Pinterest marketing?

Marta Peral Ribeiro – Communications Consultant – E-commerce has arrived on the Inspiration platform

Far more than a source of inspiration and entertainment, Pinterest has caught the attention of marketers, who increasingly recognise its potential as a way to gain visibility and drive online sales.

Pinterest, for its part, has made things easier by building a bridge between consumers and brands: Pinterest Business.

Marta Peral Ribeiro – Communications Consultant – E-commerce has arrived on the Inspiration platform

Far more than a source of inspiration and entertainment, Pinterest has caught the attention of marketers, who increasingly recognise its potential as a way to gain visibility and drive online sales.

Pinterest, for its part, has made things easier by building a bridge between consumers and brands: Pinterest Business. Pinterest shares some figures for 2020:

• There are more than 450 million active users who turn to Pinterest every month for inspiration on purchases or future projects.
• 80% of weekly users have discovered a new brand or product on the platform
• After seeing brand Pins (images), 85% of users decided to buy.
• Although the platform's audience is mostly female (60%), the male audience grows every year.
• Users are on average under 40 and have purchasing power, with the younger audience (around 16–24) on the rise.

The context

The great digital migration, particularly since 2020, has made the internet a more interesting place: as well as being our favourite source of research and entertainment, it has become a sales channel.

Social networks in particular are a meeting point between consumers and brands: brands need to be where their audience is. So, like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok, among others, Pinterest has also turned into an e-commerce space. Pinterest: inspiring since 2010

Every social network has a purpose.

Pinterest's has always been to inspire users through countless images (“Pins”), organised into inspiration boards covering any topic you can think of: recipes, interiors, fashion, lifestyle, animals, education, crafts, art, culture, DIY, and so on.

Each image includes a link to the website it came from, in case the user wants to explore the topic behind the Pin. If the user has created an account, then, as with other social networks, the content shown will be based on their preferences — the images they clicked and saved and the topics they searched for.

How does all this add up to an opportunity for brands? Pinterest Business – the app at the service of brands 1. The ingredients for a winning recipe Visual impact

Sight is the sharpest sense when it comes to buying — we are, after all, essentially visual creatures. As a network built around imagery, Pinterest naturally captures consumers' interest.

For every sector

Given the sheer breadth of topics consumers search for on Pinterest, the odds of finding your audience, or part of it, on this network are high. So any business, whatever its size or market sector, has a place on Pinterest.

Organic and paid traffic

Visibility and brand awareness are a given, because the platform identifies users' interests and shows them the most relevant Pins or ads in a personalised way. As every Pin has a link to the original website or online shop, traffic flows through to those channels too.

Ready to buy

People usually browse Pinterest for appealing images organised into themed boards because they intend to buy something new or start a new project. There is, therefore, a readiness to take in new ideas and new products, which works in brands' favour.

Higher Return on Investment (ROI)

According to Neustar, ads on this platform deliver twice the ROI of social networks, especially in the retail industry, compared with other social media platforms.

Community

Something you'll find in this app is a range of resources and a community where creatives from any field can interact and grow. 2. Differences between a personal and a business Pinterest account

The original idea remains: creating boards of inspiring images, organised by category, with a link on the Pin that takes you to a website. But in the case of brands, other features come into play:

The “Shop” button

Business accounts have a dedicated “Shop” tab, which acts as a shortcut to products and makes buying quicker.

Once the feature is fully rolled out in Portugal, Pins will be able to appear with white dots that immediately show the product and price, like this:

Source: Pinterest

Official badge

Brands can earn the blue verified merchant badge, which not only makes the brand stand out but also conveys greater trustworthiness and boosts sales on the app. That said, this certification comes with certain criteria — among them, avoiding any kind of SPAM. Ad management

You can measure campaign performance by looking at certain metrics, namely:

• Impression rate (how many times Pins were seen);
• Click-through rate to the website (clicks on the source link);
• The number of Closeups (detailed view of the Pin);
• Engagement rate (Pins saved or viewed in detail, link clicks, Pins shared).

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest Analytics

Pinterest Analytics lets you assess:

• Which content performed best (impressions and interactions), whether Pins or paid ads;
• Traffic and engagement, by analysing the activity generated by Pins (which lead to the website);
• How the page has evolved month on month, including follower numbers and conversion rate;
• Who your audience is: is it mostly female or male? How old are they? Are they Portuguese? What are their interests?

