How to Grow Your Business with Pinterest

If you’re like most retailers, you’ve already built your natural products business a home on Facebook and Twitter, but are you on Pinterest yet?

If not, consider this statistic: The average consumer visiting an online store from Pinterest spends $179. That’s 123% more than consumers coming from Facebook and 159% more those visiting from Twitter!

Pinterest users are part of a growing network of consumers looking to discover and learn about new products online. The social site works like a real world pinboard, allowing you to pin, or post, images and information you want to share and revisit.

Each pinboard centers on a theme and contains related images. The images are then linked to online content hosted outside Pinterest. For example, a user could post a photo of the muffins that she just baked and link it to the Web site where she found the recipe. Her followers will see the image in their news feeds and click on it to see the recipe. They can comment on the image, “like” it or repin the image to one of their own pinboards to keep it handy.

As a business owner, your goal on Pinterest is to interest users in your products, and entice them to visit your Web site and physical store. Additionally, you want to encourage fans to follow your pinboards for new content and encourage them to share your content with their networks.

Here are five pinboard ideas you can use to start your natural product store’s first Pinterest boards:

1. New product alert: Make keeping your customers up-to-date a breeze by consistently pinning new products to your business’s new product pinboard. This will add your new products to your followers’ feeds, and drive more traffic to your Web site by inviting them to learn more about your new offering.

2. Share knowledge: As a natural products retailer, one of your biggest jobs is educating consumers on the benefits of choosing natural products. Create a pinboard that shares explains the benefits of your products by illustrating how to use a specific product, teaches a health tip or shares other knowledge in your niche.

3. Digital comment card: Ask your regular customers to pin their favorite products from your store and offer a digital testimonial on your customer pinboard. This introduces new consumers to your store through the eyes of a customer.

4. Introduce yourself: In the new retail reality, consumers want to know who they’re buying from, and even more so for natural product users. Create a pinboard that shares your interests and hobbies, charities you support and your staff. Keep it updated to earn your followers interest.

5. Showcase your store: Invite followers on a digital tour of your store space. Share photos of the different sections of your store, your loyal shoppers and your neighborhood.

Pinterest is the most versatile social network for retailers because if offers one-on-one interaction with your customers. Not only can they browse your pinboards, but you can visit theirs to see what interests them. Don’t forget to add pin-it buttons (which you can find here) to your website to make it easy for fans to share your products too.