How to Get Started as a Product Seller on Pinterest
Getting set up properly as a physical product seller requires a few more steps. Once you do, you will have access to all the merchant features to help your products be discoverable and shoppable as long as your account stays connected.
This post is meant to consolidate in one place the best threads, resources, and Pinterest documentation on Merchant topics.
You will want to complete the following steps below first.
- Create a Business account or convert a personal account
- Upload your Product Catalog
- Install your Tags
You can read the full instructions on how to do this here -
Troubleshooting Product Catalogs and Data Feeds
If you are a merchant who has an e-commerce store on a different platform other than Shopify, you may run into challenges successfully uploading your product catalog to Pinterest.
Below is a list of e-commerce platforms that will format your products to publish on Pinterest -
Here is an excellent resource on product catalogs and data feeds that Pinterest created to help clarify some of the confusion around Product Catalogs and Data Feeds. You can download that resource here.
This post was created specifically to address Commonly Asked Questions About Shopping. There is a ton of great information that will indeed point you in a helpful direction. You can access that post here -
https://community.pinterest.biz/t5/articles/most-commonly-asked-questions-shopping/ta-p/24097
Troubleshooting Tag Installation
Installing the Pinterest tag will allow you to do the following -
- Track and optimize conversions
- Measure campaign performance
- Build audiences for targeting
- Become a verified merchant
- Access Conversion Insights
There are two main components of the Pinterest tag:
- Base code: The base code is the foundation of the Pinterest tag and has to be placed on every page of your website. Copy the base code and place it in the <head> tag of your website’s HTML.
- Event code: Event codes have to be placed on pages where you want to track specific conversions taken by people on your website. Copy the event codes for the conversions you want to track from the Conversions page of Ads Manager and place it on the pages of your website you want to track.
Get the full instructions on how to do this if you are NOT a Shopify user here.
Below is a list of tag integration instructions according to the e-commerce platform you’re using -
- Google Tag Manager
- Shopify
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
- Weebly
- Premmerce
- Magento
- Ecwid
- BigCommerce
- Tealium
- Squarespace
If you need to install your tags manually, you can follow these steps below -
Troubleshooting Becoming a Verified Merchant
Joining the Verified Merchant Program is optional and unnecessary to get your products circulating on Pinterest. However, there are benefits worth considering.
- As a Verified Merchant, you get - Favored eligibility in distributing your products within the Pinterest shopping experiences.
- As a Verified Merchant, you get - A blue checkmark on your profile and Pins letting people know that Pinterest pre-vetted you.
Because users on Pinterest are usually not familiar with your brand when they encounter your pins, having a built-in trust factor associated with your account can be very useful in converting sales. You will need to have completed the following actions on your business account to be eligible.
- Have a business account
- Claim your website
- Uploaded your product catalog
- Install the Pinterest tag
- Meet the Merchant Guidelines
If you have additional questions, here is a link to the Verified Merchant Workshop and FAQ Recap -
https://community.pinterest.biz/t5/articles/verified-merchant-program-workshop-faq-recap/ta-p/34574
Shop Tab Customization Tips
Once you have successfully uploaded your product catalog, a Shop Tab will appear on your profile with your Product Pins that are automatically generated from your Product Catalog.
You can customize how this looks to turn your Shop Tab into a storefront for visitors coming to your profile. It's important to note that product groups are created by filters that you define in your data source.
To successfully create product groups, you need to make sure that the corresponding fields exist and are filled in in your data source first.
For example, if the product_type field, such as bracelet or necklace, is not included in your data source, you won't be able to organize your products in categories based on type.
These product groups are automatically generated by Pinterest for you to use as filters to organize your products on your shop tab -
- All Products
- Top Sellers
- Back in Stock
- Best Deals
- New Arrivals
- Most Popular
If you want to display variants on the product detail page, so people browsing your products can select relevant details like colors or sizes, these fields are required in your data source -
- item_group_id
- variant_names
- variant_values
Note that different variants of the same product should have the same item_group_id.
You can access the full instructions here -
https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/promote-your-product-groups
Shopping Features for Merchants
If you followed all the steps to get your shop set up on Pinterest, then you’re ready to realize the full potential of the new tools and features as a merchant.
I suggest familiarizing yourself with these to understand them better and figure out how to best leverage them for your brand.
Here is a post that walks you through each Shopping Feature -
What Are Your Next Steps?
After you're set up as a merchant and have successfully uploaded your product catalog and installed all of the required tracking tags to your e-commerce website, it's time to research your keywords. This step is vital to building a strong foundation for your account.
The keywords you research should be used in all the placements below -
- Profile description
- Board Titles and Descriptions
- Pin Titles and Descriptions
Then, it's time to start pinning! Consistency is key to your success on Pinterest. I would aim for at least 1 fresh pin a day and 1 Idea Pin a week.
Good luck! I hope this helps! 🤓📌
