Take Advantage of Pinterest’s Buyable Pins for Your Shopify Store (2021)

Every day, millions of potential online customers use Pinterest to find, discover, and share things that they are interested in. Because of this, Pinterest is a great marketplace as many of its users are constantly on the lookout for art materials, gifts, drinks, apparel, accessories, and more.

Who'd have guessed that the social media platform known for discovering and “pinning” the newest fashion trends, DIY crafts, and even recipes would also be used for online shopping?

With over 450 million users, the app has become one of the most popular places to sell, advertise and show off your goods. What’s more, you can link your existing Shopify store so customers can buy your products directly from the Pinterest website.

If you want to link your Pinterest website and develop a Shopify x Pinterest social media strategy or create a new Shopify store altogether, our team at Webinopoly is here to help you. Our team consists of Shopify experts who have years of collective experience and knowledge to back them up. Just head over to our contact page to get in touch with us.

What is Pinterest?

According to the website, “Pinterest is a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more.” It's a social media platform that doubles as an online pinboard. When you come upon anything intriguing, you bookmark it or "pin" it. Pinterest works similarly to other social networking bookmarking apps, but it places a greater emphasis on visuals.

So where does Shopify come in?

A few years ago, Pinterest announced “Buyable Pins”, a type of Pin that includes a “Buy it” button letting consumers checkout and pay for products they discover on Pinterest within the app itself. Any products shown as a Buyable Pin can be purchased immediately from Pinterest once you've set them up.

Pinterest Buyable Pins have actually been around for a couple of years now and was launched in 2015. With the advent of the pandemic still looming over us, and online shopping is at an all-time high globally, we want to revisit Pinterest’s potential as a platform to drive more sales for eCommerce stores.

In 2020, Pinterest launched an app for Shopify sellers. It includes features such as tag installation, catalog ingestion, automated daily product updating, and an ad-buying interface. This makes it easier for Shopify sellers to set up and use Pinterest distribution, whether with or without ads, as well as reporting and results tracking.

Pinterest revealed this year that it is expanding its relationship with Shopify to 27 new nations, a considerable expansion from the initial pool disclosed in May of last year.  Shopify merchants advertising on Pinterest now have access to Dynamic Retargeting, which will allow them to re-engage with Pinners who have previously indicated an interest in their items on Pinterest.

Is Pinterest still relevant in 2021?

As of the 2nd quarter of 2021, Pinterest had 91 million monthly active users (MAU) in the United States alone. The number of foreign monthly active users, on the other hand, was estimated to be 363 million. This means that every month there are over 400 million active users globally. 

Back in 2015, the MAU was at 100 million users so there is no doubt that it has sustained its popularity up until now.

But a million active users don’t necessarily translate into sales. We need data and proof points. Interestingly, there are also a couple of case studies shared by the site. Let’s take a look at some.

Samsung

Industry giant, Samsung, strives to always provide its customers with innovative and convenient high-tech products. To launch their new washing machine, Samsung integrated Pinterest’s smart video format to raise awareness and drive sales.

• Launched the campaign in two stages
• In the 1st phase, Samsung used sponsored max-width pins (these are Pins 4x larger than the standard ones)
• Targeted relevant demographic based on search keywords like “interior decoration”
• The second phase concentrated on utilizing four standard-format 10-second videos to bring in traffic to the website

Results: The brand's product awareness and buy intent both increased by 25% and 23%, respectively. Samsung achieved an impressive average view rate of 40.1%3 and a completion rate of 100%.

IT Cosmetics

The UK-based beauty brand, IT Cosmetics already has one of the best-selling color correcting (CC) creams in the market. But they knew that there had to be more potential customers out there, and they wanted to reach them.

• With the insight that 91% of beauty searches on Pinterest are unbranded, IT Cosmetics used this discovery attitude to reach out to customers when they are actively looking for CC creams
• IT Cosmetics targeted keywords across the CC cream and face makeup categories
• One of the first advertisers to use automatic bidding (where the Pinterest algorithm manages the bids for you)

Results: IT Cosmetics immediately saw success in switching from standard to automatic bidding, with an 84% higher clickthrough rate (CTR) and 57% more efficient costs per click (CPCs). Not only did the beauty brand reach new audiences and convert new customers, but IT Cosmetics was also a top organic search term for color correcting cream during the campaign period, growing up to 2x.

These and other brands attest to the power of Pinterest. The businesses above show us that Pinterest’s Buyable Pins clearly have a significant impact on their campaigns and sales.

If you’re keen on utilizing Pinterest to get similar or impressive results, let’s have a deep dive into the Pinterest audience or as they call ‘em, “Pinners”.

