7 Ways to use Pinterest to Grow your E-Commerce Business

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Traffic. 

You want it.

You need it.

But how do you get it?

You know how much I love Pinterest and I truly believe all businesses should be utilizing Pinterest marketing in their business strategies.

Look, if you don't want to pay for ads, play the algorithm in social media or try your luck, use Pinterest.

The biggest question I see is, “Will Pinterest work for my E-Commerce business?” 

Okay, so why Pinterest? What's so special about this platform and what can it really do for you and your business?

First and foremost, Pinterest isn't a social media platform so it doesn't work like one.

It's actually a search engine, which means if you utilize it the right way with the right words your audience can easily find you and your products!

Not only that, the half-life of a pin on Pinterest is 3.5 months, which means a pin on Pinterest can take 3.5 months to receive half of its engagement.

Which means, your pins and your products can be circulating and driving traffic from Pinterest for 7 months!

The half-life of a tweet is 24 minutes and the half-life of a Facebook post is 90 minutes. That makes the half-life of a Pinterest pin over 1,000 times longer than a post on Facebook.

You have access to over 200 million active users each and every month and guess what?

Those users are looking to buy!

Alright, so you get the gist.

You should be using Pinterest for your marketing strategy, but it's not magic and it only works for those that use it correctly.

I'm going to break down a few ways you can utilize Pinterest in the right way to really grow your E-Commerce business!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means I receive a small commission if you choose to use that link at no extra cost to you. 

 

1. Set up a business profile on Pinterest

If you want to get serious about using Pinterest to drive traffic, you need a business profile. It's free so why not use it?

Business profiles give you key analytics, they allow you to link your website to Pinterest, they look more professional and they give you the opportunity to use rich pins.

This takes less than five minutes to do and is seriously important to really understand who your audience is and how they're viewing your Pinterest page.

 

2. Utilize Keywords

Okay, you know that Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media which means you need to be using keywords to be found.

And when I say you need to use keywords I mean you need to use keywords everywhere!

Where should you be putting keywords on Pinterest?

• Your profile description
• Your name on Pinterest
• Your boards
• Pin Descriptions
• Pin titles

Just use them everywhere you possibly can!

A few key things to remember when utilizing keywords on Pinterest is to use keywords that your audience is searching for.

What types of products do you have?

What words would you use to describe them?

How you would you find them if you were looking for them?

Chances are, you're already utilizing keywords on your Etsy, Shopify or another e-commerce site so use a few of those as well.

Just remember, it's about your audience and what they are searching for not what you think they are searching for.

 

3. Set up your Profile to attract your ideal customer

It's easy to look at Pinterest and think all you have to do is pin whatever the heck you want and only pin things you like.

Well, it doesn't work like that.

As soon as you set up that Business profile, it's no longer about you and what you like or want.

It's about your ideal customer.

So when setting up your boards think about what they'd be looking for.

If they came to your Pinterest page would they think it was made for them?

Or would they move on to someone else?

If you sell home decor, have home decor boards that show how to set up your home.

If you sell clothing, have boards that showcase different outfits for different seasons or have a board that showcases fashion trends.

Make sure your profile is inviting and serves a purpose for your audience. If they want to learn more, they will go to your shop.

Oh and don't forget to use keywords for your board titles and descriptions! Seriously, no cute or funny names.

If you want to be found, use KEYWORDS.

 

4. Take advantage of Rich Pins.

Rich pins are just pins that give your audience more information, they also perform better on Pinterest because Pinterest is able to understand the pin a bit better and can show it to the right people.

With rich pins, you can actually create a product pin for the items you sell in your shop.

A product rich pin will show the price of the item as well as how many are in stock.

Your audience is going to Pinterest to not only plan out what they want but to purchase!

If you utilize the strategies from above, your audience is already going to be able to find you, they already going to know you which means, they are much more likely to purchase from you!

Rich pins are only available for business profiles which is why it's so important to set one up right away!

 

5. Increase your Reach with Group Boards

Group boards are one of the best things about Pinterest because they allow you to be seen by thousands and hundreds of thousands of people even if you are just starting out!

Simply put, group boards are Pinterest boards that have multiple contributors, which means you can join these group boards and get the benefit of their followers.

And most group boards have a large following which helps you quite a bit!

But you can't just join any old group board and call it a day.

The key to group boards is to find relevant ones that align with your niche.

That means you can't just join “Viral Pin, Pin All” group board and expect a ton of traffic even though they may have a ton of pins and followers.

Pinterest has recently stated they prefer group boards that are specific.

If you sell DIY kits and you join, “The Best DIY Group Board”, Pinterest will actually favor that board and will begin pushing your pins out for others to see.

The point here is to be as specific as possible when searching for group boards to join.

You also want to make sure they are utilizing keywords in their board titles as well as monitoring the board.

If you notice a group board that is supposed to be about DIY and it has a bunch of food pins in it, I wouldn't recommend joining because it's not being monitored correctly and Pinterest will notice.

How do you find group boards?

The way I personally find group boards is by going to profiles of top influencers in my niche and joining the group boards they are apart of.