This in-depth analysis helps you get to know your audience better and, in turn, refine your communications and marketing strategy, building campaigns aimed at that audience. Types of Pins Standard Pins The most common Pins use a vertical image, ideally with a 2:3 ratio (1000 x 1500 pixels) so it takes up as much screen space as possible. High-quality images increase the chances of the brand standing out in visitors' feeds. Video Pin As on other social networks, video immediately grabs users' attention. An ad of 6 to 15 seconds with a concise message is ideal. The ad should use the maximum size (available for paid ads) so it expands across the smartphone screen. Since not everyone has the sound on, it's a good idea to include text or captions describing the video. The video should have an appealing cover image that relates to its topic. A concise video description makes the user's journey easier (title: up to 100 characters; description: up to 500 characters) Collections Shows several of the brand's products in a single post. Source: Salsa Jeans Pinterest Carousel As on Instagram, for example, these are images you can scroll through within the same Pin by swiping horizontally. This format grabs more attention — who can resist seeing several angles of the same product? 10 ways to optimise your Pinterest Business account

Pinterest for business is still being developed, so at the moment not every feature described here is available in Portugal.

Even so, it's worth brands being ready for when they can make full use of everything this rising platform offers — which won't be long. 1. Set objectives

Once you've identified the company's objectives for bringing Pinterest into the marketing strategy, there are actions you can take:

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

2. Who is your target audience?

If the brand already has other communication channels, whether a website or other social networks, it probably already has some idea of who its audience is (age, gender, job role, preferences and habits).

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

3. Set up a business profile

Creating a Pinterest Business account is quick and straightforward. You can create an account from scratch or, if you already have one, link a business account to it. The more compelling the brand's story, the more interest it will capture from visitors.

4. Create Pins

Now it's time to create Pins that promote the brand and its products. Images should be appealing and clear, with a striking title (up to 100 characters) and a to-the-point description (up to 500 characters), so users can find them easily when searching.

For real people: Rather than showing products one by one, give them soul: what matters is that visitors can “picture” themselves with the products. Using images of products shown in realistic situations, as part of a lifestyle, helps users grasp what it would be like to own them: Source: Decathlon Pinterest

• Brand logo: Every image (Pin) should include the brand logo, making sure it stays visible (the Pinterest icon is always part of the image).

• Think mobile: A large share of Pinterest users access the app on their smartphones, so this needs to be taken into account when building e-commerce content. As well as image size, it's important to make sure the title, description and copy (text overlaid on the image) are clear and concise, so they're legible.
• Keep the links flowing: It's essential to make sure the links attached to Pins are working properly. There's nothing more frustrating for a user than clicking on a product to look at it or buy it and not being able to because of technical issues.
• Hashtags: Adding hashtags to products makes it easier for users to find them when they search:

Source: Decathlon Pinterest

5. Pinterest icon on the homepage

It's essential to have a button on the brand's website that links through to Pinterest. Being able to see the products on Pinterest, which is inherently a space for inspiration, makes them far more attractive.

Pinterest also provides all its official assets so brands can communicate to a higher standard. 6. Create ads

Once you've identified which Pins performed best, promote them through ads and boards tailored for Pinterest. Sponsoring a Pin lets you specify the target audience and measure the campaign's results, which means greater reach for your products and, of course, more sales.

7. Stay focused

Pinterest is above all about projecting ideas. That should be the focus when creating content: how can your content help consumers invest in something good for themselves? How can it help them plan their future?

8. Email marketing

Through email marketing, as well as sign-ups, you can convert more users into buyers.

9. Test the market

Since Pinterest is a space for inspiration, why not look at what other companies in the same market sector are doing?

10. Trends – Pinterest Predicts

Although nothing is set in stone, Pinterest forecasts a number of trends, which helps brands prepare their communications strategy.

For example, one trend is wearing less make-up in favour of a more natural look. This forecast might prompt brands to publish educational content on how to enhance natural beauty or which products work best for minimalist make-up Pinterest and Instagram Question: Which platforms do you use to look for information about products and brands? Source: Global Web Index Q4 2020

According to Global Web Index, many users cross-check information they pick up elsewhere, namely on Instagram (60%) and Facebook (51%).

In other words, a user who discovers a product or brand on Instagram or Facebook tends to dig deeper into that product on Pinterest, and vice versa.

So joining up content across platforms will increase the brand's visibility.

Conclusion

The numbers, the trends and the great e-commerce era leave no room for doubt. Gone are the days when Pinterest was just a platform to inspire us with pretty pictures.

Pinterest Business is here, and it's connecting consumers to brands more and more.