Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Tip #239: Get Pinning! Create a Pinterest Account for Your Business


As of today, there are 59 days until Black Friday. For many shoppers, Black Friday is the official, un-official kick-off to the holiday shopping season! "With 82 million searches for gifts on Pinterest and pinners spending twice as much as the general public, it’s time for you to make Pinterest a priority," says business2community.com.

If you’re not familiar with Pinterest, it is a social media platform that allows users to share and save content to virtual collections called “pinboards” or “boards.” A 2016 study by the Pew Research Center found that 31% of adult internet users are on Pinterest—which ranks the platform #3 behind social media giant, Facebook (79%) and just barely behind Instagram (32%).  The same study also reported “nearly half of online women use the virtual pinboard (45%), more than double the share of online men (17%) who do so.”

According to Pinterest for Business, it only takes 15 seconds to create an account. If you already have a personal account, Pinterest recommends converting it to a business account to take advantage of additional features like Pinterest Analytics and advertising. Click here for four simple steps to help you get started.

Once you’ve created your business account, consider creating a few holiday gift guides as boards to leverage Pinterest for your holiday marketing. By using existing product photos, this can be a relatively easy way to expand your reach of holiday shoppers. Don't forget to promote your gift guide on your website, social media sites, blog, in-store, etc.


Sweet Pete’s holiday-themed Pinterest board features 10 of their top-selling holiday gifts.

Group popular products together that make great holiday gifts or create guides based on fun themes that will help shoppers find the perfect gift from your candy shop. For example, if you carry an assortment of products that feature nuts, group them together in board titled “Gift Guide for Nut Lovers.” Even better, partner with a local nut roaster or even a local grocery store by featuring some of their products and perhaps they’ll return the favor by sharing your gift guide with their social media followers.

Gift guides can also focus on various price ranges. Depending on what makes the most sense for your business (don’t forget to consider shipping expenses), consider featuring a collection of items that fall into the “Under $25” range or the $50-$100 range.

For retailers looking to increase their holiday sales, Pinterest could represent an untapped potential for your business to reach new customers. See below for additional resources available to help you make the most out of your Pinterest account. Happy Pinning!