I find this to be the easiest way to find quality group boards without having to leave Pinterest.

Here's an example of what a group board would look like >>

 

 

 

 

 

The profile picture shown in the left corner shows multiple images. If this wasn't a group board it would just have one person's profile picture.

This board also uses keywords in their title of the board and is very clear as to what they have within their group board.

They also have clear instructions on how to join their group board >>

 

 

 

 

 

This brings me to my next point, how do you join group boards?

Follow the instructions they've specified within their board description.

Most will tell you to email them or write them on Pinterest.

Remember to include your Pinterest email, the group board you want to join and your Pinterest profile.

 

6. Pin Consistently & Often

If you want to get the most out of Pinterest then you need to be consistent.

It's extremely important to consistently be pinning throughout the day to ensure your audience sees your pins.

You also want to show Pinterest that you are an active pinner.

The key here is to not only pin your own pins but pin other people's pins as well.

Remember, it's all about serving your audience and you need to be serving your audience with other people's pins as well otherwise it just comes across as spammy.

How many pins should you pin a day?

You're not going to like this answer but, there's no rule.

You can pin 15 pins a day and do really well, you could pin 100 pins a day and do really well.

As long as you are consistently pinning quality content and utilizing the steps from above, you will do well on Pinterest.

If you have a Shopify store I highly recommend utilizing a blog to also populate Pinterest and drive even more traffic back to your shop.

Okay, now I know this sounds like a lot.

I mean with all the time spent on emailing clients, marketing, and actually creating your products how are you supposed to be pinning Pinterest as well?

This is where a scheduling app comes in and trust me, it's a lifesaver! 

My scheduling app of choice is Tailwind!

Tailwind actually pins my pins to Pinterest for me! (say that five times fast) This means I can spend my time where it really matters instead of getting lost in the abyss that is Pinterest.

I chose Tailwind because they are actually an official Pinterest Marketing Developer Partner for Content Marketing.

Which basically just means, Pinterest trusts Tailwind which is a huge win in my book!

Not only does Tailwind pin to Pinterest for me but it actually increased my traffic like crazy!

 

 

In the first 30 days of utilizing Tailwind, my Pinterest reach increased by over 100,000 which drove thousands of people back to my website!

Please remember these are my personal results, but Tailwind also publishes the Typical Results of Tailwind for Pinterest Members every year, so you can see exactly what the average growth rate looks like for their members!

Basically, Tailwind works and it saves a massive amount of time each week!

If you'd like to learn more about Tailwind and how to actually apply it and use it check out this post.

But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself >> First 100 Pins Free

 

7. Create a blog and an email Opt-in

I put this one last even though I believe this is the best way to drive traffic from Pinterest to your E-Commerce business because you need that solid foundation built up first before you can get to this point.

Just remember, each step you take on Pinterest is going to help the next and so on.

But the key is a solid foundation.

>> Start your Shopify store today with a free 14 Day Trial <<

Let's break this down a bit. 

You create a blog full of blog posts that are geared toward your audience and their needs.

You pin that blog post to Pinterest, group boards, your board, and so on while utilizing the techniques you learned above and your audience finds it, repins it, goes back to your blog.

They fall in love with your blog and want to know more.

And because you have an email opt-in that's geared towards them and their needs, they'll opt-in, build that relationship with you and become a valued customer.

It sounds like a lot of work and yeah, it can be but it works time and time again.

Another thing to think about is if you have a Shopify store, you can easily integrate a blog into your shop.

This will help with your shop ranking on Google as well.

So now you may be thinking, what do I blog about? And what do I use as an email opt-in?

What do you blog about?

There are many different ways you could go about writing a blog but this is how you're going to show your audience that you know what you're talking about.

This blog is what shows your audience your personality, who you are.

You can utilize this blog to write about how to use your products. Maybe it's home decor, how can your audience use this decor in their home?

Maybe it's children's clothing. You can put different outfits together or talk about the story behind the clothing.

I personally sell handmade home decor will be releasing DIY flower kits, so I write about DIY decor and how to make things for your home on a budget.

The possibilities are endless but a blog is seriously important for your business. If you're new to blogging or unsure of where to start, check out this post.

What should you email opt-in be?

An email opt-in can be pretty much anything that your audience would find valuable enough to give you their email address for.

This can be a discount for their first purchase, a buy one get one code or a free gift.

Discounts do the best when it comes to this but it's up to you. Just remember, this is for your audience.

So what would you want if you were in their shoes?

 

Fresh Pins are KING

Pinterest has said it themselves, fresh pins are where it's at.

This is what they are prioritizing on their Smart Feed, this is what they are showing to your audience and these are the pins that are growing and getting traction.

So what are fresh pins anyway?

According to Pinterest, fresh pins are pins that have a brand new image, pins that haven't been on Pinterest yet.

Which means you should be creating new pins for old blog posts and doing it often.

I don't need to tell you that this takes time and a lot of it. Not only that but you also know that you have to A/B test pins to see what works and what doesn't with your audience.

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