Can Pinterest Be Used for Marketing?
You may have noticed that Pinterest is remarkably ad-free. It doesn’t appear to have many of the typical forms of online advertising like banner ads on the site, sponsored links in the search results, or images marked as ads in your scrolling feed of images. When you scroll down your feed of Pinterest images, you rarely see a brand logo or name anywhere. In fact, the only hint that some sort of marketing might be happening behind the scenes is the “Gifts” menu that allows you to search for gifts by price range.
Pinterest is such a fundamentally different model that most Pinterest users are unaware that marketing is happening on the site even when it alters their perception of brands or influences a transaction. In reality, Pinterest is perfect for marketing precisely because Pinterest users don’t feel bombarded by overt advertising. They voluntary share their interests and are self-motivated to reach out and discover great new products and services that match their interests. Because they choose it rather than having it aggressively pushed at them, they don’t feel they are being sold anything. The early adopters of Pinterest who are able to understand the new model are reaping the benefits. Do not be fooled by the lack of display ads — there is a lot of marketing already happening on Pinterest.
Here is how Pinterest is being used for marketing:
- Brand Awareness. Through photos and videos, you have the opportunity to showcase your brand values and your products. As we’ll see, there are fewer privacy concerns on Pinterest so your photos will reach more people since Pinterest users are willing to share exciting pins with total strangers. Also, Pinterest users see pins based on self-selected interests so your images touch a targeted audience that will be more likely to be passionate about your brand.
- Sales or affiliate commissions. Yes, people are already directly selling products on Pinterest. When you see a pin with an image of a really cool product or service, you can click through to a web page. Typically, this link will take you to a web page where you can get more information or make a purchase. Even affiliate links work on Pinterest so it’s possible for you to earn commissions using Pinterest to distribute products for other companies as well.
- Product testing/evaluation. Pinterest has the potential to be a giant focus group. Since Pinterest is so visual, you can share photos of multiple concept designs to ask for comments or just to see what people share the most by repining.
- Drive traffic. Pinterest can work together with your other social media initiatives and websites to help you drive traffic. You can link images on Pinterest pins anywhere – including to your Facebook page or your website. For the time being, links from Pinterest are even “do follow” links that can boost your search engine ranking.
The previous article was excerpted with permission from Pinterest Marketing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Brand and Products on Pinterest by Leon Cho. Refer to the book or ebook to learn the unique Pinterest strategies and tactics you will need to achieve these marketing goals.
