Think of Pinterest as a visual search engine, as opposed to a social media platform – even though you can also message and interact with others. Some of the main benefits of using Pinterest to market your business include generating leads and sales on autopilot.

If you’re reading blog post, you’re probably already considering marketing your brand using Pinterest. Here are 8 reasons why you should be start using Pinterest for business:

Why Should You Market Your Business Using Pinterest?

1. Pinterest Drives Traffic to Your Website

One of the main draws of standard and video pins is that you can link specific pages of your website to the pin. Users are accustomed to clicking out of the platform to learn more or to make a purchase. For many brands, Pinterest is the first or second largest driver of traffic to their websites.

2. Pinterest Users Are Ready to Make Purchases

The users are active – they are ready to make purchases and are open to discovering new ideas. People are literally on Pinterest to search for YOUR product/service! Not only can you drive traffic to a sales page or a lead generator, but product based businesses can take advantage of Product Pins. Product Pins allow users to either shop your products directly through Pinterest (without ever leaving the platform) or, you can direct the traffic to your own product sales page for purchase.

3. It’s THE Tool to Grow Your Email List

$36 earned for every $1 spent is return on investment (ROI) for email marketing. It’s no secret that email marketing is effective, but first you need an audience. One of the most effective ways to grow your brand’s email list is with Pinterest.

Pinterest is perfect for promoting your brand’s free downloads or newsletters. Users who click these options are ready to discover and learn about your business. Free downloads, webinars, challenges, etc. are part of the “Interest” or “Discovery” stages of your brand’s sales funnel.

4. Your Audience is on Pinterest

Pinterest is a LOT more than just recipes. The amount of traffic and the diverse audience on the platform is noteworthy.

Take a look at audience statistics, according to Pinterest:

• 444 million people use Pinterest every month to find ideas and inspire their next purchase.
• 60% of Pinterest’s global audience is made up of women.
• 40% increase in Male Pinners & Gen Z Pinners year over year.
• 45% of people in the US with a household income over $100K are on Pinterest.
• 35% increase in US Millennial Pinners year over year.
  
  

5. Pinterest Users are Searching for Ideas, Not Huge Brands

One of the beauties of Pinterest, particularly for new or small businesses, is that your follower count does not matter. “97% of top Pinterest searches are unbranded.” Meaning, new accounts have an equal opportunity to rank in searches, as long as you prioritize keywords/SEO, compelling design, and copywriting.

6. Increase Brand Awareness

The quickest way to raise brand awareness on Pinterest is with Idea Pins. When you use this fairly new feature, your content is likely to be heavily pushed to more users by the platform. You can reach a large audience with standard and video pins as well, but it takes a little bit longer for those types of pins to gain traction. That’s just the nature of the platform.

Another reason Idea Pins are important to use is due to the format in which they are displayed to your followers. Your followers will see Idea Pins presented horizontally along the top of their mobile feeds (much like Instagram Stories appear). Since the Idea Pins appear at the top of the screen, it’s more likely for your content to be selected and viewed by your audience.

7. You Can Sell Your Products on Pinterest

As discussed above under, “2. Pinterest Users Are Ready to Make Purchases,” Product Pins simplify and streamline the consumer buying process. Product Pins are also a type of Rich Pin, which includes and showcases availability, where to buy, as well as real-time pricing.

Take a look at these Shopping statistics, according to Pinterest:

• Weekly Pinners are 7x more likely to say that Pinterest is the most influential platform in their purchase journey, compared to social media platforms.
• 85% bigger baskets for shoppers on Pinterest, compared to shoppers on other platforms.

The platform is free, and with proper management of your brand’s account, sales will be generated almost on autopilot.

8. Long Lifespan for Your Content

Unlike Instagram, where the average lifespan of a feed post is 48 hours, your content on Pinterest has a much larger lifespan. Consider that the half-life of a pin is 3.5 months, it reaches it’s full potential in 7 months – but a pin can still gain traction and go viral a year after posting!⁠⁠ Pinterest is the manifestation of the expression, “working smarter, not harder.”

Using Pinterest for Business

If you’ve put off using Pinterest for your business, or if you’ve tried your hand at it and didn’t see the results you were looking for – let’s talk. You have the capability to skyrocket your business growth by using Pinterest. The key is implementing a well researched strategy for the platform.

As you’ve learned, Pinterest drives immense traffic to your website. At that point, it’s your website’s job to convert the viewers and traffic into sales. If at that point, your website isn’t converting, then it’s time to consider a website revamp. Everything has a solution, and one solution might be to update your web design & copy.

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