Pinterest: An introduction for eCommerce

Pinterest is still considered to be a new social media platform which puts it at the very back of the list when it comes to digital strategy planning for any ecommerce business. But is Pinterest really as new and ‘inexperienced’ in the world of online social networks as we are made to believe?

As recently reported, over 400mil people around the globe use Pinterest monthly to plan trips, look for style and DIY ideas, plan weddings and more.

What does that mean for eCommerce?

Pinterest is now investing and looking into better ways to help users access ecommerce shops through the app and improve their overall offering for ecommerce. Over 80% of content on Pinterest is still unbranded which means this could be the perfect low competition environment to grow your audience in.

Unique features

What makes it stand out from most social media platforms is that it’s a place for visual content sharing only. The timeline you will be scrolling through is thousands of images and videos with minimal text. In fact, if you come across paragraphs of text it will be within an image or video format.

Each Pinterest business profile for ecommerce consists of Pins, Boards and a Shop. 

Unlike other social networks, Pinterest requires users to create Boards in order to share content. Each Board will compile brand’s content into a place where users can re-visit.

This might sound similar to a Facebook timeline or Instagram grid? It’s not the case with Pinterest. Each Board will contain content that focuses on products and media that represents the Boards’ title rather than random timeline updates. You will create separate Boards for different product categories, collections and topics to offer best user experience.

This is what makes Pinterest fantastic for ecommerce

Content you create (called ‘Pins’), can be ‘pinned’ to any user’s Board. For example, if you are a Pinterest user who is shopping for floral bedding for summer, you would create a Board called ‘floral bedding inspo’ and pin the products and inspirational images that you find on the platform from other users to your own Board so you can go back and pick your favourites to purchase later.

In other words, think of Pinterest as ‘eCommerce vision boards’ where potential customers create online shopping lists on their profile which other users can also access and then create their own Boards with your content and this can go on and on. 

Part of your Social Media strategy

If your business sells products that are visually attractive, have multiple uses or you have very creative content ideas that stand out then Pinterest should be part of your strategy from the very beginning.

What Pinterest offers for ecommerce businesses is the potential to have tons of user generated content being shared and re-shared at no additional expense to your business. It’s also not time sensitive. For example, if you sell gym equipment which has multiple uses then the potential to have users creating and sharing tips and working out videos is endless. You probably have a Board called ‘exercise inspo’ right now!

If you would like to discuss potential advertising gaps in your strategy, don’t hesitate to contact us.