Pinterest is developing its search functions and experts predict that it will become an even more significant director of visitor streams alongside search engines. For this reason, online businesses should put more thought in how to utilize current and future features of the channel in increasing sales.

Is Pinterest the Right Channel for You?

Women are the emperors, kings and presidents of Pinterest. 92% of all pinning is done by women and their usage of it increases the longer they have been users.

If your product is clearly directed to men, the channel may be the wrong one. But don’t give up too quickly, because there is a woman behind everything, also the purchase decision. Think about how you can get women interested in men’s products. For example, offering the perfect gift ideas for Father’s Days, birthdays, graduations, Christmas and other celebrations.

Do Your Products or Other Pins Hit Popular Categories?

Images that hit leading categories hit searches well and also get repins there. Clearly leading categories are the following:

1. Food and drink
2. DIY and handicrafts
3. Home interior decoration

If your products do not directly relate to these, stretch your imagination and find ways of connecting your products and the popular areas. For example, if you sell car tires, consider creating a wall with DYI ideas on how recycled tires can be used in the home and garden.

Does Your Content Entice People to Pin It?

IMAGE QUALITY

Check that the images on your website and blog are worth pinning in terms of quality.

Common factors between the images that are repined the most are as follows:

• The pictures are colorful. They have several primary colours.
• They are medium-level in terms of their darkness level; not too dark or light.
• In tone, they have more reds, oranges or browns than blues.
• Close-up pictures, with at most 30% of background.
• There are no faces in the pictures.
• The pictures are large enough (at least 600px in width)

Remember that quantity does not automatically lead to results. Quality is more important.
 
CONTENT OF THE IMAGES: SELLING VS. INSPIRING

In addition to basic product pictures, add images to your website where the product is in the environment intended for it. Like a table lamp in a beautifully furnished living room, or a garment on a person as part of a well-designed ensemble. This way you give the viewer more inspiration to dream and plan and the pinnability improves.

If you really want Pinterest to send your website visitor count through the roof, don't just sell. Inspire! You will collect followers and sales will come when people get excited about your ideas.

Inspiring content includes recipes, DIY instructions, ideas and different kinds of quotations. It is more effective to create content that is naturally suited to pinning than put together countless walls about content that does not move the users of this channel.

EXAMPLES OF GOOD CONTENT

Below, there are a few examples of genuinely inspiring content that also indirectly awakens purchase needs. In addition to the examples, it’s worth looking for ideas for one’s own content by also looking at content category by category.

• Lowes: Build It
• The Garden Glove
• Yumm-E-Thyme: Weddings
• Mobile abodes 

Do You Have the Rich Pin Feature in Use?

The Rich Pin feature can serve your purposes if your content is related to travel, cinema, recipes or articles. You can also provide pricing of a physical product in your pins. Rich Pin means, as the name implies, that the pin is enriched with extra information. Rich Pins may have a map, address and telephone number, or a film review and actor details, or a recipe with its ingredients and cooking times.

The downside of the Rich Pin feature is that its adoption requires technical know-how.

Is There a Pin It Button for All of Your Products?

Active pinner will remember to add pictures to their walls with the button they have added to the browser. But many less active pinnerss need a reminder that they even have a Pinterest account where they can pin pictures.

If there is a Pin it button on all your products and interesting high-quality images, you will recruit a larger group of users to build up your visibility.

Is Your Timing Right?

Pinterest differs positively from Twitter and Facebook in that the shelf life of the content is considerably longer. But timing is important. This is because fresh pins come up in feeds and older ones in searches.

So if you sell travel related products or services, get active well before the holiday season. Gardening ideas and products start coming to mind already at the beginning of each new year and people start thinking getting “beach ready” when the last Christmas chocolate has been eaten. You probably already know the annual rhythm of your customer quite well, so it’s worth making use of that information in this channel too.

P.S. The title may have been a little overstated, but only a little. ;)

Read also:

5 Tips to Reduce the Return Rate in Your e-commerce Website

4 Ways to Decrease Shopping Cart Abandonment on Your Website

Neglecting Product Images – An Effective Way to Destroy an Online Shop