The underrated Ecommerce gem-Pinterest

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In this newsletter you will find:

💎 The underrated e-commerce gem - Pinterest

📽️ Lively A/B Tests TV Creative to Drive Lower-Funnel Performance

🔥 Smart tech is tackling the true cost of returns to the retail industry

🛍 Product of the week

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THE UNDERRATED E-COMMERCE GEM - PINTEREST

We all love Pinterest don't we?🤩 But, Pinterest is more than just aesthetics. People sometimes wish to get things straight out of Pinterest, Why not? Believe it or not but Pinterest is one of the most underrated platforms that drive sales and engagement for your brand.

Don’t thank us already, wait for the tips 😉

💎 ADD “SHARE PINS” TO YOUR PRODUCT WEB PAGE

One of the many ways customers learn more about your products is by spending time on your website 💻 . As customers click through your product pages, use this opportunity to invite them to follow you on Pinterest so they can share your products with their network 🕸.

Simply add Pin buttons to appear on all of your product images:

That simple huh?

This strategy increases your exposure to a larger audience that might not have found you otherwise which in turn increases engagement 📈.

But how to see if you’re making progress or not? With your business account, use analytics to see which types of products get the most Pins and traffic on your Pinterest page.

💎 ADD “SHOP THE LOOK” PINS

People want everything out of their Pinterest boards. So, why not provide them with what they want? Ninety-eight percent of users buy products they see on Pinterest, but they have to leave the site to do 😞. With Shop the Look pins users see a product they like, they can stay where they are and buy what they see without leaving Pinterest ☺️.

This seamless customer experience speeds up the buying process because instead of visiting multiple websites to compare products and prices, customers can comparison-shop in one place🧠.

💎 USE ALTERNATING CONTENT FORMATS

Pinterest is essentially a visual search engine that encourages the discovery of new information 👩‍💻. Since there are millions of images to scroll through, you have to be strategic about how you share visuals. One way to do this is to vary the type of images you share.

For example, users might start looking for ideas on shoes for an upcoming event but based on their interests and previous searches, your domain quality, and pin quality, additional images appear that users want to explore more 👟. Your products have a better chance of grabbing user attention when they’re different from the images around them.

To get more leads, move users through the sales funnel quicker, do something different from the competition, and categorize the type of content you’ll share on Pinterest. For example, you can share:

👉🏻Blog posts to give researching users more in-depth information to explore

👉🏻Product updates to highlight new product releases

👉🏻Videos to show users how a product works

Notice how they use a combination of product images, videos, and lifestyle pictures to create their brand voice and educate their followers.

💎SHARE COMPLIMENTARY PINS

Just like your product pages, or even your blog, your Pinterest boards have to be updated frequently to keep users coming back. The key, however, is to share more than just your products and content📌. This doesn’t mean you have to resort to sharing your competitors’ pins, but rather content that supports or shows the value you and your products offer.

Pinning content that goes beyond the scope of your products shows your audience what’s important to you and what you value—besides making sales. If your values match your audiences, they’re more likely to buy something.

Online retailer 6 pm sells discounted merchandise through their online store. However, their Pinterest page also includes boards that highlight lifestyle topics that interest their audience

💎WRITE SEO-OPTIMIZED DESCRIPTIONS

Just like with Google searches, SEO needs to be a part of your Pinterest eCommerce strategy. When used right, Pinterest can send up to 7.53% of its traffic to your website🤓.

To generate as much referral traffic as possible, do some research to figure out what keywords your audience searches for 🔬. Once you have a list, create a keyword strategy for Pinterest that includes the types of images you’ll pin and which keywords you’ll use with each type.

For example, if you sell tea online☕️, use keywords that correspond with each type— like iced tea and black tea — so that it’s easier for people to find what they’re looking for.

“Praline Pecans” is mentioned in the Pin title and the description, which improves the chances of it appearing when users use this search term. Don’t stuff your descriptions with keywords, either. You want your Pins to cater to user readability, not just to Pinterest’s algorithm.

Pinterest has only been around for a short period and it’s already seen a considerable amount of growth🙊. Because of the image-sharing nature of the platform, it’s easier than ever for online retailers to get exposure and generate more traffic to their sites.

Also, to make Pinterest for commerce work for you, create a Pinterest strategy that includes appealing images shared in different formats. When done right, Pinterest can become a place where new leads find you and use your boards to discover the value you offer.

TOGETHER WITH TATARI

Lively A/B Tests TV Creative to Drive Lower-Funnel Performance

😣Frustrated with rising acquisition costs on social and digital channels?

DTC brands are turning to TV to reach a broader audience at a more affordable CPM.

Now, marketers can optimize their TV campaigns in real-time and keep the same direct-response mindset that they're used to on digital.

Learn how Lively—a DTC women's apparel brand—applied a performance-focused creative strategy to TV advertising; identifying the optimum length and creative elements necessary to drive lower-funnel performance and leveraging top-performing creatives to scale spend.

