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How E-Commerce Businesses Can Capitalize On Pinterest's Buyable Pins

Marketing your company and maintaining a presence on social media has long been good for business. It increases your brand’s reach and provides an opportunity to engage with your customers and potential customers. It allows you to really target the audience you desire where they are really spending their time.

And the benefits of using certain social media platforms have increased significantly since these outlets first emerged. Once considered niche, social networks like Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr are even outgrowing the likes of Facebook and Twitter in some respects. And with social networks like Instagram introducing click-to-buy, these alternative platforms are truly catering to e-commerce. This has spurred some companies to devote a large percentage of their ad dollars to growing, visuals-driven social networks. 

One of the most popular social networks at the moment is Pinterest. Its 100 million users consist of approximately 85% women that spend around 15 minutes per visit on the site. That’s 3% more than Facebook. This bodes well for e-commerce sites looking for maximum exposure.

what's so great about pinterest?

The premise of Pinterest is the same as window shopping. Users are confronted with thousands of images based on the things they like and they can choose to 'pin' them on boards as inspiration or perhaps as the first step (call it research) in the buying process. Now imagine if window shopping gave Pinterested shoppers the opportunity to buy the object of their desire right then and there. That turns the passive window shopping premise into a totally different scenario.

Pinterest granted the wishes of many Pinterest users and advertisers when it gradually introduced the Buyable Pins feature. Noticing its popularity, the social media site has recently expanded this feature to many more e-commerce platforms. As a Pinterest user myself, this is incredibly convenient and terribly tempting. That makes it the ideal environment for e-commerce businesses to thrive in. It eliminates that period of time consumers have to think about whether they actually want to buy the item or not and prevents them from simply forgetting about it.

How Do Buyable Pins Work?

When it comes to social networks with the biggest potential to drive sales, Pinterest has been close to the top almost since it launched. As a place where people pin and store all their favourite things as well as the things they wish to buy, of course it would be beneficial for your brand to introduce its own products and Pinnable information into the mix. 

When browsing, if users spot a Pin with a blue price label, they’ll know they can buy it immediately if they wish – they don’t even have to leave the app. Users can also use the price filter to target the right pins for them.

In addition, as every good marketer knows, when converting browsers into shoppers, it is important that the purchase experience is simple, smooth and secure. Pinterest has really worked on this as the entire Buyable Pin experience, from product selection to payment, has been designed with mobile in mind – a handy addition to the Buyable Pin experience.

The site is also working with Apple Pay and other mobile payment companies, such as Shopify, Demandware, IBM, Magento and Bigcommerce, to really smooth over the purchase experience.

Also, did I mention that it’s free? Yes, Pinterest doesn’t take a cut from your sales and you still get to handle shipping and customer service the way you always have. 

GETTING STARTED

It's proven that Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often, on more items than any of the other top 5 social media sites. For a lot of e-commerce businesses, it just make sense to tempt your Pinterest-crazy audience with your products and allow them buy the item straight away, while they are inspired. Are you Pinterested? Get started with Buyable Pins here


This article was written by our guest blogger Kathryn Kearns of Number Direct.