How to Sell on Pinterest And Skyrocket eCommerce Sales

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Written By Sam Davis Ph.D.

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Pinterest is one of the best social media tools to use for your eCommerce store. Partly because it's completely visual and therefore Pinterest content fits seamlessly with most merchants. But also, there are many integrations: with WordPress, with Etsy, with Shopify, and basically all of the big ecommerce platforms.

Many people write off Pinterest as a platform for browsing, not buying, but Pinterest itself has an integrated selling platform, verified merchant status, and tracking. They mean business when they want to help you sell more stuff. So don't ignore Pinterest – use it to your advantage. You can get your stuff listed for free.

Advertising alphabet blog business

Step 1: Get A Pinterest Business Account

Registering your Pinterest Business Account is free and easy – just select it as you go to register! Your Pinterest business profile is the way that you can connect with customers, and it unlocks some great tools, like Pinterest analytics and marketing. It lets you create ads, track how your pins are doing, and tracking how you're generating leads. Once you've done that, you can start building your connections on Pinterest.

Familiarize Yourself With The Platform

Pinterest is a self-promotion tool – this means that if you want to be successful with it, you have to learn how to promote yourself and your eCommerce store. Since it's completely visual, you'll need to learn how to navigate, see what promoted pins your competitors are using, and basically, just get used to the platform.

What are pins, anyway?

To be able to sell on Pinterest, you're going to have to understand what Pinterest Pins are, what rich pins are, and how to effectively tag and organize your content. So take a few hours spread out over a few days to explore the platform, build your Pinterest profile, and organize pins on your own page. Conduct a few searches so you know what the Pinterest search results look like.

Differences between Pinterest and other social media platforms

Pinterest is a very unique social media platform. Other social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter – are more conversational. You'll find a lot of that on Pinterest as well – but the bulk of what you'll see will be a lot of visual content that Pinterest users have repinned and added their own comments to.

Pinterest Users  – Who They Are

Pinterest users are mostly women. They tend to span the age ranges, from Gen Z all the way up to older generations. The majority of Pinterest users make between $50,000 and $150,000 a year. In terms of education level, the largest percentage have either a 4 year or graduate degree.

In terms of interests – since you only get to see the content that they pin to their boards – you'll find common interests in: fashion and beauty, crafts, home decor, and more. If you sell in these popular categories, your new Pinterest business account was a good choice.

Red and white pinterest logo on a smart phone

Step 2: Become A Verified Pinterest Merchant

In order for you to create ads, you'll need to become a verified merchant. It can be somewhat technical, depending on the platform, but basically, you just need to prove that you own your website; and then also that you have the appropriate tags set up. A Pinterest tag is a special thing that goes on your website to track what users do.

Troubleshooting Pinterest Sales

Their system can be a little wonky, but be patient, and reach out to their sales team or your personal sales rep with any questions you may have. They should be able to support you so that you can start making Pinterest sales.

Pinterest marketing is really about creating visually interesting pins for your target audience. Don't just pin your products. Pin things that are interesting to the people you want to reach – it builds trust, establishes authority, and can even help with SEO .

Step 3: Create Pinterest Ads

Pinterest is a great place to run ads, because the cost of entry is low, but engagement rates are high. You can use Promoted Pins to reach new people and keep your products in their mind. Why should they create something new when they can buy your item and make their lives easy? Their shopping ads should help you get more sales on your website. Pinterest marketing is also surprisingly easy to set up, unlike Facebook or Google Ads.

Start making product pins

To start making ads, first, make a few product pins. You can make several product pins for the same product, this will let you get all of your good images front and center. You'll then want to make a few boards that will showcase your products. You don't need a lot of content, but you do need high-quality images and interesting graphics. After each pin, add some text content about the product as the pin description. Pin descriptions are very important because Pinterest users are there for inspiration and information – not sales pitches. You'll reach your relevant audience faster if you use the descriptions.

When you're ready, you can activate Pinterest Marketing on these pins. Your Pinterest account will obviously require a form of payment. Set some sales goals and monitor your progress. If your sales performance is bad, pause the ad and figure out what went wrong: What are your CPCs? CTRs?

Step 4: Optimize Your Pinterest Ads

Pinterest is all about the visuals. That's why it's important to optimize your ads for visual appeal. Remember, you'll be competing with other advertisers in a very crowded space – so make sure that your content is not only visually appealing but also optimized to stand out. Social media marketing is about creating rich content from your business account that will appeal to your target audience.

Don't forget about Pinterest descriptions. Even though it's a mostly visual site, descriptions can help your potential customers learn about what your online store sells. If it helps, consider making some buyer personas that you can use to create your ads. This will help you to understand what your potential customers are looking for, and help shape the content that you post on Pinterest.

vintage, poster, ad

Step 5: Expand Your Presence On Pinterest

Pinterest is a very visual site – so make sure that you have plenty of pins to share. You'll see a real difference if you have 1000 pins instead of just 25. Your organic traffic will also grow, because you won't be able to advertise every single pin that you make. You want to make your best pins your promoted pin(s) – don't try to advertise every single one. You'll waste time and money.

And please do remember to only advertise things that are in stock. If you don't have one, consider a printing company, or equipment to do it yourself.

Rich pins are a great way for you to help customers linger on your products. Rich pins are any pins with interactive elements like video, galleries, or other aspects that encourage customers to interact. Set targets for yourself to make a few rich pins a month. Use them to advertise a new blog post, share new ideas, or just set clear targets for rich pins to increase sales.

And remember – use Pinterest Analytics to track your progress. Your sales team can do this while they monitor your sales performance and other aspects. If your business grows, consider hiring a digital marketing manager to really help bring your promoted pins to the next level, improve your Pinterest profile, and increase visits to your online store.

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