In case you haven't heard, Pinterest is now providing a way for businesses to reach their ideal customers using promoted pins. These pins, which are similar to Facebook’s promoted posts and Twitter’s promoted tweets, allow businesses to choose a pin, set up targeting and pay only when people click through to their website.
The company has been testing out promoted pins for some time now, however only with a select group of big brands. The feature is now open to the general public (at least in the US), however you still have to apply and be accepted in order to access it.
If you would like to sign up for the promoted pins wait list, you can do so here.
I know many of you don't yet have access to the feature, but I thought we could get a jump start on the why’s and how’s of promoted pins: why businesses should be excited about them, and how you will be able to use them to drive sales.
Why Am I So Excited About Pinterest's Promoted Pins?
All of the big social networks provide ways for advertisers to get their posts in front of a bigger audience. But up until now, there hasn’t been a way to pay for targeted promotion on Pinterest.
Promoted pins will give you a way to promote your best pins, and have them shown to a targeted audience of your choosing. This is how it works:
- CHOOSE the pin you’d like to promote, so that it’s shown in relevant search results.
- TARGET the users you’d like to see your pin. Targeting options include location, language, gender, devices and keywords.
- PAY for website visits you receive through your promoted pin (you don’t pay if people don’t click through).
- TRACK your campaign to see what’s working and what’s not.
How to Use Promoted Pins to Increase Sales
It is important to keep in mind that promoted pins are simply pins that get extra promotion. They are not ads per se, and you do have to be careful about what you include in your promoted pin. You cannot include promotional information or calls to action in your image, nor can you include a price anywhere on your image or in your pin description.
I think this is a good move on Pinterest’s part, as it keeps the platform non-commercial and simply gives businesses the opportunity to promote high-quality content.
So without further ado, here are 4 ways you can use promoted pins to increase sales!
1. Find your highest revenue-generating pins and promote them first
If you have a sense as to which of your current pins are driving the most traffic and sales, this is a great place to start!
Give your highest revenue-generating pins additional exposure by paying for some extra promotion.
If you’re not sure which pins are driving the most traffic or sales, I would encourage you to set up a custom report in your Google Analytics account to track revenue and conversions from your different pins.
2. Find out what pinners are searching for
Pinterest is the queen of social sites when it comes to driving sales.
According to Shopify, shoppers who arrive at a site from Pinterest are 10% more likely to buy than those who come from other social sites.
Add to this that the average order size is $80 – twice the amount of the average order from those arriving from Facebook.
Capitalize on the power of Pinterest for driving sales by promoting pins for popular product searches. To see what people are looking for, start typing a keyword into the Pinterest search box and see which products pop up. Promoting pins using these keywords will ensure that people who are searching for these terms find your product.
3. Optimize your landing pages
Once people click on your promoted pin, they will be taken to the URL you have specified. To increase your chances of making a sale, it’s important to make sure you’ve properly optimized your landing page. This means:
- Making sure you are directing them to your product page, NOT your blog or homepage.
- Include a strong call to action on your landing page.
- Give visitors an incentive to sign up for your email list (this way you can continue to build a relationship with them and make additional sales over the long term!).
I will continue to keep you updated as Pinterest improves promoted pins, and as we discover new ways to take advantage of this great new feature!
Looking for more Pinterest tips for your business? Check out
Is Pinterest Right for Your Business? and One Simple Pinterest Trick to Get You More Followers.
Do you have access to promoted pins yet? If so, have you tested them out? Share below!
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