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 bu siness to reach new customers.
See below for additional resources available to help you make the most out of
your Pinterest account. Happy Pinning!