We all know how EXPENSIVE marketing can get. Even so-called ‘free’ social media platforms can become time-suckers if you’re not careful.
But did you know that you could well be missing out on a lot of FREE organic traffic? Traffic from a really busy and effective social media platform. Traffic from a platform that’s often overlooked?
When businesses put their marketing strategies together, they usually add Facebook pages, build an Instagram audience, launch a website and may even dabble with Twitter.
BUT…very few people decide to include Pinterest in their strategy. Yet 335 million people are using the platform!
Hands up if you’ve used it to decide on your wedding theme or your interior design colours? (Well yes, I use it for that too!)
But I’m going to tell you now, WHY you should also be using it for your BUSINESS….
Pinterest is actually a SEARCH ENGINE in disguise…
Yes. Here’s the thing. Pinterest is not really a social media platform. This is how it’s often described, but if I’m honest, I don’t really know why. Just have a think about how you use it. You open up the app, you search for something, and you don’t really interact with other people (other than clicking on a link). Doesn’t that sound like a search engine to you?
This is marketing gold. Your audience is looking to buy. They’re in a different mindset from people using other social networks, who are just wanting to socialise….they’re actually LOOKING for your products!
Your target audience is probably hanging out on Pinterest!
About 70% of Pinterest users are female. And who’s most of the jewellery industry marketing targeted at? See where I’m going with this?
A lot of people planning weddings are searching for suppliers on Pinterest
Loads of brides-to-be use Pinterest as a tool to help plan their wedding. So if you make wedding and engagement rings, there’s a massive chance your target audience is hanging out on Pinterest. And what’s more, they may be actually LOOKING for wedding rings!
Pinterest users are interested in finding new brands
People are not only using Pinterest as a search engine…they’re also doing it to DISCOVER new brands. This is unlike other search engines, where they may be searching for specific brand names they already know. This is GREAT NEWS for small businesses, who might not be as well known, so they wouldn’t necessarily show up on a Google search. In fact, three quarters of Pinterest users say they’re actually searching for new brands!
Businesses just haven’t cottoned onto the possibilities of Pinterest yet…
Although Pinterest has millions of users, it doesn’t yet have millions of businesses who’ve realised this! Therefore, now is a brilliant time to get ahead of the curve and be an early adopter.
Pinterest turns your content into an evergreen marketing machine…
Once you’ve created your pins, they can create traffic for you for years to come. A facebook post or Instagram link may only push people to your content for a day or two. But a pin which links to timeless content on your website could still be sending people there in two years time. This means you’ll get a better marketing result for your effort.
Pinterest users have money to spend…
High income households are twice as likely to use Pinterest as lower-income households, according to recent stats.
Have I sold you on the benefits of adding Pinterest to your marketing arsenal yet? I hope so. Pinterest offers so many opportunities for small businesses, especially ones likely to be targeted at females and people getting married! Yes, jewellers are the PERFECT people to benefit from the opportunities that Pinterest has to offer.
So just HOW do you go about using Pinterest for your business? Here’s my 5 step process to Pinterest success….
5 steps to Pinterest success:
- Set up your business account
Setting up a specific account for your business will give you access to stats and analytics that you don’t get with a personal account. And try to keep boards about ‘interesting dinner ideas’ and ‘10 things to do with cardboard tubes’ to either your personal account or private boards, to avoid confusing your customers.
- Create boards
Create a few boards which will refer to different categories of your content. For example…you might have boards called: wedding rings, earrings, statement jewellery – whatever makes sense for your brand.
- Create your ‘pins’
You will need to create ‘pins’ for your boards. Each pin should point people to a piece of content on your website or social media. People respond well to Pinterest ‘covers’ which are basically a simple on-brand image with a caption that points to your content. These can easily be designed by you…check out the free graphic design app Canva here for this. They have fab templates in exactly the right size that you can change into your brand colours.
- Upload your pins
When you’ve created your pins you’ll need to upload them. Just upload your images and add in the link to your original content. You can also add relevant hashtags to help people find your content. Five pins a week is the minimum number you should be pinning to make sure they’lll be seen.
- Batch it up
Does that sound like a heck of a lot of work? Well once you’ve got your pin template sussed, it shouldn’t take too much of your time at all. The KEY is to batch produce your content. If you’re already producing other marketing content, then just go and create 5 pin covers at the same time as uploading it on other platforms. Using a platform like Tailwind makes this really quick and easy! You can then upload them in one go, once a week. It really shouldn’t take longer than half an hour, max. You can get a month’s free trial on Tailwind here, if you want to give it a try.
