Where are the opportunities with Pinterest?

Still doubting whether Pinterest adds something to your marketing mix and want to know where the opportunities lie? In this blog, we put it all together. Pinterest is substantially different from the social media that now dominate many online advertising plans. We look at global data.

Plans for the future

Pinterest is basically a visual search engine where people look for and save inspiration. Here also lies the main difference from social media like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. There, it's about sharing moments from the past and present with family and friends. On Pinterest, it's about planning for the future. 85% of women use Pinterest to plan both big and small moments. While only 53% do this on Facebook and 44% on Instagram.

Consequently, 88% see Pinterest as the source of inspiration to discover new things. While only 65% say that about Google, 61% about Instagram and 44% about Facebook. 98% of pinners say they have tried new things they discovered on Pinterest compared to 71% on other social media.

A place for brands

While brands are seen as intruders on many social media, they are embraced on Pinterest. 75% of pins are from brands and 78% of users find content from brands useful. 50% of people do not experience ads as such because of this and find them 1.4 times more relevant than on other platforms. Perhaps this will change as volume increases, but as long as you are relevant this risk will be limited.

Another advantage is that the costs are still relatively low compared to Instagram and Google search, for example. In addition, buying intent is higher, which also makes a click from Pinterest more valuable.

Platform with high buying intent

Since Pinterest is the platform where people plan for the future, it is not surprising that Pinterest is used by more than 8 out of 10 people when making purchasing decisions. In the process, 97% of searches are unbranded. For example, people search for potato recipes but not CêlaVíta recipes.

This combined with the fact that people are open to new ideas makes Pinterest the platform for a brand to influence (brand) preferences and purchase decisions at the beginning of the funnel, the orientation process.

77% have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest and 50% have actually bought something after seeing a brand's (promoted) pin. For heavy users who are active on a weekly basis, this is even higher at 83%.

Especially within the food & ingredients category, Pinterest helps many people (78%) make a buying decision. Followed by home deco with 60% and clothing with 53%.

The shopping intent on Pinterest is further evidenced by the fact that of those who want to shop online, 55% go to Pinterest to do so. Only 12% go to social media like Facebook and Instagram, only 3% go to Snapchat.

Even among those who do not want to buy something right away, 60% get ideas for purchases on Pinterest. 48% do so through search engines, 41% through family and friends and 35% on social media.

DIY, living, food and fashion

Basically, you can find anything on Pinterest, but there are a few categories that stand out. Pinterest, in its own words, is about the core of life: what we eat, what we wear, and where we live. Looking into the system, we see that's broadly true. Nearly 2.5 million active users are interested in living. 1.6 million in food & drink. The same number of active users are interested in fashion. But with over 2.5 million, most Dutch users are interested in DIY and crafting. Entertainment and health are also relatively large with over 1.5 million interested users.

Millennials, women with children

Now that we know that Pinterest plays an important role in the buying process, creating brand preference and which industries are dominant, all that remains is the question of who you best reach. Currently, 70% of users, worldwide, are women and 40% are between the ages of 18 and 34. However, the popularity of the platform is also increasing among men. 40% of new users are men. 48% of users have children.

In addition, it is good to know that Pinterest is also mostly mobile (80%) and that the platform is still growing. Currently, Pinterest in the Netherlands is used by 3.5 million people, of which 734,000 are active daily. This is a growth of 18% and 25% compared to 2018. Not only do more and more people have accounts, they are increasingly active on a daily basis!

Data source: business.pinterest.com