Pinterest marketing can be a revenue generator and a huge asset to an overall marketing strategy, but not everyone sees success. If that’s you, read on because you’re about to get the tools you need to fix that by using a Pinterest sales funnel.
This is a guest post by Sue of With Sue Crites. See the end of the article for more information about her, her company, and how you can build the perfect Pinterest sales funnel!
You may have spent countless hours, and possibly dollars, on getting your Pinterest account set up with “all of the things” a Pinterest account needs.
You’ve possibly spent way too long in Canva and most likely tackled Tailwind to get your content out onto Pinterest consistently.
You’ve nurtured your account like a gardener growing seeds, and you’ve been patient, knowing anything SEO takes time to take root.
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The excitement builds as your analytics graph moves upward like the little green sprouts that turn into a healthy plant. Your account is growing, and it feels like the heavens have parted as your traffic continues to increase.
Let the dollars pour in, baby!
But they don’t, and you might think Pinterest doesn’t work for you. Think again, my friend.
You may be missing some key elements which are definite causes for the gravy train derailing. Let’s dive into 5 must-haves to get your Pinterest marketing on track so you can see a return on your time, effort, and money.
There’s a lot to cover, so saddle up ‘cause we’re heading out.
1. Know what to expect from Pinterest marketing
The purpose of marketing is to build awareness of what you offer and generate website traffic, with Pinterest being an ideal approach for many businesses.
But does Pinterest increase sales or get you clients?
No.
Can someone sign up for your email list on Pinterest?
No. Your offer and sign-up form are on your website, so your website must sell your offer and capture that address.
Can someone buy a product on Pinterest?
No. People learn about your product and go through the checkout process on your website, so your website must sell the product.
Can someone book a call with you on Pinterest?
No. Your contact page is on your website, and why would they contact you if they don’t know anything about you beyond the pin and pin description? Your website must give people a reason to contact you and is where they actually can.
What’s the common thread in this picture?
Your website is where people learn about you, what you offer, and where people actually take action, making your website a key element for Pinterest marketing success.
The purpose of Pinterest is to increase brand awareness and traffic. Pinterest is where people discover you, your offer is introduced, and is the vehicle that brings people to your website when they click on your pin, like a taxi delivering people to your doorstep.
2. Understand the Pinterest User
To understand your Pinterest user, you need to understand their intent on the platform.
User Intent
People are on Pinterest looking for inspiration and solutions. They’re planning, dreaming, and doing; you need to meet them where they are.
Since they’re planners, they usually don’t take action right away.
Because they’re searching and discovering, they’re most likely new to what you’re offering, so they need to be warmed up before they’re ready to take action.
People buy when they know, like, and trust you, so when you help people do that, you’ll turn more of your traffic into customers.
Think of it this way. Do you act with your first engagement with a business? Not always, so don’t expect Pinterest users to be any different.
Customer Journey
Everyone is in different phases of their buying journey, which is the thought process your customer is going through when making a buying decision. A very basic roadmap is:
- Awareness – They’re learning about what’s out there, including you.
- Consideration – They’ve learned about their options and are making their decision. They’re engaging with you, your content, or website in some way.
- Action – Decision made and action taken.
To help people get to the finish line and take the desired action (email sign-up, podcast download, purchase, book a call, etc.), you need to provide the answers they need and stay front of mind.
Pinterest users take longer to spend, but when they do, they spend more. Your actions today can pay off down the road.
3. Determine Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy
These next two steps are huge topics unto themselves, so we’re doing the Cliffs Notes version…
There are multiple ways to reach your audience and different routes they can take to becoming a customer or client.
What does that mean for you?
You need to think of the different ways to share what you offer and create a path for people to take your desired action, which typically isn’t a straight line, especially when coming from Pinterest.
For example, if you sell gardening products, some people only know the problem they have (a brown thumb), and some people know their solution (they need plant fertilizer). Both are your ideal client, but you’re going to reach them in two different ways.
Your brown thumb folks will benefit from something that informs them of how to grow plants successfully, so a how-to blog post would be great for them.
In the post that’s full of value, you wrap things up with how and why your product is their solution with a direct link to that product page. Your action on Pinterest would be having pins leading to your blog post.
For the folks who are looking for fertilizer, they’re in the buying phase, and you can focus on the product with your pin design.
So how do you get them from your pin to your end goal?
4. Create Your Pinterest Sales Funnel
A Pinterest sales funnel is the series of steps you have in place for people to go from your pin to the desired action of email sign-ups, checkouts, etc. They meet you, you show them what you offer, and guide them to each next step until they get to your chosen finish line (they convert).
Your sales funnel needs to be a clear, simple, and easy path that removes as many opportunities as possible for people to leave. We all have a sales funnel, whether we realize it or not, and to convert Pinterest traffic, your sales funnel needs to be a good one.
Let’s break it down:
Determine the types of Pinterest sales funnels you need
If you want someone to sign up for your email list, you’re going to take them down a different path than when you sell a product or want them to book a call with you. That means you want to have a sales funnel for each goal you have.
Some examples are:
- Product sales
- Email sign up
- Affiliate sales
- Podcast download
- Client lead
Use your Pinterest strategy to help build your funnel
Remember the gardening product and the two avenues to reach customers? One way is with content such as a blog post. It can also be an email, video, etc. The other way is sending people straight to the product page. You can see those Pinterest sales funnel examples below. There are other options, too, of course. We’re keeping it simple.
Here’s where you need to pay attention, though.
The first funnel example of pin > product page > checkout seems straightforward. Just one step between Pinterest and a sale. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, right? Wrong.