The Pinterest Audience

Generally speaking, most of the audience here are females, specifically moms. In fact, 4 out of 5 American moms use Pinterest to hunt for new items and ideas. If you are a brand that is targeting homemakers and people we know to make the decisions at home, then you definitely need to make an account.

But wait! Don’t discount Pinterest just yet if moms aren’t your target. Pinterest is also used by around 80% of Millennial women in the United States and 40% of Millennial males. Any brand wanting to appeal to Millennials should be on the platform.

Now if you are a brand that is struggling to compete in oversaturated social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, then Pinterest may be for you. Pinners are curious and keen to discover new things, new brands, new stores, and about 97% of searches are unbranded. This means that the majority of consumers are not typing a brand name into their searches, and all brands are at a level playing field.

Stats shared by Pinterest:

60% of its global audience are women

40% are Male Pinners and Gen Z Pinners

35% are US Millennial Pinners are up 35% year over year

45% of people in the US with a household income over $100K are on Pinterest

GETTING STARTED WITH BUYABLE PINS

How do Buyable Pins work?

You can utilize buyable pins if you have an e-commerce platform like Shopify.

Users on Pinterest can purchase one of your pinned products by selecting the "Add to Bag" button on a Buyable Pin. Once they “check out” these items from their Pinterest shopping bag, then the transaction is completed.

Payments can be made through credit card or Apple Pay directly on the Pinterest website.

As a seller, you will be in charge of shipping the item and any customer service, the same way you run your Shopify store.

This process is beneficial to Pinterest-heavy users as the Buyable Pins allow them to purchase things without ever leaving the site. Plus, it leaves little to no friction in the customer journey, making it a smooth transaction.

There are a good 72% of Pinterest users who say that the site encourages them to shop even when they aren't seeking anything specific. Make use of this insight by making sure to add a call-to-action (CTA) button for your products.

What are the benefits of Buyable Pins?

• It works on all devices including mobile
• Pinterest doesn’t take any commission so everything goes to you
• Customers get in touch with you directly (customer service is done on your end)

The only cons right now are that there’s no WooCommerce integration and there are no guarantees that these Buyable Pins will be seen by your target audience. To get that, you will need to “promote” your pins.

SETTING UP YOUR PINTEREST FOR BUSINESS

To get started with Pinterest Buyable Pins you will first need to set up a Pinterest Business Account. Having a personal account on Pinterest is not the same as having a business account. Only the personal account allows users to save pins and view trending topics. The Pinterest business account, on the other hand, allows users to view analytics, top pins, and run advertising.

You can either connect your Pinterest business account to your account or leave it as a separate business account.

The next step is to integrate your site with Shopify, so make sure you already have a store or account. You're ready to start pinning your products on Pinterest once you've applied and been accepted to connect your site with Pinterest Buyable Pins. (Please note that your buyable pins may take 3–5 days to appear in the search results.)

If you have an online store with Shopify, you can start selling your products on Pinterest by adding the Pinterest sales channel. Once you’re approved by Pinterest, any product that’s ever been Pinned from your online store will automatically become a Buyable Pin and include a “Buy it” button. All of your Pinterest orders, products, and customers will automatically be synchronized with Shopify, just like any other sales channel.

Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Determine your target audience

• Have a good understanding of Pinterest’s demographics
• Study your own brand’s customers and create a customer persona to determine your target audience

2. Set up a business account

• If you already have an existing personal account, switch to a business account by logging into your existing profile and converting it. Or, create a new one

3. Brand your account

• Keep your branding consistent with the rest of your business’s social media profiles
• Update your profile photo with your logo or brand name
• Optimize your bio
• Upload cover boards that are in line with your branding

4. Link and verify your website

• Claim your website by adding a meta tag or uploading an HTML file on your Shopify store
• Only one website can be claimed per Pinterest account so make sure it’s the correct one

HOW TO START SELLING THRU PINTEREST

Use high-quality images

Anywhere you sell online, you need high-quality photos. But this is especially true on Pinterest as it is a very visual platform. Concentrate on catching products from the greatest possible angles.  First and foremost, Pinterest is a visual discovery engine, which means that high-quality, eye-catching photographs are critical in generating product sales. Remember, you want people to “pin” your photos or find them interesting so you must catch their attention.

Pinterest can help raise your CTR and sales if you use a combination of gorgeous photos, appropriately sized images, and the proper typefaces for your business.

You can opt to include your company logo on each image so it remains branded. This can keep your brand in the customers’ minds and also encourage them to save your pins and purchase items later. 

Use a variety of content for your boards

When it comes to your content, you need to mix it up to keep potential clients' attention. Too much of the same repeating visuals will get tiring.