The results were stellar, as Lively exceeded their CPV goal within the first week of airing and saw digital performance improve thanks to TV's halo effect.

"We use TV as a full-funnel marketing channel – great CPMs and great rates to reach a broad audience and drive visits and conversions to our site."- Carly London, Head of Growth.

SMOKIN TRENDING

SMART TECH IS TACKLING THE TRUE COST OF RETURNS TO THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

Let’s not beat around the bush and just admit that online shopping is mainstream 🤭. Customers enjoy the convenience of being able to order from the comfort of their homes. Retailers with an online presence saw enormous growth in their online channels. And subsequently, in the volume of returns😪.

When a warehouse receives a returned product, the retailer has a choice– inspect the returned product and repackage it to resell if it’s in good condition. And if it isn’t, get the manufacturer to write off the return or discard the product and take the loss.

Let’s dig deep

🛒CUSTOMERS BUY BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY CAN RETURN

Well, someone had to say this🙄. Almost four in ten respondents in a survey indicated that the retailer’s return policies influenced their purchase decisions. Aware of this trend, retailers now deem lenient returns policies as part of the sales cost and thus, the 30-day return period has now become an industry standard. (agh)😞

The key challenge for retailers though is that a vast majority of them are unable to calculate the unit economics of returns, including expected return levels, markdown liability, and the varying return rates by the product.

Employing alternate disposition channels (i.e. Resell after refurbishing or repair, Return-to-Vendor, Recycling, and Disposal-to-landfill) might compromise an already dented return economics.

Unfortunately, several retailers occasionally find it easier and less expensive to dispose of damaged returned goods which then end up in landfills, somewhere in the world😤.

🛒 RETURNS CAN BE HANDLED SMARTER

Oh, you read that right!! Firstly, retailers must understand the sales and returns of their products in a real-time and actionable way🥲. If, for instance, a recently launched product is being returned at an unusually high rate, analytics tools can provide the retailer with the visibility to identify the issue and either remove the product from sale or rectify the product description and prevent costly returns.

Retailers can leverage Machine Learning (ML) technology to support the customer, whilst at the same time identifying the most efficient solution.

For example, should a customer receive a damaged pair of sunglasses 😎 , ML technology can calculate (the price of sunglasses, returns shipping charges, cost of repairs, and potential resale value) and subsequently trigger product replacement if found that fixing the sunglasses yields a negative margin for the retailer 📉.

Automation of the returns process will undoubtedly reduce the time taken to route returned goods back into the resale channel, thereby facilitating e-commerce.

🛒 MEETING CUSTOMER NEEDS WILL RESULT IN FEWER RETURNS

E-commerce is here to stay and with that, we must recognize the impact on the volume of returns - every online purchase is twice more likely to be returned than in-store purchases 🏪.

Retailers, therefore, should take advantage of planning and prediction tools to understand their customers and sell them the best items to meet their needs 🤔.

What’s more, customers hate complexity and seek out retailers that offer them convenience. Taking up best-practice tools and technologies can hand retailers the visibility to plan and design return processes that delight customers whilst keeping costs down 💸.

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK IS…

ReStock

Don’t we all hate the “out of stock” message when we wanted to buy a product?😞 Yeah, well your customers hate it too.

But, what if the product has been restocked? Who is going to go back and tell them that the product is back? You don't have to do it, ReStock’s here to save you.

With ReStock you can automatically send “back in stock” email alerts to the subscribed customers. Also, they’re one step ahead of you because you can customize your own “Notify me when Available" Button (customize according to your preferred color, size, and content), sign-up form anddddd Email template😮.

You can get out-of-the-box themes for your email without the need for coding (umm seriously?😎) Also, didn't get a response back from your customers despite sending them the notification? Not to worry, you can resend notifications through ReStock.

In addition, You can see high-demanded products, send messages, and notify users all in one report💻.

We can go on and on about ReStock’s features but you’re going to have to see the rest of them for yourself🤭.

No more losing customers because of “out of stock” products. Retarget them once you’re restocked using ReStock (Pun intended😅). You can get a 7-day free trial too. Check out Restock now.

NEWS UP

🎥 Instagram reels add support for fundraisers in 30 countries worldwide.

🎙 Facebook losing interest in its podcasting plans

🏷 Instagram rolls out product tagging feature to the US users

🎚 Twitter’s in-development edit button offers hints as to how the feature could work

🚛 Chewy launches freight services to fulfill linehaul needs

⌚️ Kendra Scott expands into watches

QUICK BITES

🎖 Why Would Optimizing Existing Content Cause Rankings Drop?

🛍 How DTC brands can use merchandising to create a permanent connection with shoppers

📊 Brand awareness, marketing budgets, data: 5 interesting stats to start your week

We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this newsletter🤗. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this email, and we will see you on Friday ✨

Have a great week and see you soon👋

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