Smart content marketers have increasingly been taking an interest in Pinterest in recent months. Pinterest offers fantastic opportunities for the visually imaginative and has been notably underexploited commercially. Now Pinterest has introduced a new Gift Feed designed to connect sellers with eager customers; however, products need to look good to get there.
Although it describes the feed as a work in progress that can be expected to change in the near future, Pinterest is currently curating the feed directly. This may feel frustrating to some marketers but in the long term it is probably good for them all, as it guarantees a high-quality feed over those crucial first few weeks when users are getting used to it and deciding whether to follow or visit it in future.
Marketers can take the time to familiarize themselves with its internal structure. It is banded by price, so retailers who are able to undercut the competition have the potential to really stand out if their images are good enough.
Pinterest is currently constructing the feed using images from eBay and Etsy. Alongside the images themselves, the feed lists pricing information and the location from which the featured products can be purchased. Only products currently in stock are listed. Any business with a product currently on sale on these other sites has a chance of being picked up by Pinterest, but must have really high-quality images to make the cut.
The best approach is likely to be looking through the relevant image categories across Pinterest as a whole to establish those most popular with users, with a view to incorporating elements of the same style.
The pins on the new feed show a lot of variety so far, but with a slight bias toward women’s fashion, perhaps reflecting its comparative popularity on eBay and Etsy. Those who already use the Rich Pins option on the site, which is available only by application, may also see their pictures picked up for the Gift Feed.
The beauty of Pinterest as a marketing venue is that when people go there looking for images they will also get to enjoy, and even share them, rather than finding them annoying. The Gift Feed may well attract some dedicated fans that like the variety, but it will undoubtedly attract people who are there specifically to seek out products which makes the ideal customer.