Four Pinterest Best Practices for Brands

Everyone (particularly us ladies) loves getting lost in the world of images on Pinterest. From fall fashions to cute puppies to travel photographs to wedding planning, people love to pin. Here are some quick facts you might find a bit pinteresting:

• The average user spends about 98 minutes a month on Pinterest
• There are 70 million total Pinterest users and 80% of them are women
• Pinterest users follow an average of 9.3 retail companies on the site (compared to 6.9 on Facebook and 8.5 on Twitter)
• 47% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from Pinterest
• Conversion rates for Pinterest traffic are 50% higher than other social media traffic
• Pinterest is the top converting social media site for “Top of the Funnel” advertising (over 400% more revenue per click than Twitter and 27% more than Facebook)

So how do you take users’ passion for pinning, and convert it into clicks and revenue? Lets take a look at popular boards from the top brands on Pinterest, and how they are capturing the eyes, hearts and wallets of users. Check out these four tips and tricks for best Pinterest practices from the top brands.

Let’s start with two strategies:

1. Enhance and Expand Brand – Using Pinterest boards to add new layers helps to build upon what brands offer. Adding different boards is important because it allows you to provide a variety of pins for followers to share. Thus, creating more opportunity for engagement, expanding reach and enhancing the brand experience for fans.

Lonely Planet – Travel brand Lonely Planet has boards that are all very travel-centric such as destinations, cultures and travel tips. One board that enhances Lonely Planet, and separates it from other brands, is their “Lonely Planet Music” board. These pins link directly to playlists on Spotify for different destinations, giving followers music to travel to.

Better Homes and Gardens – As a very popular magazine, Better Homes and Gardens enhances their print magazine on Pinterest. The brand has boards for home decor, holiday decorations, food and recipes for each and every season. Something unique that Better Homes and Gardens incorporates is creating blogger boards. Popular bloggers contribute to these group boards with pins for recipes, family projects, time saving tricks and holiday ideas.

Style Me Pretty – With 5.8 million followers on Pinterest, it is evident that this wedding blog is doing something right. Yes, the wedding category is one of the most popular on the social network, but this brand takes it to another level. With boards for every single thing that is involved in a wedding, from hair to the dress to cocktails to DIY projects, users can depend on Style Me Pretty to have pins to help them plan their wedding. Instead of having to search through the blog site, followers can visit the Pinterest profile for organized wedding bliss.

2. Behind the Brand – Pinterest is not just for brands to post images of their products. It is important to add personality to boards that go beyond what is offered. By creating boards that show what the company stands for, it allows followers to see different sides of the brand, and identify with it.

Cabot Cheese – This 1,200 dairy farm cooperative based in Upstate New York and New England does great things on Pinterest. The brand has a board that displays the animals, farms and farmers that contribute to Cabot Cheese. By showing the faces behind Cabot Cheese, followers can identify with the brand because it shows the company is human.

L.L. Bean – Known for their durable outdoor apparel, L.L. Bean embraces their brand identity in their Pinterest boards. Instead of only pinning images of their clothing, L.L. Bean has boards for camping, woodland creatures, style and more. By creating boards that display what the brand stands for, followers and fans can get a sense for everything L.L. Bean encompasses. With 5.5 million followers, it is obvious that including brand related boards is successful for L.L. Bean.

Now for two tactics:

1. Link Back to Site – Since 80% of the pins on Pinterest are repins, using your website as the pin source will always link back to your brand. When users click on the pin images that appeal to them, they will be taken directly to that page on your site. It is important to drive traffic to your website because, for many brands, the website is where you can convert visitors into leads or customers. The more pins that are sourced from your website, the more traffic you will drive from Pinterest.

Jetsetter – Travel is big on Pinterest. Users love to go on the social network, and get away to different countries and landscapes. Jetsetter allows their followers to escape with their “Daily Moment of Zen” board using images that link back to their website. By clicking on the picture, Jetsetter gives the viewer information and insider tips regarding the location. Jetsetter’s goal in driving visitors to their site from Pinterest is to inform them of everything their site offers. The brand then hopes to become the source for all the travel information that customers need, and encourages them to return to the brand’s site in the future.

Etsy – Ranging in everything from jewelry to home decor to apparel, Etsy is home to a community of different shops. This cooperative allows the brand to create a wide variety of Pinterest boards that grab the attention of their consumer base. Using pins that link directly to the Etsy site, Pinterest users can click straight to the product for purchase.

2. DIY/How-Tos – These types of boards encourage Pinterest fans to head to their stores to purchase the products necessary for these trendy looks and awesome projects.

Sephora – Sephora’s board called “Beauty How-tos” offer nail, makeup and hair tutorials for all the latest trends. This board gives followers step-by-step guides for the looks and styles they are looking for, and keeps them coming back for more. Also, with the brand’s reputation, followers trust what Sephora has to say.

Lowe’s – With a board titled “Build It,” Lowes offers instructions for followers to construct fun new projects. With how-tos on everything from farmhouse tables to lawn games to home decor, users can trust the guides, advice and materials from Lowes. While this board engages with bloggers by showcasing the community’s DIY projects, it also promotes Lowe’s because the necessary products are purchased from the store. As one of the top five most popular and engaging boards on Pinterest (over 3.4 million followers), the “Build It” board from Lowe’s is the perfect example of balancing the fine line of self-promotion on Pinterest.

Since Pinterest users spend more and make more purchases than users of the other top five social sites, it is important to utilize the social network. Whether using Pinterest to gain awareness, show brand personality, drive website traffic or expand your brand, it is important to spend time making a quality profile which consists of having a variety of boards that are filled with relevant pins. These pins should link to trustworthy sources, and include info with hashtags for search.