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Are you already active on Pinterest and ready to take the next step? If you haven’t signed up for the Pinterest Verified Merchant Program, now is a great time to do so. The Verified Merchant Program helps Pinterest users discover and buy from brands like yours. When you become a verified merchant, your pins could appear organically to those who are browsing Pinterest, which is always the goal when creating Pinterest content. It’s a great way to help your pins get seen and connect with prospective buyers who are already searching for something that you can offer. Now let’s learn all about the Pinterest Verified Merchant Program!
As a Pinterest verified merchant, you may also get exclusive access to some features like merchant details, so pinners can get to know your brand better. Ready to get started? There are three steps straight from Pinterest themselves that I’ll walk you through in this blog. You’ll be all set up for this amazing program before you know it.
3 Steps for Becoming a Pinterest Verified Merchant
- Meet Pinterest’s Merchant Guidelines
This is a critical step. Pinterest has guidelines that you must meet to become a part of the Verified Merchant Program:
- Pinterest must have accurate information about the price of the product you are trying to sell, which is gathered from daily feed syncing or allowing Pinterest to scrape your site.
- Your pin must also display a specific product (services are excluded) available for purchase, and an image and description that aligns what you are selling.
- A return policy and shipping policy must also be clear to the user when they want to purchase your product.
- You can review the detailed Merchant Guidelines here. You can start and check in on the process all in one place by visiting the Verified Merchant application page.
- Connect Your Catalog
Give Pinterest access to all of your products by connecting your catalog, which means you will have to claim your website on Pinterest and create a data source. This article all about catalogs can help you get set up. Once you are connected, your product pins will have the most recent price and product information, which is necessary to make sure you meet the merchant guidelines in step 1. The good news is, if you don’t want to connect your catalog yourself, Pinterest does allow some catalog managers to be used in this step, like ChannelAdvisor or Square. The full list is here on the steps to apply for the Verified Merchant Program.
- Install the Pinterest Tag
This step is important to help you measure the impact your pins are having on your business so you can make strategic decisions about your future pin content. If you haven’t already installed your Pinterest tag, this article explains how to install the Pinterest tag so you can get set up. In basic terms, a Pinterest tag is code that you add to your website that lets Pinterest track visitors to your website and the actions that they take. Just like when you connected your catalog, you can use a separate tag manager like Google Tag Manager, Shopify, or WooCommerce to get set up for this step if you want.
Once you’ve met the merchant guidelines, have an active catalog, and have a functioning tag, Pinterest should have everything they need from you. You can check the status of your application on the same page you used to apply for the Verified Merchant program here. There are lots of fantastic benefits to joining this program, like a blue checkmark on your profile to let people know that you are verified, price/availability info on your pins so that users can see that when they are making a purchase decision, and even a Shop tab on your profile page.
Apply to the Verified Merchant Program
Do you plan to apply for the Verified Merchant program? My advice is to get set up since there are many benefits for your pins. I am always here if you need help with your Pinterest strategy!
