When marketers develop social media strategies, Pinterest isn’t always the first network to come to mind. B2C brands looking to boost sales may want to reconsider that, because 87 percent of active Pinterest users make purchases thanks to the social network’s influence.
New research from Pinterest and Millward Brown Digital showed that of 2,000 active Pinners surveyed, 96 percent use the digital pinboard site to “research and gather information.” There are plenty of opportunities to discover and shop around on Pinterest, as two out of three of pins on the network represent brands and products.
For brands, this is a reminder that Pinterest offers enormous potential for web traffic and even sales. Not only is it the second highest social traffic referrer (Facebook still reigns in the top spot for that), but Pinterest brings in qualified leads, meaning they’re likely to spend once they’ve visited a website.
Pinterest introduces new ad options, including GIFs
These days, 4 out of 5 Pinterest users access the network through mobile, and as video takes over mobile search results, Pinterest appears to be keeping up with user preferences. The network’s new advertising option comes with GIFs, or what they’ve coined “Cinematic Pins.” When a user scrolls down the page, Cinematic Pins will automatically play – making these posts clearly stand out among standard Pins.
Pinterest rolled out social ads at the end of 2013, and has moved from traditional promoted pins to more complex ad strategies like Rich Pins (for apps, movies, recipes, articles, products and places). The latest advertising options introduced this week include updated targeting options and promotable App Pins.
Move over ecommerce: Pinterest works for B2C and B2Bs
Initially Pinterest was thought of as a platform exclusive to ecommerce sites, predominantly those with a female target audience.
As the male population on Pinterest continues to grow (at the end of 2014, one in three new registrants was a male), we’re seeing that the network’s demographic is more diverse than ever – and people are going to Pinterest with business interests in mind.
-
Our higher education client started a Pinterest strategy that included seven daily pins. Not only did it result in a social referral traffic uptick – 50 percent more visits coming from Pinterest – but the number of conversions assisted by social content jumped 73 percent.
-
For one home and office decor brand, having a Pinterest presence became the No. 1 source of referral traffic to the site, and also the primary driver of pageviews.
-
Cosmetics company Beauty Bridge used a Pinterest strategy to double its followers, drive substantial traffic to its contest website landing page, collect contact data from hundreds of qualified leads and quadruple time on site. The majority of this traffic clicked through to product pages, and 10 percent visited the brand’s high-end premium style kits.
Want to learn more about the social media campaigns our strategists have developed? Contact us here.
