Why Pinterest is the most important social media platform right now
Many won’t admit this, but let’s face it, Pinterest is literally like a black hole for those curious minds and daydreamers all around the world – it is so easy to get lost into the world of Pinterest, and lose all track of time and reality. On the other hand, it is heaven for marketers and brands, with their potential consumers pinning relentlessly, all day, everyday. There are currently 367 million active users on Pinterest, with real purchasing intent and power, waiting to be targeted at the right time.
For those businesses, old or new, who have never considered incorporating this enormous social avenue into their marketing strategy, let us explain how and why you should be prioritising this visual platform. It has become more important now than ever before, with the spike that has been witnessed during lockdown, as consumers look for ‘at home’ related content, ‘how to’, ‘summer garden parties’’, ‘daily inspiration’ and much more, to have your brand creating organic boards and pins, eventually turning into a paid media strategy to optimise this vast window of opportunity.
Before we delve into the recent updates on trends, published by Pinterest themselves, let us highlight some of the key features of this app and the benefits attached to them.
- Pinterest is a visual search engine unlike other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The objective here is to encourage users to view, save and follow the link of the pins, rather than simply liking and commenting.
- Your pins have a longer shelf life as they get discovered through search, even years down the line. They do not get inundated like other platforms with likes or comments, but with consistent pinning over time, this slow-burn strategy is useful in bumping up brand awareness.
- Businesses are now also able to become a verified merchant with a similar blue tick like other social channels, and once verified, you would have access to measurement and analytical tools, and even a shop tab on your profile!
- As a brand, you can utilise the ‘Shop’ tab by leveraging your product pins even further through this streamlined process, and consumers can access these pins through search or the boards as well.
At CEEK, we help all our clients to build a strong presence on this huge visual app which easily connects to other social media platforms and the brand website, which is crucial in driving traffic to the Pinterest account.
A great example of how our CEEK consultants successfully utilised Pinterest into the marketing strategy for a client, is Mayflower London, who are leading experts in luxury and premium home automation systems in London, with services ranging from home cinema installations, to lighting, office automation and security systems. Here, CEEK took advantage of Pinterest as a catalogue to display their different products and services. as Pinterest represents a huge opportunity for luxury brands to raise brand awareness and recognition of their products. Mayflower London’s offering is well suited to Pinterest’s popular interior design content. Presenting their beautiful imagery on social media has meant that we are able to engage with others in the industry such as interior designers.
With Interior design performing extremely well on the Pinterest platform, it is unsurprising that natural stone floor client Quorn Stone performs exceptionally well on the platform. Their combination of desirable content and large target audience means that the content receives high levels of impressions and conversions.
Current Trends & Themes of Summer 2020
Covid-19 is affecting everyone and everything around us from our families, to travel plans, to daily working routines. At a time like this, it is crucial as a brand and a marketer to really listen to what people want and need. To help us, Pinterest recently published key data about what is being pinned, what ideas people are looking for and what the recent trends are. To make it easier for our readers, we have summarised the main points below for different industries and how brands can utilise this information to target their future customers.
Fashion Brands
Fashion houses/brands should focus on minimalism and simplicity as their Pinners look for alternatives to suit their lifestyle changes. A noticeable trajectory has also been noticed for future fashion trends concerning future events such as Halloween and Christmas.
- 100% increase in ‘casual work outfits’
- 1.3x increase in body positive
- 93% increase in ‘day drinking outfit’
- 2x increase in ‘minimal fashion’
- 1.9% increase in ‘duo halloween costumes’
Hair & Beauty
Brands in this category should think about helping their clients with ‘how to’ videos in order for them to still feel good about themselves. Similar themes were also witnessed here around simplicity and simple living needs.
- 54% increase in ‘simple acrylic nails’
- 40% increase in ‘simple makeup looks’
- 95% increase in ‘halloween makeup’
Interior Design & Decor
During lockdown, there was a huge spike in Pinners looking to fill up their time with re-decorating and DIY simple home changes. Brands in this category should consider creating inspirational examples to keep their customers engaged and entertained, and focus on building brand loyalty.
- 108% increase in ‘simple wallpaper’
- 112% increase in ‘minimalist bathroom’
- 105% increase in ‘minimalist bedroom’
- 85% increase in ‘zen room’
- 88% increase in ‘desk ideas’
- 1.2x increase in ‘desk decor
- 89% increase in ‘diy bar outdoor’
- 15x increase in ‘backyard seating area’
- 77% increase in ‘diy halloween decorations’
Entertainment / Arts & Crafts
With everyone stuck indoors, a noticeable trend was witnessed with personal development and mini projects to keep oneself occupied. Gaming, entertainment and creative brands should look to connect their products and services in an exciting and enticing way that would encourage personal growth.
- 95% increase in ‘homemade candles’
- 60% increase in ‘easy sewing projects’
- 99% increase in ‘dog treats homemade’
Summer Trends
After a stressful year, Pinners are looking to take a break this summer, be it holidaying at home or road trips with friends. Inspire your Pinners with ideas for discovering local food and drink, area tips, and entertainment suggestions.
- 231 millions for ‘Summer’ and ‘Vacation’
- 141 million summer related search
- 6 billion summer ideas saved
New Feature – Collections Ads
With the fast-evolving world of digital media and technology, Pinterest recently introduced a new feature for Pinners and Brands. With e-commerce playing a huge role in digital marketing and the retail landscape, Pinterest’s ‘Collection Ads’ will allow brands to cross sell various products from one lifestyle ‘hero’ asset.
This ‘hero’ asset will initially be the pull for customers, which can then be layered with secondary pins of other various products within the image. This feature allows brands to sell complementary products, and move the customer journey from inspiration to action. Already witnessing a huge success, Pinterest has revealed that so far it has driven an 18% increase in total basket size for advertisers.
Finally…
To summarise, Pinterest is an application that is so often overlooked by brands for many reasons – maybe they do not know where to start, or simply not aware of how the functions and features can help them achieve their objectives. If you would like to have an initial chat to gain a better understanding of all of the above, our consultants would love to help you and design a bespoke strategy that aligns with your goals.