Marketing on Pinterest?

Pinterest presents us with some data for 2020:

• There are over 450 million active users who visit Pinterest monthly for inspiration for shopping or projects
• 80% of weekly users have discovered a new brand or product on this platform
• When seeing Pins (images) of brands, 85% of users buy them.
• Although the platform’s target audience is mostly female – 60%, the male audience continues to increase every year.
• Users are under 40 years old and have purchasing power, with a growing younger audience (about 16-24 years).

The context

The great digital migration, especially since 2020, has made the internet a more interesting place: besides being our favorite source of research and entertainment, it  has become a channel for commerce.

Social networks, in particular, are a meeting point between consumers and brands:  brands should be where their audience is. Thus, like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, TikTok, among others, Pinterest has also revealed itself as an e-commerce space.

Pinterest: inspiring since 2010

Each social network has a goal.

Pinterest’s has always been to inspire users through multiple images (“Pins”), segmented on inspiration panels, on any topic that comes to mind: recipes, decoration, fashion, lifestyle, animals, education, crafts, art, culture, DIY, etc.

Each image includes a link to the website from where it originated for the user to delve into the pin-related topic. If you have created an account, and like other social networks, the content displayed will be based on your preferences – the images you clicked and saved and the themes you searched for.

How does all this represent an opportunity for brands?

Pinterest Business – the App at the service of brands

1. The ingredients for a successful recipe

The visual impact

Vision is the most accurate sense when buying, or we would not be essentially visual beings. Pinterest being by excellence a network with a focus on image, it naturally captures the interest of consumers.

For all segments

In the wide spectrum of topics that consumers search on Pinterest, the likelihood of finding your audience or part of it on this network is high. So, any business, regardless of its size or market segment, has a place on Pinterest.

Organic and paid traffic

Visibility and brand awareness are a certainty, as the platform identifies users’ interests and displays the most relevant pins or ads in a personalized way to them. As each Pin has a link associated with the source website or online store, traffic also flows to these channels.

Predisposition to buy

As a rule, users consult Pinterest to find appealing images and organized into themed albums because they intend to buy something new or start a new project. There is, therefore, a predisposition to receive new ideas and new products, which brings advantage to brands.

Increased Return on Investment (ROI)

According to Neustar, compared to social networks, ads on this platform get twice as much ROI, especially in the retail industry, compared to other social media platforms.

Community

Something you can find on this App is a series of  resources and a  community  so creative people from any area can interact and grow.

2. Differences between personal and business Pinterest

The original idea remains: create inspiring image panels, organized by categories, with a link in the Pin that refers to a website. But in the case of brands, other features appear:

The “Buy” button

The business account features a specific tab, “Buy”, which serves as a shortcut to  products and accelerates the purchase.

Source: Salsa Jeans Pinterest

When the feature is fully integrated into national territory, the Pin may appear with white dots that immediately specify the product and value, such as here:

Source: Salsa Jeans Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Official badge

Brands will be able to obtain the  blue seal  verified merchant,  which in addition to highlighting the brand also conveys greater reliability and boosts sales in the App. However, this certification assumes some criteria – among them, avoiding any type of SPAM.

Ad management

You can measure campaign performance by smoothing certain metrics, namely:

• The impression rate (how many times pins have been viewed);
• The click-through rate for the website (clicks on the source link);
• The number of Closeups (detailed view of the Pin);
• The engagement (pins saved or viewed in detail, link clicks, shared pins);

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest Analytics

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest Analytics lets you rate:

• Which contents obtained the best performance (impressions and interactions), whether pins or paid ads;
• Traffic and the degree of engagement, through the analysis of the activity generated by pins (which refer to the website);
• The evolution of the page over the months, including the number of followers and the conversion rate;
• Who is your audience: is the audience mostly female or male? How old are they? Are they Portuguese? What are their interests?

This in-depth analysis allows you to better understand your audience and thus improve the communication and marketing strategy, developing campaigns directed to that audience.

Pin Types

Normal pins

• The most common pins have a vertical image, ideally at a ratio of 2:3 (1000 x 1500 pixels) so you can take up maximum screen space.
• High-quality images increase the possibility of the brand standing out in the visitors’ feed.

