How to Use Pinterest for Ecommerce – Sell More in 2024

Want to use Pinterest to drive your ecommerce sales? In this post you’ll find out why Pinterest and ecommerce is a winning combination and get practical tips to get the most out of it.

Quick Summary

• Pinterest is a visual search engine and has high user engagement which means ecommerce is impacted by product discovery and purchasing decisions, 87% of users have bought something on the platform.
• Setting up a Pinterest business account, new or converted from a personal account is essential to get access to advanced merchant tools like Pinterest Analytics and ads, to optimise your marketing strategies and track performance.
• Organising and optimising your Pinterest profiles and pins – including using high quality images, SEO descriptions and Rich Pins – will increase product visibility, conversion rates and traffic to your ecommerce store.

Why Pinterest is a Winner for Ecommerce

Pinterest is not just another social media platform; it’s a visual search engine, so it’s a great way to drive long term traffic to your online store. With 400 million active users, 80% of which are discovering new brands or products on the platform, Pinterest for ecommerce is a unique opportunity for businesses to show off their products and sell.

The high engagement and buying intent on the platform means shoppers on Pinterest spend twice as much per month as on other social channels. 87% of users have bought something because of Pinterest, so it’s a big influencer on purchasing decisions.

Visual Search Engine

The visual search engine is what sets Pinterest apart from other platforms. Its visual search algorithm makes product discovery super quick, 55% of Pinterest users log on to search for products.

The Pinterest Lens which allows you to search over 2.5 billion home and fashion products is way more powerful than Google Lens, so if you want to show off your products effectively, this is a must have tool for ecommerce businesses.

Plus the visual nature of Pinterest means you can show off your products in a way that converts.

High Engagement

High engagement rates make Pinterest a must have in your social media mix. 52% of US Millennials use Pinterest, it’s a highly engaged audience. This high engagement translates to higher conversion rates for ecommerce businesses, users on Pinterest interact and buy more than on other social media platforms.

➤  High engagement means visibility, a great tool for ecommerce marketing.

Buying Decisions

Pinterest influences users buying decisions. Here are the stats:

• 87% of users have bought something because of the platform
• 8 out of 10 weekly Pinners discover new products
• 83% of weekly US Pinners have bought from a brand because of a Pin

So it’s a big driver of sales.

Plus Pinners are 55% more likely to buy a product after seeing an image or video on Pinterest so it’s a must have in your ecommerce marketing mix.

Get Your Pinterest Business Account

First step to get access to Pinterest’s ecommerce features is to get a business account. A Pinterest business account gives you access to merchant tools like Pinterest Analytics and ads so you can track and optimise your marketing.

Whether you’re setting up a new business profile or converting an existing one, this is a must do for ecommerce businesses on Pinterest.

New Business Profile

Setting up a new Pinterest business account is a quick process that can be done from a desktop. Here’s how:

1. Click ‘Sign up’
2. Select ‘Create a business account’
3. Enter your email, password and age
4. Fill out your profile details
5. Make sure to tick Pinterest’s Business Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to complete the setup.

Convert a Personal Account to Business

If you already have a personal Pinterest account you can convert it to a business account. Here’s how to get your business account:

1. Make sure your personal account is public.
2. Log in to your account.
3. Click the down chevron icon.
4. Select ‘Settings’.
5. Choose ‘Account management’.
6. Click ‘Convert account’

➤ Your existing Pins and followers will stay the same so it’s a smooth transition.

Link Other Social Media Accounts

Linking your Pinterest business account to other social media accounts can help with overall marketing. Having a linked Pinterest business account means you can promote across platforms and have consistent messaging and potentially higher engagement and conversion rates.

By linking your accounts you can share your Pinterest content on other platforms and vice versa and have a more cohesive social media strategy.

Optimise Your Pinterest Profile

A well optimised Pinterest profile is key to building trust, SEO and making a great first impression on customers. Add a logo, clear description and a claimed website to your profile.

Feature some of your best boards as ‘Featured boards’ so visitors can see your content. By linking your Pinterest account to your Shopify store you can auto sync your product catalog and create and publish product pins.

Fill Out Your Business Info

Filling out your business info including business name, logo and website address is important to build your brand and ecommerce sales. Using your business name in your Pinterest URL makes your brand more visible so users can find and recognise your brand.

Make sure your profile communicates your brand and product categories clearly to attract the right audience.

Claim Your Website

Claiming your website on Pinterest gives you priority access to new features, better SEO and access to detailed analytics. Verifying your website lets you track individual Pins to your site so you can see engagement and reach.

Being part of the Verified Merchant Program will increase your brand’s credibility and visibility.

Add Follow Buttons

Add follow buttons to your website and emails to grow your Pinterest following. The Follow button lets users follow your brand or browse your products with one click.

By adding these buttons to your marketing materials you’re making it easy for users to follow your brand on Pinterest and increase your reach and engagement.

Create Great Pinterest Pins

To drive engagement and sales you need to create great Pinterest pins. Here’s how:

1. Use high res images.
2. Write descriptive text.
3. Use rich pins.
4. Create vertical images 2:3 ratio.
5. Use bold colours.
6. Add text overlays to your pins.

By following these tips you can create beautiful and on brand idea pins that will get more attention on Pinterest and use the pinterest tag effectively.

Also rich pins will add extra information about your products like price and store info within the pin.

Design Guidelines

Follow design guidelines:

• Use high res vertical images 2:3 ratio
• Put your product or service in the middle of the pin and not abstract images
• Add text overlays, logos or stickers to your message and attract customers
• Make sure text overlays are short and mobile friendly.

Write SEO Descriptions

Include keywords in pin descriptions and board titles to make them discoverable. Use Pinterest’s guided search, Google AdWords or Pinterest Ad targeting to find these keywords. Putting keywords at the beginning of pin descriptions will have the most impact on SEO.

