Wouldn’t it be great if you learned that you came from royalty? This would mean having a life filled with glamour, fame and fortune. In the movie The Princess Diaries, this very thing happens when an awkward teenage girl discovers that she is a princess and her life changes forever. One of the luxuries of nobility is having a vast wardrobe of clothing, shoes and tiaras. Even though you may not have descended from an aristocratic ancestry, you too, can feel like royalty when choosing your wardrobe for your next debutante ball, gala affair or social event by using the social media platform Pinterest.

This social media network acts like an online scrapbook where you can virtually collect and organize images of things that “interest” you and “pin” them to a digital “board” on your profile page. Even though you may not always have the funds to purchase that special outfit, by using Pinterest you can still collect, view, cherish, and dream of wearing Armani, Louis Vuitton, Gucci or Jimmy Choo. And it doesn’t always have to be clothing or shoes. Often times, people collect images that include travel destinations, inspirational quotes, recipes, and items they would love to own.

To get started, users simply search and choose images for their board by including either a URL from the web or by uploading their own picture. When users find something of interest, they can “like” it, send it to a friend or “repin” it to their own board for their reference. Just think how easy it would be to shop for your spouse if they made a Pinterest board of all the items they wanted for Christmas.

And while this seems like a site just for collectors, businesses are using this social media to their advantage to showcase their products, attracting traffic and increasing sales. In 2014, Pinterest had the largest rise in active users in all the major social media networks, now reaching over 70 million users. It’s particularly popular with women, who make up 80% of all users on the site. Review the benefits below to learn how businesses have been using Pinterest to gain some incredible results for their brands.

SHOWCASE ENTIRE COLLECTION

On most social media platforms, you are limited to one or just a few pictures of your product. However, Pinterest allows you to showcase a variety of images on everything that your company has to offer through a collection of boards. This allows your customers to see your various offerings and if a user likes a particular area, they can open up that board to explore all that your business has to share in that group.

Martha Stewart Living features various boards, on everything from gardens, crafts, decorating, furniture and tempting food options.

CREATES MORE ENGAGEMENT

Companies want their customers to trust them and their products. One of the best ways to invoke customer’s trust is to continually share helpful tips through long form media, such as infographics or how-to videos. Pinterest has a distinct advantage in this area because its users not only spend more time on the platform, but they are more engaged than with other types of social mediums. While a post on Facebook has an average life of 90 minutes and a tweet on Twitter has an average life of 24 minutes, an average lifespan of a Pinterest pin is three and a half months according to Webpage FX.

Lowe’s Home Improvement offers lots of Do-It-Yourself tips that encourage people to take on home improvement projects themselves.

INCREASES WEB TRAFFIC

A study by Shareaholics found that Pinterest drives more website traffic than Twitter, YouTube and Google+ combined. Let’s say you were looking at new jackets from your favorite department store, if there is one you like, you simply click on it and purchase from the website. Or let’s say it is perfect for a friend of yours, you can share it by sending it to them and they will click through to the business’s website. Pinterest makes it easy to select from various items and make purchases. And according to Shopify, pins that include prices receive 36% more likes.

Nordstrom’s Pinterest site is particularly popular. They have 68 boards on a variety of topics including entertaining, gifts, weddings, accessories, shoes, and fashion.

MINDSET TO PURCHASE

People that use Pinterest are ready to buy. In fact, a study conducted by RichRelevance found that Pinterest users spend almost $170 in a shopping session. Part of its charm is that users can search, discover, and share a variety of items they find from their favorite stores with their friends and family. In fact, 47% of online shoppers bought something as a result of a recommendation they received. And users do not only use it for online purchases as 52% of shoppers claim to have consulted it for purchasing guidance while in a store.

Sephora has reported that their Pinterest followers spend 15 times more than their Facebook Fans.

In the movies, being a princess seems like the most glamorous thing in the world. But many have already recognized that you do not have to be an aristocrat in order for customers to reward your business like royalty when utilizing Pinterest. If you use it right, your customers will spend time on your profile looking at what you have to offer. They will see the value in your entire collection and will “like”, “share”, and “repin” the items they desire. And this will increase the chances of getting a new visitor to your website from buyers who are ready to spend. If your company embraces all that Pinterest has to offer, you too can live happily ever after!

What do you think? What are some other benefits of using Pinterest in business?

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Want to learn more about Pinterest? Check out the following resources, where I obtained some of the above information: By the Numbers: 80+ Amazing Pinterest Statistics, By the Numbers: 40+ Interesting Pinterest Statistics for Business,Demographics of Key Social Networking Platforms (PewResearch Jan 2015),WebpageFX Blog, This is the Behavior On Pinterest That Makes The Social Network So Attractive To Marketers, RichRelevance Shopping Insights Study Reveals How Social Networks Stack Up for Retailers, Top 7 Reasons Your Business Should Be Interested In Pinterest, How Pinterest Drives Ecommerce Sales, Pinterest Was the Fastest-Growing Social Network in 2014 & 12 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Pinterest Marketing.