Video pin

• Just like on social networks, the video format immediately captures users’ attention. A 6- to 15-second ad with a concise message is ideal.
• The ad size must be maximum (available for paid ads) to expand on the smartphone screen.
• As not all users have the sound turned on, text or captions describing the video are convenient.
• The video should contain an appealing main image related to the topic of the video.
• A concise description of the video makes the journey easier (title: up to 100 characters; description: up to 500 characters).

Collections

• It shows, in a single publication, several products of the brand.

Source: Salsa Jeans Pinterest

Carousel

• Like Instagram, for example, it’s the images we can scroll through on the same Pin, sliding horizontally. This format captures more attention – who can resist seeing multiple perspectives of the same product?

10 ways to optimize your Pinterest Business account

Pinterest for business is in development, so at this time not all of the features described here are available in Portugal.

Still, it’s worth the brands being prepared for when it’s possible to make full use of all the features of this up-and-coming platform – which won’t be long.

1. Defining goals

If you have identified the company’s objectives regarding pinterest’s integration into your marketing strategy, there are actions that can be developed:

• Gain visibility into the brand/product/service;
• Get more traffic, direct or indirect (outside of Pinterest);
• Develop online campaigns;
• Develop email marketing;
• Create a bridge to the physical store.

2. Who’s your target audience?

If the brand already has other communication channels, be it the website or other social networks, you may already have a notion of who your audience is (age, gender, profession, preferences and habits).

But Pinterest Analytics itself provides information about followers. The better you know your audience, the more targeted the content you can show.

3. Create business profile

Creating an account on Pinterest Business is quick and simple. You can create a root account or, if you have already created an account, associate a business account. The more appealing the narrative of the brand, the more interest it will capture from the visitor.

4. Create Pins

It’s time to create Pins that promote your brand and products.

• Images should be appealing, clear, contain a striking title (up to 100 characters) and a description (up to 500 characters) objective, so that the user can easily find it when searching.

• For real people: More than showing the products one by one, give them soul: it is important that visitors “visualize” how products will look.

Source: Decathlon Pinterest

• Brand logo: Each image (pin) must contain the brand logo, ensuring that it is visible (the Pinterest icon must integrate the images).

• Thinking mobile:A good part of Pinterest users access the App via smartphones, so you need to take that into account when building e-commerce content.In addition to the size of the images, it is important to ensure that the title, description, and copy information (text overlay in the image) is clear and concise, so that it is readable.
• Ensure the flow of connections: It’s critical to ensure that the links associated with Pins are working properly. There is nothing more frustrating for the user than clicking on the product to analyze or buy it and not succeeding due to technological constraints.
• Hashtags: By assigning hashtags to products, users will be easier to find in the searches they do:

Source: Decathlon Pinterest

5. Pinterest icon on homepage

It’s critical that there’s a button on the brand’s website that’s forwarded to Pinterest. The ability to see products on Pinterest, which is inherently a space of inspiration, makes them much more attractive.

Pinterest also offers all its official materials so brands can communicate with more quality.

6. Create ads

Once you’ve identified which pins performed best, promote them through personalized ads and albums for Pinterest.

By sponsoring a Pin, you can specify your target audience and evaluate campaign results, which generates more product reach and, of course, more sales.

7. Stay focused

Pinterest is primarily used to design ideas. When creating content, that should be the focus: how can the content help consumers invest in something good for themselves? How can these help plan for their future?

8. Email marketing

Through email marketing, as well as subscriptions, you can increase the conversion of users into buyers.

9. Probe the market

Pinterest being a space of inspiration, why not look for what other companies in the same market segment are doing?

10.  Trends – Pinterest Predicts

Even though it’s still in the open, Pinterest predicts some trends, which helps brands prepare their communication strategy.

For example, one of the trends is the reduction of makeup for a more natural look. This prediction may suggest brands publish educational content on how to enhance natural beauty or what are the best products for minimalist make-up.

Pinterest and Instagram

Question: What platforms do you use to search for product and brand information?

Source: Global Web Index Q4 2020

According to the Global Web Index, many users seek to cross-reference information they capture on other media, notably on Instagram (60%) and Facebook (51%).

That is, a user who discovers a product or brand on Instagram or Facebook tends to delve into that product through Pinterest and vice versa.

Thus, linking content between platforms will increase brand visibility.

Conclusion

The numbers, trends and the great era of e-commerce leave no room for doubt. It’s been a while since Pinterest was just a platform to inspire us with beautiful images.

Pinterest Business has arrived and increasingly connects consumers to brands.