Creating visual delight with Pinterest

One of jewellery’s greatest appeals is its visual aesthetic, so what better way to promote it than through a social media site that promotes items visually? 

The photo-sharing website Pinterest gives businesses an unparalleled platform on which to show off the glitz and glamour of their products. With statistics revealing that 80 per cent of Pinterest users are women, the social media network is better matched to jewellery than maybe any other industry. 

Need further proof as to why jewellers should consider using Pinterest? According to social media website Social Media Today, Pinterest drives more direct sales than any other social media platform. Pinterest users reportedly spend more money more often and on more items than any of the other top-five social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter. 

The first point of call involves creating an account with a general email address that allows trusted employees to also contribute to the pinboard. To verify a new page as a business and thus a credible source, follow the steps on the official Pinterest business page (business.pinterest.com)

Once this is done, start pinning images. Organising pins into well-ordered categories, creating catchy board names or even brand-specific boards will all assist in making a Pinterest page the go-to place for the latest jewellery products.

It’s a good idea to add a ”Pin it” button to your business’s website so that browsers can highlight items they like on their own Pinterest pages, all in the aim of facilitating greater reach. Pinterest also integrates seamlessly with other social media sites – pins can be shared on Twitter and Facebook accounts, driving engagement and building followers. 

Deciding what to pin isn’t difficult. Start with product, an ideal way to self-promote. If a price is added in the description box, a price tag will be placed over the top of the image. This will help to make jewellery items even more accessible and appealing to the target audience, letting them know this is a product that can be purchased. 

As well as pinning the store’s own content, consider sharing other pinner’s images. The key is to keep pins relevant to a particular niche within the jewellery industry, with the occasional off-topic post to show a bit of personality. Creating and curating pinboards that incorporate a good mix of content should stimulate return visits and boost the page’s credibility more effectively than just incessantly promoting items for sale.

The social media network can also be a long-lasting online catalogue for the jewellery industry. According to marketing news website Business2Community, Pinterest posts have a shelf life of more than one week, while Facebook posts average 80 minutes and Twitter just five to 25 minutes. 

To further add personality to any Pinterest account and strengthen customer trust, complete the bio-box with an engaging introduction to the business. Don’t forget to include all contact details, of course. 

Since launching in 2010, Pinterest has undergone a large number of functionality updates to help keep up with the demands of a rapidly growing user base. 

Jeweller spoke with two jewellery businesses in December 2012 that had, at the time, recently started Pinterest accounts. Jeweller contacted them again in an effort to gauge how the platform – and user response to the platform – has progressed.

For Victoria Buckley, founder of her namesake jewellery business, there are definitely more people using Pinterest, including jewellers, than when she first started her account. Buckley says one of the most beneficial improvements made to the  platform is the ability to pin from a blog. 

“When I began on Pinterest, I could only pin from my website, not my blog. Now this has changed, it is much easier for us to pin design process shots, and to show ‘the story behind’ as much as the actual jewellery,” she says. “Telling the whole story helps with capturing people’s imagination, as well as copyright protection [by helping identify work as unmistakably your own].”

 

Buckley states that she finds Pinterest the easiest of all social media networks to run “passively”, as it is time effective and easy to present her work in a professional, interesting way. 

She also says that the popularity of bridal-related pins is a prime example of why jewellery businesses should consider using Pinterest: “Many [customers] come into design consultations with me, bringing their Pinterest boards.”

Similarly, Loloma Jeweller’s Holly Jackson believes that “brides make up the biggest market” on Pinterest, adding that the site is the “world’s biggest shopping mall”. 

Jackson says Pinterest’s greatest quality is its ability to “capture someone’s imagination”. Additionally, she considers the capacity to explore, be creative and inspire to be invaluable qualities of the site. While Loloma’s Pinterest account is updated regularly and links to the business’s Facebook page, Jackson anticipates that the site will explode with traction now that  its e-commerce site is up and running.

Interestingly, after being dormant in the online community for more than a year, one of Loloma’s pins was suddenly re-pinned 118 times in one day, adding weight to Business2Community’s claims that Pinterest posts experience longer shelf life than other social media content. 

With more than 1.5 million Pinterest followers, Swarovski is an example of how jewellery businesses can take full advantage of the network. The Austrian-based company officially launched its Pinterest account in April 2012 and held its first Christmas competition later that year. 

According to a spokesperson from Swarovski’s social media team in Europe, the promotion boasted a successful response that prompted the development of another festive season contest in 2013 – “12 Moments to Give” invited consumers to select and pin their favourite Swarovski pieces for a chance to win a set of flutes.

 

“By running the Pinterest contest, we are hoping to generate interest in-store for the contest but much more raise awareness for our Christmas offering online and invite consumers to our boutiques,” the spokesperson said. 

Contests, product catalogues, an audience that is primarily female and in the market for wedding jewellery – Pinterest sure does present a strong case for jewellery retailers. As with any social media strategy, there are no hard and fast rules, meaning it’s now over to jewellers to test the waters and to reap the potential rewards of a well-targeted social media strategy that is so obviously geared towards displaying visually-appealing product.