all the members who have joined the social media site, 60% are female. If you run an eBay store or other ecommerce platform that provides products aimed particularly at women, this is a great platform to promote your content. While the gender of users is more orientated towards females, the age of these users varies between all ages. This means that no matter what age range your products are aimed at, there will be an audience for your items on Pinterest.
The more disposable income a customer has, the better it is for your online store, it is more likely that they will be willing to make a purchase. Around 83% of all Pinterest's users earn a yearly income that exceeds $25,000. Furthermore, according to statistics released at the end of Q2 2012, Pinterest accounts for 40% of all social media purchases, with the other 60% belonging to Facebook. However, this doesn't mean forget about Twitter altogether. Although Twitter may not bring the direct revenue through referrals, Twitter is an important tool in regularly building up your brand image by personally engaging with customers and industry leaders through Tweets and is something that you should definitely be using on a regular basis.
When you decide to pin a particular product from your store on to Pinterest, you need to be aware that it is not only just the image itself, but the content that goes with the image that is important. What you need to remember is that Pinterest is not a platform for you to pitch your products at customers in order to try and make a sale. It should just simply be a platform to show an image and if a user is attracted to the image of your product, then it is up to them to then make their own mind up as to whether to purchase the product, with you of course giving them a nudge in the right direction with links on how they can access your store. Brands using Pinterest to show their products have found that they have more success in creating sales through this social media when they do not show the price of the product. Telling the user how much the product costs on the pinned image is almost a turn off for users as you are turning this from a social media platform into more of an advertising channel.
With only around 53% of all small businesses actively engaging through social media channels, there is a number of great opportunities to get ahead of your competitors by increasing the number of people who are aware of your business and the products you sell, helping to create a positive brand image.
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