While big retailers have already been at work on their holiday promotions for some months, small business owners might not need that much time - but autumn is the deadline.
The holiday season arrives earlier and earlier in retail stores each year, and entrepreneurs can capitalize on that fact by syncing their promotions with retail timelines.
One of the best ways to market holiday items and specials is on Pinterest.
Because it is such a visual medium and so wildly popular, small business owners who want to get retail ready for the holiday season need to start pinning now.
Why Pinterest? Pinterest is one of the newest, and most popular, social media sites to hit the internet since Facebook and Twitter.
The site's main demographic is women with families, aged 25 to 34.
And they are passionate about visiting the site and pinning loads of images on a regular basis.
Most pinners are buyers; a full one in five of them will purchase an item they've pinned at some point - either offline (16% of them) or online (12%), according to research by Vision Critical.
That means if you operate a bricks-and-mortar store in addition to an e-commerce website, you can expect engaged pinners to increase traffic to your physical location.
Pinners who purchase items from Pinterest referrals visit the site a full 27 times in a month! They are looking for great products to add their wish list boards and are often "first touch" contacts whose initial impression of your company occurs through your pins.
How much do Pinterest users spend? The majority of them enjoy an annual income of $100,000 or more and they spend an average $179 per purchase on items found on Pinterest.
What You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing on Pinterest Fifty percent of pinners claimed they would use Pinterest to research items - will they find your products listed? Will they be able to pin images of your products from your website? You have a 20% chance of gaining a sale from a pinned product and can expect a total sales price higher than referrals from Facebook.
That's pretty good.
But you also need to need to be aware of a few other things, such as what to pin, when to pin it, and how to ensure it gets shared.
Pinterest actually tracks the internet behavior of its users, unless they opt out.
That means not only is their home page filled with images related to their boards, it also contains images related to their offsite browsing.
Keywords are, of course, critical.
Timing for a pin isn't as crucial as it is for a tweet.
Research company Piquora claims that most tweets are only useful for a few minutes after posting.
Pins, however, have a "shelf life" of several months.
They stay relevant far longer because their exposure is almost timeless, unlike tweets, which are gone in seconds.
Although timing is not necessarily critical, it is important to capitalize on the holiday season as early as possible.
After their kids are back in school, you can bet moms on Pinterest will be browsing the boards for great deals and gift ideas.
Your products can be pinned today and purchased a month from now, so the sooner you start showcasing holiday items and holiday specials, the better.
Plus, this gives you time to delve into the metrics of which pins/boards are most popular to drill down onto your social media marketing strategy.
Want more visitors to your bricks-and-mortar store? It's a good idea to design your marketing strategy specifically to entice in-store visitors, if that is your goal.
Social media marketing, especially via Pinterest, is a good strategy for promoting your products for increased holiday sales.
It's important to align that strategy with your business goals.
If you don't know how to go about doing this, it may be time to call in an internet marketing consultant.
Now is the time to get your holiday retail strategy in place.
The holiday season arrives earlier and earlier in retail stores each year, and entrepreneurs can capitalize on that fact by syncing their promotions with retail timelines.
One of the best ways to market holiday items and specials is on Pinterest.
Because it is such a visual medium and so wildly popular, small business owners who want to get retail ready for the holiday season need to start pinning now.
Why Pinterest? Pinterest is one of the newest, and most popular, social media sites to hit the internet since Facebook and Twitter.
The site's main demographic is women with families, aged 25 to 34.
And they are passionate about visiting the site and pinning loads of images on a regular basis.
Most pinners are buyers; a full one in five of them will purchase an item they've pinned at some point - either offline (16% of them) or online (12%), according to research by Vision Critical.
That means if you operate a bricks-and-mortar store in addition to an e-commerce website, you can expect engaged pinners to increase traffic to your physical location.
Pinners who purchase items from Pinterest referrals visit the site a full 27 times in a month! They are looking for great products to add their wish list boards and are often "first touch" contacts whose initial impression of your company occurs through your pins.
How much do Pinterest users spend? The majority of them enjoy an annual income of $100,000 or more and they spend an average $179 per purchase on items found on Pinterest.
What You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing on Pinterest Fifty percent of pinners claimed they would use Pinterest to research items - will they find your products listed? Will they be able to pin images of your products from your website? You have a 20% chance of gaining a sale from a pinned product and can expect a total sales price higher than referrals from Facebook.
That's pretty good.
But you also need to need to be aware of a few other things, such as what to pin, when to pin it, and how to ensure it gets shared.
Pinterest actually tracks the internet behavior of its users, unless they opt out.
That means not only is their home page filled with images related to their boards, it also contains images related to their offsite browsing.
Keywords are, of course, critical.
Timing for a pin isn't as crucial as it is for a tweet.
Research company Piquora claims that most tweets are only useful for a few minutes after posting.
Pins, however, have a "shelf life" of several months.
They stay relevant far longer because their exposure is almost timeless, unlike tweets, which are gone in seconds.
Although timing is not necessarily critical, it is important to capitalize on the holiday season as early as possible.
After their kids are back in school, you can bet moms on Pinterest will be browsing the boards for great deals and gift ideas.
Your products can be pinned today and purchased a month from now, so the sooner you start showcasing holiday items and holiday specials, the better.
Plus, this gives you time to delve into the metrics of which pins/boards are most popular to drill down onto your social media marketing strategy.
Want more visitors to your bricks-and-mortar store? It's a good idea to design your marketing strategy specifically to entice in-store visitors, if that is your goal.
Social media marketing, especially via Pinterest, is a good strategy for promoting your products for increased holiday sales.
It's important to align that strategy with your business goals.
If you don't know how to go about doing this, it may be time to call in an internet marketing consultant.
Now is the time to get your holiday retail strategy in place.
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