It’s an exciting time to be on the marketing team for a Magento site right now!
Pinterest formally announced on their blog on June 30th that the Buyable Pins project was being rolled out, allowing users to buy from online stores through connecting Pins on Pinterest.
“When you’re ready to check out, tap Buy it and pay with Apple Pay or a credit card, right in the app. Once you enter your personal info, we’ll save it so you don’t have to enter it in again next time. In just a few more taps, your purchase will be on its way to your doorstep and you’ll be right back to Pinning.”
While that was already hugely exciting for ecommerce marketers around the world, things got even better in October when Magento announced that their merchants could now sell their products directly on Pinterest through a Magento Buyable Pins extension. Thanks to a partnership with Creatuity, this brand new product was designed to work seamlessly with Pinterest and your Magento online store.
What does the Magento Buyable Pins extension do?
Magento Buyable Pins allow consumers to buy your items found in pins through their iPhone or iPad Pinterest app. This means online store owners have an amazing opportunity to capitalise on impulse buys during idle browsing moments by consumers and reach millions of new Pinterest users.
Buyable Pins are currently only available to US retailers and the new Pinterest Buyable Pins extension is now available for merchants using Magento Community Edition 1.9 and Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14.
Why should I start utilising Pinterest?
As we covered in our previous post about this exciting social media platform,a recent study found that:
- Pinterest was the second highest overall source of social media traffic to Shopify stores.
- The average sale coming from Pinterest was $50. This figure is higher than the average sale from any other mainstream social platform.
- 93% of Pinners use the platform to plan their purchases.
How to make Pinterest work for your online store
Aside from installing the Magento Buyable Pins extension, there are a number of other techniques you can use to establish yourself on the social media site and help cultivate a community of customers.
- Business account
Rather than setting up a general account, set up a business account. This has built-in analytics, which allow you to monitor how customers are using and reacting to your account.
- Use quality images
Pinterest, like Instagram, is all about images. Don’t post low-quality, small or blurry images as these won’t be repinned and definitely won’t appeal to potential customers. Use images with bright colours that say the right thing about your brand. You can also repin other people’s images – just be sure to credit the original url.
- Take advantage of Rich Pins
Rich Pins are great for product promotion as they contain important information like where to find the item and what the price is, making it easier for visitors to spend with you.
- Install Pin-It buttons
Installing these on your Magento store allows site visitors to bookmark your product on their Pinterest inspiration board to buy later or share it among their followers, helping you reach more potential clients. Just make sure yourPin-It button is obvious and easy to use.
- Back to basics
Include a call-to-action on your site to encourage people to share your products on Pinterest and feature another on each product image you pin on your Pinterest business account that encourages people to buy.
- Use the site
Don’t just bulk-post all your products on your account and forget about it. The more users see you pinning like a pro, the more likely they are to join your community. Use boards to group your product pins based on different themes or topics. Boards can be followed by Pinterest users, effectively giving you a list of subscribers.
