There is a lot of spamminess that goes around and I think network marketers get a bad rap. How many times have you been sent a friend requests via Facebook and become friends, and then all of a sudden they’re sending you a Facebook messenger going, “Hey, buy my product, buy my product.” Network marketing does not work like that. No, marketing works like that. It’s important to build that relationship with someone first and then introduce a product that would be of benefit to that person. You need to keep that in mind when using Pinterest for direct sales because it will determine how you structure your content and what you will be writing about.
When you are going to use Pinterest for direct sales, you need to understand how it works because it is not a social media network like Instagram or Facebook where you’re going to be dealing with people and making contacts. It is a traffic driver and so you can drive traffic anywhere that you want. It’s a search engine. So think of it as a pretty Google. People approach Google with a problem that they are looking for a solution to. If you have the solution and your content is keyworded correctly (similar to Google SEO), your solution will pop up and maybe make a sale or get a lead to nurture to a sale (remember-relationships first).
Examples of How to Use Pinterest for Direct Sales
Blog Posts
If you have a website, which I recommend that you do, but you can either provide value via blog posts or you can start with Instagram or Facebook. When you write a blog post, include what is your product good for, what problem does it solve? You’ll want to include additional benefits, and tell stories. People love stories. How did you find the product and why did you become a fan of the product (besides making money from it!). Include a call to action of join my Facebook group, follow me on Instagram, or if you’re ready to purchase, contact me, or send me a message. You want to provide value and people can read your blog posts first and then contact you if they are interested. Pinners approach Pinterest to search for and solve a problem so create blog posts around these different problems. Then you’ll create multiple pins that drive traffic to those blog posts on your website. There your website will have your contact information or perhaps a shop to buy from directly or they might sign up for your lead magnet and you can nurture the relationship further through email.
Lead Magnets
As I mentioned, once a person arrives at your website, give them a gift. Ask them to sign up for your juicy lead magnet that solves a problem. Create a booklet of diffuser blends or if you sell jewelry or leggings, etc. create a guide about how they can choose like what’s appropriate for them; how to pick the best necklace for a wedding or how to dress up a necklace, for example. Then you would create pins to that lead magnet’s landing page. Not only are you giving value, but you’re also getting someone’s email address so that you can market to them further.
YouTube
You can also use Pinterest pins to send traffic directly to YouTube. If you don’t want to blog and video is more your thing, start creating YouTube videos. Underneath that YouTube video make sure that you have your contact information, your call to action, and how they can find you. Do you want them to join a Facebook group? Do you want them to follow you on YouTube? Whatever it is, you’ve given the value in the video and then add that call to action.
If you use Instagram, create a well thought out, educational post and add a call to action; if you’re ready to purchase, contact me or send me a message and let’s talk if you need help. Then you can pin those square Instagram posts to your Pinterest.
Grow a Facebook group and/or repurpose Facebook lives
If you created Facebook lives on your Facebook business page or would like to grow your Facebook group, you can create pins to send traffic to both places.
I love that you can create content once and repurpose it in multiple ways and send pins to it in all the different places. Create a Facebook live video and create a pin. Then you can download the video and upload it to YouTube or send it through a transcription service like Temi to create a blog post. Cut and paste into an Instagram post, Facebook post, and send it to your email list. For more ideas to create content quickly, you might enjoy my other blog post 10 Ways to Repurpose Your Content Fast.
Do you need a website?
These are all the different ways that you can use Pinterest for direct sales to drive that traffic. And except for a blog post, you do not need a website at this point. You can even drive traffic to your company’s sign-up or product page if they allow it. I do normally advise against because again, it’s in your face, here’s the product, buy it, and then you’re sending them straight to an order page. Unless it’s an infographic pin where you’ve listed five things that my essential oil does and they’re likely ready to buy because they have heard of the product. At this point, you’ve got a warm body because they’ve already been researching essential oils and there’s a chance that you could get a sale. But most likely if you just present the product and go to my order page, there is no reason to buy.
I do suggest in the long term that you do get a website and start with a Squarespace website. It is easier to use compared to WordPress and it is a platform that can grow with you. There are a variety of platforms, like Wix, that seem cheap upfront but in order to add functionality later on, you will have to rebuild a new website because those platforms don’t transfer.
If you do want to get into blogging, you’ll want the SEO benefit so your content can be found on Google. WordPress and Squarespace are the best, Squarespace is the easiest out of the two and I believe it’s less expensive. I would first start with a Facebook page and a Facebook group before spending the money on a website if you are watching your pennies.
For more information, you can read my blog post on this topic, Do You Need a Website to Use Pinterest?
If you need help or want to get started with Pinterest for direct sales, I recommend purchasing my course Pinning Foundations that will help set up your Pinterest business account from scratch and teach you everything you must know to get you started with Pinterest for your business.
