Pinterest has now become a tool for a clever marketer that is looking to promote all kinds of products directly to consumers. This site has been at the forefront of the user generated content craze, but until recently Pinners weren’t exactly having an easy time buying things they were putting on their lists.

At least they weren’t having a great time doing it.
See, before last June a Pinner would create a Board where she highlighted something important she wanted to buy and instead of being able to buy it on the spot she had to jump through a myriad of hoops to achieve it. And if you are a marketer, you’ll know that the bulk of buys on line comes from impulse buys.
Almost all active Pinners, as much as 80% declare that they have at one point or another bought something they saved on their Boards or saw on some one else’s Boards. Surveys also show that Pinners are most likely to pin or re pin products instead of people. So, this clearly shows that people using the site are creating potential shopping lists.
In a survey conducted by Millward Brown Digital it was shown that 93 percent of Pinners were using their lists as a strategy to purchase. Well, now those potential buys can become actual purchases because of the introduction of the “Buy it” option that the company is introducing to the site.
“93 percent of Pinners were using their lists as a strategy to purchase”
It is also known that Pinners access the site through their smart phones, that’s why the new feature was first offered for the iPad and the iPhone. With the app, a user is able to manage their lists that will no longer be a wish list, but an actual shopping list. With new features like price filters (pinners are able to stipulate how much their budget is) and color coordinate their options, it will keep customers engaged and ready to buy.
pinterest-buyable-pins
Now, anybody can go from wanting something or planning to buy something to buying it directly from their lists! Imagine how much new revenue it will bring to retailers that are ready to embrace the “buy it” button, or tailor their marketing campaigns for this fresh new market?

Benefits of Buyable Pins

The first benefit is that you don’t have to share a percentage of your profit with Pinterest, at least not now anyway. They will profit from increase partnerships with big ecommerce companies that will take care of the details of the transactions.
Right now, if you already have an ecommerce account in either Shopify or Demandware you’ll be able to stick to your operations as usual. Pinterest not only will not charge you for selling your product on their website, they will also stay away from your infrastructure. This allows you to keep your marketing channels right where they are. You’ll be in charge of shipping and fulfilling orders like you are used to, nothing will change in that regard.
shopify-buyable-pins
As I said before, if you are not Macy’s or Nordstrom (both of those huge retailers have already been made partners by Pinterest) you can still get in on the action through your Shopify account.
If you do have it, here is what you’d need to do: log on to your account and add the Pinterest Channel where you can enable the option of buyable pins. When you do this, all your pins from your on line store will automatically be linked to a Buy it button.

How to prepare or use Buyable Pins

So, if you see the potential, let’s start with the basics. Right now the only companies that have partner with Pinterest to provide shopping access are: Shopify, and Demandware. Therefore, if you already use one of these two ecommerce sites, then you can inquire how to start using the “blue buy it” sales channel to start bringing in some added revenue.
If this is not the case, and you’d like to apply for the option, you can join the Pinterest waiting list. Click here to join.

6 Strategies for Pinterest Buyable Pins

Here are 6 solid strategies you can use once you’ve taken the buyable pin plunge:

1) Get your products on Pinterest

The first thing you should do is to make sure that your products are being seen on Pinterest. If your products are available for purchase but nobody can see them, then you might as well not exist. So, promote just like you did before, promote and promote some more. Keep your inventory up to date and offer a variety of them. This can be hard to do because of the time necessary for it, but invest on software that will pin your products automatically to your account.
Pinterest partners Curalate recently developed a clever solution to help businesses overcome this hurdle. Using a smart program called ‘Index’ Curalate can now programmatically get your products onto Pinterest – without spamming your followers or cluttering your boards.

2) The Power is in the Image

Don’t underestimate the power of a good picture. This is a bit tricky, because you’d think that a studio photo of your products would do just fine. Well, this is not right most of the time, take a few moments to research what type of pictures your target market is pining, so you’ll have a better idea of how to take your pictures. Also, don’t be afraid of stock footage, and pictures taken by your own customers. The guiding thought here should be “how do I appeal to my customers”
Find out how you can optimise your Pins with Vizified here.

3) Analyze, strategize, and optimize

The first thing you’ll have to do is sign up for their analytics platform. This is an incredible tool that will help you shape your advertisement strategy to better cater to your target market. With this tool you can find out what demographics your pins are reaching. It also tell you where your re pins are coming from, what countries or even what regions. You’d be surprised at the myriad of languages that your products are expose to or are viewed in. All you’ll need to join is a business account and a verified website to receive what is probably a vital tool for marketing your products.
Analyze and tweak. Always look for those analytics, what are they telling you. What can you do better with the data they provide? If I understand the data then make smart strategies with concrete goals.

4) Know your Audience

Another thing you should consider when making a marketing strategy for the new “buy it” feature on this site is to know your audience. What this means is that you should know what is trending and what your customers are pinning or re pining. Also, keep involved with your potential clients, get down to their environment and study their habits. All the time you invest will pay for itself in a very short while. The down side is that this time can be a lot, so if you are not already using Pinterest as a marketing platform you should consider starting now. Building a rapport with your potential clients takes time, so start now.

5) Optimize For Mobile

Now, one thing that is of vital importance, just as important in my opinion as Pinterest Analytics Platform is to optimize your content for mobile. Over 3/4 of all Pinners access the site via their phones as I already mentioned, so if your pins won’t look good on a mobile, you’ll likely be skipped or worse: ignored. Therefore, check out other pins and compare them to yours, if they look better: Change the way you optimize!

6) Try Promoted Pins

After you have made your pins as attractive and organic as possible, you can start choosing the best ones to convert over to promoted pins. These are similar to content that appears on Facebook and twitter. They are paid for, but in combination with analytics it will provide you with vital info on what is being pinned and what is being ignored. It will also give you the tools to tailor make a strategy for optimal penetration. Once you have identified the ones that are more interesting to your target audience you can boost their presence by paying for impressions or purchasing click through.
Another alternative is to collaborate with recognised Pinterest Influencers. See how this can be a smarter strategy for your business by watching the video below:

Things to Consider

There are things to consider before you take the plunge with buyable pins. Well, you didn’t expect that everything was going to be easy, right? The most important is the fact that the technology that was necessary to enable it to work is still new. So, there are bound to be glitches for the first few brave people that would embrace it.
So, you should weigh the benefit of jumping in head first into Buyable pins. Consequently if your main market is women, between 20 to 40 years old, the glitches might be a price that will be worthwhile to pay. Since the majority of users are still within that demographic, you could get your money’s worth just embracing it. Right now you’ll be able to pair your products with those of retail behemoth: Macy’s.
If, however your major market is men, don’t be put off with Buyable Pins it as there has been a huge growth in male Pinterest users. Take advantage of this growth and get your products on Pinterest so they appear high on its Guided Search and more likely exposed to more bigger male audience.
Read More: Pinterest Is No Longer Just For Girls
Another thing you have to consider is that if you are not prepared for the customers that you’ll have, you might rack up on complaints. This would be a major setback since Pinterest will most than likely penalize you for it or kick you out of the program. So, do your homework and create extra infrastructure for the added sales volume.