It’s being touted as a “social commerce game changer”. So what’s all the interest in Pinterest about? For online retailers, the buzz surrounding Pinterest should not be ignored. Fashion brands are in a particularly unique position to take advantage of this rapidly growing social network.
560,000 potential customers in Australia are currently using Pinteres, which has grown from less than 100,000 in January of this year. And while it’s ranked #9 in terms of the size of its Australia user statistics, recent global studies indicate that Pinterest is #3 when it comes to referring as much traffic and driving sales.
Some fashion retailers have publicly claimed that up to 10 per cent of their traffic is now generated from Pinterest and their value at the checkout is twice that of the average referral from Facebook.
The audience in Australia is 60 per cent female and the most successful brands using the platform are those who understand the power of visuals, images and aesthetics.
So if you’re (P)interest in getting started on Pinterest, I recommend a 3-staged approach: Start at your own front door; Establishing your presence on Pinterest;
Engage, drive traffic and sales
Follow this approach and you’ll avoid the pitfalls of “the hype” and lessen the learning curve. Before you dive in, optimise your own website or webstore and gain an understanding of what images are most “pinnable” in your category.
Start at your own front door
It’s highly likely that if you’re a retailer with an active and loyal ‘fan base’ on other social channels, the content, products and imagery from your website are already being pinned to Pinterest.
Type into your browser http://pinterest.com/source/bonds.com.au and you’ll notice there are a huge number of products already pinned by active users on Pinterest. Head on over to bonds.com.au and you won’t find a “Pin It” button in sight, nor do they have an active profile of their own on the platform.
So before you rush to start your profile on Pinterest, take these three simple steps:
1. Search now to see if your content is already being pinned. Type in to your browser http://pinterest.com/source/yoururl.com.au/ and replace yoururl.com.au with your website address. Review the results and learn from what types of images people are deeming to be “pin-worthy”.
2. Evaluate all of the imagery on your website. Use editorial-style, lifestyle-based imagery. The size of your image is important. Use 600px on the shortest edge as a guide.
3. Add the Pin It button to your blog posts and the products on your webstore.
If you do nothing more than these three things, Pinterest can start working for your brand and your business.
Establishing your Pinterest presence
Diana Ferrari demonstrates that you don´t need to be extravagant when it comes to your presence. They have a basic account that features boards based on their campaigns. These boards have stunning product photography and product pricing.
Diana Ferrari also have basic integration with their other marketing. The campaign was launched on social hubs at the same time as in store, and was supplemented by a launch video encouraging Pinterest use. This strategy has required a little bit of extra effort at launch but requires very little to maintain, other then monitoring conversation.
KikkiK have a more extensive presence and combine imagery from their blog and their webstore into themed boards with great success.
Engage, drive traffic and sales
Lorna Jane has increased its online revenue by 400 per cent in the past 18 months. According to chief operating officer Anna Cristaldi, “revenue from its online store is currently the equivalent of the revenue from 20 of its stores.”
I am of the opinion this is attributable to their integrated digital strategy. Pinterest would be a smaller driver compared to Facebook, where they have over 365,000 followers. Their Facebook timeline tells their brand story well and connects them to like-minds. This extends to Pinterest where they have content pinned around the “Move. Nourish. Believe” brand story, tapping into the three most re-pinnable categories on Pinterest - Food, Fitness & Quotes.
You’d be forgiven for initially thinking that Pinterest is about pinning pretty images. It goes beyond that. The best brands curate images based around their customers’ desired lifestyle and how their brand fits into this.
Justine Bloome is the managing director of The Village Agency thevillageagency.com.