Pinterest and retail stores go together like peanut butter and jelly—you already have products that potential customers are (p)interested in, you just need great pictures and a strategy on how best to display them. For a small business or boutique, this means embracing your unique brand and style in order to set yourself apart from your competitors. Just as with any social media platform, there are a few “need to know” guidelines to remember when creating a successful profile! Let’s take a look:
Know your customer base.
If you know that your customers are teens as opposed to soccer moms that makes the decision between a “prom” board and “casual yet comfy” board about a billion times easier. Pinterest skews about 80% female, so if you have a female-centered retail base, you definitely want to be on Pinterest. That being said, menswear is still important for the platform since women tend to search for clothing for their sons, husbands, boyfriends, etc. Understanding your audience will also help with finding and building relationships with Pinterest influencers that might help boost your brand.
Be patient.
Your Pinterest boards aren’t going to lead to a purchase overnight. In fact, research shows that 50% of visits to your board happen 3.5 months after you initially pinned it. It can be a slow process, but once your customers reach your profile, you’ll want to have a well-curated series of boards with photos that link back to your website so they can easily purchase your product or service.
Use hashtags appropriately.
While Twitter is technically the king of hashtags, those little pound signs are also extremely important on Pinterest. Using a hashtag makes it much easier for users to find your pins and boards. Don’t overload your pin descriptions with hashtags, though, as more than three could overwhelm the user. If you have trouble deciding which hashtags to use, stick with the most basic ones. For example, an image of an adorable pair of boots you just got in stock could be hashtagged with “#leather #boots for #fall.”
Don’t ignore others.
If you follow, re-pin, comment, or “like” another retailer or fashionista’s board, then they will be more likely to do the same to you. It’s not very “social” of you to disregard other people’s content, so having boards of “Looks We Love” or something similar will help you in the long run when you’re looking for influencers and hoping to get your content shared. Just be careful about who you re-pin from! If it’s another trusted retailer then the chances of you re-pinning images that violate copyright infringement are smaller.
Get creative with your photos.
Chances are you already have beautiful clothes and accessories to show off. That doesn’t mean you should only take still photos of clothes on display in your store. Ask customers if they’d like to model your clothes, because each person brings a unique look and perspective to the outfit. Pinterest is all about having fun, and if you can show your customers out and about, enjoying the day in your clothes, then that shows that you can be fun, too.
The important thing to remember is that Pinterest users are on the site for the potential of “what could be.” The latest recipes, travel options, and fashion styles are all right at their fingertips, and while it doesn’t take that much effort to re-pin or “like” something, getting users to make the purchasing decision is based on more than just one pin. It’s about the brand as a whole, how it presents itself, and how the customer relates to it that matters.