Rich Pins

Rich Pins are a must have for ecommerce businesses. They pull in and display extra information from your website like real-time pricing and availability. This makes it easy for users to buy from Pinterest.

Merchants who upload to Pinterest Catalogs see 5x more impressions so rich pins are part of your Pinterest marketing mix.

Boards

Organizing your Pinterest boards will supercharge your product marketing. By creating separate boards for different product types and audience segments you can target specific interests and be more discoverable. Organized boards will optimize for more keywords and be more visible in search.

Create Separate Boards

Create separate boards for different product types to target niche interests and make your content more appealing to specific audience segments. This will make your products more discoverable through well defined categories and themes. Use keywords and covers to showcase your products and attract your ideal customer.

Using Keywords

Use keywords in board titles and descriptions to be visible in search and increase your relevance score. Use Pinterest’s keyword tool, Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to find these keywords.

➤ This will make your boards SEO optimized and attract the right audience.

Consistency

Consistency across all Pinterest boards is key to reinforcing your brand and building trust with your audience. Use the same brand logos and images across all boards to create a recognisable brand. This consistency will create a cohesive and professional profile that users can trust and engage with.

Pinterest Ads

Using Pinterest ads can give you a big boost to your ecommerce sales. Promoted pins, idea ads and video pins are powerful tools to reach more audience and showcase your products. By targeting specific demographics and interests you can optimise your ad campaigns and get better results.

➤ Use high res vertical images 2:3 ratio and short text overlays to create ads.

Promoted Pins

Promoted Pins is a form of Pinterest advertising that allows businesses to reach more audience. Advertisers can bid to have their ads shown to their target audience and increase visibility and sales. Promoted Pins should have the product or service in the middle and not abstract or irrelevant lifestyle images.

Idea Ads

Idea Ads is a multimedia canvas for sharing original content and ideas. They should tell a full story with a beginning, middle and end and provide all the details for the audience to take action on the idea.

Original content performs better in Idea Ads than repurposed or watermarked content so make sure to create fresh and engaging content.

Video Pins

Video Pins are a great way to grab attention and convey your message. Make sure your Video Pins have a hook in the first few seconds to grab the viewers attention. Add text overlay or captions as many users watch videos with the sound off.

➤  Keep your videos short, ideally 6-15 seconds to perform well and keep the viewers interested.

Pinterest Analytics

You should monitor your performance with Pinterest Analytics to see how users are engaging with your content and adjust your strategy. Pinterest Analytics will give you an overview of your presence on the platform, including paid and organic content.

➤ By looking at the metrics you can make decisions to improve your content and ads.

Metrics to Track

Metrics to track in Pinterest Analytics:

• Impressions
• Saves
• Pin clicks
• Profile visits
• Follows
• Outbound clicks

These will help you know which content is resonating with your audience and guide your future marketing.

Engagement rates and referral traffic will also give you an idea how well your Pins are driving traffic to your website.

Data to use

Use Pinterest Analytics to optimise your Pinterest strategy to achieve SMART goals. Test different variations of your Pins and increase ad spend on the top performing ones to maximise ROI.

By knowing which content performs best you can tailor your strategy to create more of what your audience loves.

Ad Spend Based on Performance

Adjusting ad spend based on performance metrics is key to maximise ROI. CTR, CPC and ROAS are the metrics to look at. Here’s how:

1. Increase spend on top performing ads.
2. Pause underperforming ads.
3. Monitor ads regularly.
4. Optimise budget based on the data.

By doing this you can allocate your ad spend effectively and optimise for better results.

➤ Test different ad creatives and strategies regularly to find what works and to keep improving.

Building Community on Pinterest

For long term success you need to build a community and engage with your audience on Pinterest. Create high quality boards with clear themes that match your brand to grow your follower organically.

Engage with followers by liking, commenting and repinning content to build community and drive traffic to your website.

Engaging with Followers

Engaging with followers is a part of social media marketing on Pinterest. Post high quality content regularly and interact with other Pinterest accounts to build relationships and get more followers.

➤ Liking, commenting and repinning content will also help with community building.

Influencers

Collaborating with influencers can expand your reach and credibility on Pinterest. Create seasonal or themed boards with influencers, like holiday gift guides or summer fashion collections to have coherent and on-brand collaborations.

These will get you new followers and more visibility.

Pinterest Contests

Running Pinterest contests is a great way to boost engagement and get new followers. Create dedicated boards or hashtags for contest entries to keep track and increase engagement.

After the contest reach out to participants with a discount code or special offer to drive traffic to your store and increase sales.

Conclusion

Pinterest is full of opportunities for ecommerce businesses to grow sales and brand. By using Pinterest’s features, setting up a business account, optimising your profile, creating good pins, organising your boards, using ads and building community you can get the most out of the platform.

Remember to monitor your performance with Pinterest Analytics and adjust your strategy based on data to keep improving. Do this and your ecommerce business will thrive on Pinterest.

FAQs

Why use Pinterest for my ecommerce business?

You should use Pinterest for your ecommerce business because it’s a visual search engine that can drive long term traffic to your online store, product discovery and influence purchasing decisions and ultimately sales.

What are the benefits of verifying my website?

Verifying your website on Pinterest gets you priority access to new features, better SEO and more detailed analytics data so you can track individual Pin performance and increase your site’s credibility.

How do I create good Pinterest pins?

Use high quality, vertical images with bold colours and text overlays. Write SEO descriptions with keywords and use rich pins to show extra information from your website.

How do I measure my performance?

Use Pinterest Analytics to track impressions, saves, Pin clicks, profile visits, follows and outbound clicks. This will help you to optimise your content and make data driven decisions.