Once someone is on your product page, they have to learn about what you offer, determine if it’s the solution they’re looking for, determine that the price is worth the value they’re getting, add to cart, and checkout successfully.
If you’re using the second sales funnel example of pin > content > product page > checkout, you have an extra step which means an additional opportunity for people to leave.
Your content (such as a blog post) needs to keep people engaged and help them quickly and easily understand that their solution lies with you and your product, with a clear path to the product page that sells and an easy checkout process.
Everything on your website either invites people to continue down the path to your goal or gives them a reason to leave.
To keep them down the path to your goal, you need to plug up any leaks in your funnel. Here are some examples:
- Great product descriptions that are easy to read, and all questions answered
- Easy, safe checkout process with links that work and different payment options, including one pay methods
- An abandoned cart email sequence to capture the escapees
More to come on plugging the leaks.
Now let’s look at another Pinterest sales funnel example using email marketing.
This is a great option if you have a course. Sure, you have a landing page where people could buy right away, but what are some things that would cause them not to? Price. Commitment. Do they know, like, and trust you?
Especially if you’re dealing with a more personal issue or higher price tag, the know, like, and trust is a big factor. So how can you sell your course?
Here are two paths for people to take:
The same basics we covered with the product sales Pinterest sales funnel apply here. You need to:
- Help the user understand what you offer
- Clearly communicate the transformation your offer provides
- Give people a clear next step to continue down the path
- Make taking each step very easy
For some great help with this one and how to even monetize the email sign-up process, check out our post on designing a funnel that converts.
Related Post: The Ultimate Guide to Designing a Sales Funnel That Converts
Let’s tackle one more especially for you bloggers who make money using affiliate marketing. You’ll see two possible paths below.
Your Achilles heel for success can be the quality of the affiliate page and their checkout process. That’s something you have no control over, but a good thing to have on your radar because it can help you decide if you want to be an affiliate and help you manage your expectations of the return you’ll get.
Get people in your funnel with a great pin design
Now that you have the types of sales funnels you need and used your strategy to create them, it’s time to get people in the top of your funnel.
Your keywords get your pin in front of the right people but those people need to notice the pin and click through.
These are the best Pinterest pin practices such as pin size, easy to read fonts, etc. I want to point out a few key things that help people stay on the journey with you down the funnel.
Related Post: Anatomy of the Perfect Pinterest Pin Design
Make it clear what’s on the other side of the pin. What will they learn or get? What solution will they find? In short, what’s in it for them?
Include a call to action on the pin. Tell people what to do next. Buy now, download yours, learn more, etc.
Provide continuity between the pin and landing page. If you have a bold pin with bright colors and large fonts, but your landing page is muted colors and has a calm aesthetic, people will wonder if they landed in the right place.
Plus, is your pin design reflecting your brand? Someone attracted to the bold pin may not be the person you’re actually targeting.
And if pin design isn’t your strong suit, the DiyDesign Creators Vault is just what you need!
You’ll get exclusive design templates for Pinterest, lead magnets, social media, and more every month that help you stay ahead of content trends so you can leverage your blog posts, lead magnets, and products for faster growth.
5. Prep Your Website for Pinterest traffic
While we tend to get attached to our websites as we spend time, energy and money on them, it’s important to remember that your website isn’t for you.
Your website is for the user.
Your website is your vehicle for communicating everything you have to offer in a clear and compelling way. It needs to be easy to use and navigate.
In a brick-and-mortar store, you have the luxury of a salesperson answering questions, guiding people to the right area, and promoting the products or services. If something goes wrong, there’s someone to help.
Online, your site has to do it all and do it right all of the time. Sure, someone can email or call you, but will they be at 11:00 pm or when something is time sensitive? Don’t let the lead go cold.
Here are some things that are like flashing exit signs for website visitors:
- Slow site speed
- Site isn’t optimized for mobile
- Links and buttons that don’t work or lead to error pages
- Cluttered website pages
- Relentless pop-ups or ads
A great user experience encourages people to continue down your sales funnel and makes them want to come back. They may even just sing your praises with a great review or tell others about you.
WRAP UP
Can you make money with Pinterest marketing? Yes, but it’s not as simple as getting Pinterest traffic.
Key things to remember:
- The role of organic Pinterest marketing and Pinterest ads is to build awareness and drive traffic, not convert traffic.
- Your website is where the conversions happen.
- Pinterest users are planners and new to what you offer. Meet them where they are in their customer journey – awareness, consideration, decision.
- Your Pinterest marketing strategy needs to include different ways you can reach your audience.
- Create your Pinterest sales funnels with clear, simple, and easy paths to convert your traffic from site visitor to the desired action.
- Use great pin design to get people to the top of your funnel.
- Your website is for the user. Provide clear messaging of what your offer is, how people benefit from it, and the next steps to take.
- Remove all obstacles for website visitors to continue to your goal and provide a great user experience.
The time and energy you spend getting your strategy created, sales funnels in place and website adjustments made will provide better results for your Pinterest marketing and it will also benefit your business as a whole.
Regardless of where your traffic comes from, you’ll be ready to capture email addresses, secure leads, and make more sales.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sue is a dog lover, proud auntie of 20, and founder of With Sue Crites. She helps clients reach their ideal audience, whether existing or brand new, accelerate email list growth, and increase leads and product sales using traffic-generating and conversion-focused Pinterest strategies and Pinterest ads.
Get access to my FREE 30-point website checklist to help plug leaks in your sales funnel for better conversions and make the most of your Pinterest marketing!
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