Contrary to what you might think at first, you don't have to post solely your own brand's merchandise. It might be helpful to include products from other brands so you can stay relevant to your chosen topic. This way you create variety for potential customers, it also helps them since they can use your page to check out other items and keep going back to yours for updates.

Create product tags for shop the look pins

If you’ve successfully connected your Shopify store to Pinterest, you will be able to access the product catalog. Use the shop the look pins feature to tag all your products in a single pin. By using this feature, your available products will be represented by white dots and users will be able to find similar items by hovering over the image.

Note that tagging photos is time-consuming, so you will need to allot some time or get someone to do it for you. Identifying relevant products will be a key step in increasing your sales.

When the function is turned on, the available products are represented by white dots, and users can find similar products and shop for them by hovering over the image.

Though tagging photographs is a time-consuming procedure, it is worthwhile to devote your time to identifying relevant products to increase sales.

Optimize your content for SEO

Pinterest uses an algorithm to rank your pins because it is a visual search engine. It will be key to conduct thorough keyword research relevant to your audience and product category. To get an idea, you can check what your competitors are using and create your own strategy from there.

We also advise you to enhance the CTR and possibility of people buying from you by writing attention-grabbing titles and descriptions for your pins. Basically a “click-bait”. 

If the information is attractive to the users, it will boost the visibility of your pin and assist generate organic purchases.

Implement rich pins

A rich pin is essentially a type of organic pin format that provides more context about an idea by showing additional information directly on the pin.

These pins add extra details from the websites that they are taken from and if changes are made on the website, the rich pin is automatically updated.

There are four types of rich pins:

Product pins: These include real-time pricing, availability, and the link to your product page. This is for when you want to make shopping easy and is a timesaver for busy shop owners. 

Recipe pins: Good for including the duration of cooking time, ingredients, and specific serving sizes

Article pins: Good for showing a brief overview of an article. It will show the title, author, description, and link

Use promoted pins

If you want to speed things up a bit, you can use promoted pins. Pins that you have to pay for to promote are known as promoted pins. More people will be able to see them and buy from you as a result of this.

If you are a new brand it can take time for the Pinterest algorithm to include your pins in its search results. In this case, it’d be best to try working with promoted pins according to your budget. Because promoted pins have no minimum cost, you may set your campaign budget to anything you choose.

Promoted pins will direct your targeted customers to the product or landing page. You can also include detailed product information here and specify the target users’ demographics. The Pinterest website will allow you to narrow down target users and assist you in generating leads.

Keep track of your performance with Pinterest Analytics

With anything that you do for social media marketing, it’s important to regularly track your analytics data so you can base your next steps on actual data and improve results. Learn how your potential customers are interacting with your pins and what type of content they like. Analytics should also help you see how your Buyable Pins are performing.

Use this data to experiment with the best way to engage your customers. There is no fixed solution when it comes to digital marketing but once you get a grasp of it, the results will speak for itself.

Pinterest analytics provides the following:

• Impressions
• Top Pins
• Top Boards
• Engagement
• Number of Clicks

Conclusion

Pinterest may not be your top of mind when it comes to social media strategy but it does have its own benefits and features. If you are a customer-centric brand that wants to get in touch with creative, inspired communities.

What this platform offers is a different way to increase your following across social media and interact with your audience through their follow and pin system. It increases your shareability and reach. There are also additional features like Shop The Look and Pinterest Lens which provide an additional seamless shopping experience for your consumers.

It can also provide you with increased traffic this way as its content can show up on search engine pages especially when it’s been optimized. An additional benefit to this is that not a lot of marketers focus on Pinterest so you may have less competition in terms of bidding for ads and taking over certain topics. 

Selling on Pinterest however, means investing time to gain experience and knowledge on the power of strong visuals. However, if you have been marketing online for a while now, this should not come as a surprise especially when we have other social media apps like Instagram where visuals are king.

Get started with your Pinterest journey by following our tips and good luck!

If you’re really struggling with your online store, then maybe it’s time to invest and work with a Shopify expert.

A Shopify expert is a professional who has taken the time to learn the ropes of Shopify and has the experience and knowledge to back up their strategies.

Such as here at Webinopoly, we’ve got experts who live, breathe and eat Shopify, and will be able to understand your concerns and provide you with timely solutions.

We can help you from setting up shop to designing your Shopify store and even crafting content for you.

Here at Webinopoly, we create solutions that can help entrepreneurs like you build and expand their online businesses. If you need help optimizing your Shopify pages, building or designing them, we are here to help! 

Webinopoly is an Award-Winning Digital Agency and are experts in Design, Setup, Development, and Marketing. Our services range from building your Shopify store to theme customization, website development, migration to Shopify, SEO, and marketing.

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