5 Ways to Increase Pinterest Followers for Your Online Store

You may think Pinterest is all about pretty pictures, but did you know that it drives more online sales than any other social network? And the really good news is that the average order that comes from Pinterest is $80. Yes, this may be skewed by furniture, artwork and other large ticket items, but it is still great news. It means that Pinterest users are buying, and they aren't afraid so spend big on something they like. And if you are selling a big ticket item, it's really great news for your business.

But let's not put the cart before the horse. Before you can even think about selling on Pinterest, you must first have interested followers. Otherwise, who are you selling to?

Here are five ways to increase Pinterest followers for your online store.

1. Show your products in use

Why would anyone go to Pinterest to see the same sales-oriented images you are displaying on your website?

Show a little creativity and add images of your products in use.  You can even be creative with this and show alternate uses.

Consider a simple visual tutorial of how your product can be used. If you sell an electric knife, show images of all the things you can cut with that knife. You may even want to link to recipes in certain posts. Other posts will link directly to the sales page. Let everyone see how your products can enhance their lives, and your target customers will gravitate to you.

Note: It's okay to post some of the same images you have on your website, but it's important to do it in a creative way. We'll cover some ideas for that soon.

Example:

Home Depot could choose to simply show an image of their Storage Shed

or show how it's used in real life.  A picture like this on Pinterest will gain more attention than the one above.

  

2. Add Pinterest share buttons to your product pages

Take advantage of the traffic you already have on your website by inviting them to pin your products on Pinterest. And be sure to keep a link to your ecommerce store's Pinterest page in the header or footer of your website, so they can follow you.

This way, all of your bases are covered. You can increase followers to your boards and entice people to add your products to their boards. The more exposure you have on Pinterest, the better. And there's no rule that says a product can only be pinned in one place!

3. Create themed boards

Here is where it's okay to pin your typical product image because it's about more than just saying “look at my product.”

It's about showing your followers how your product fits into their lifestyle. For a simplified example, if you were selling an apple, you may pin it on a board with your favorite apple recipes, tips for coring an apple and creative ideas for getting your child to eat an apple a day. The content can come from anywhere, but the star will be your product.

Here's an example of how REI retailer created a theme based board call The Chef.  They pinned all sorts of items for the chef adventurer.

 

4. Invite fans to collaborate

If there's one thing you should know about Pinterest, it's that people LOVE pinning. They enjoy creating boards and seeing what others have created. When you get them involved in creating a board for your brand, it makes them part of the experience. Of course, they will follow something they are helping to create!

You can also have followers contribute to a group board similar to how Nasty Gal does it.

5. Create Pinterest-only offers

Give people a reason to follow your boards by offering them an incentive. If they like your product and know they can get discounts, they will be more likely to follow. You may not be able to control who uses the coupon code, but at least your Pinterest followers will feel like they are getting something special.

Here's an example of how Z Gallerie created a Pinterest exclusive promotion where followers can get 20% off using the coupon code "PINTEREST".