Perhaps the most significant aspect of Pinterest - one that sets it apart from other social media platforms - is that its users are far more focused on the content rather than the creator. For platforms like Twitter and Instagram, users often care less about the “what” and more about the “who”. As a merchant, this gives you a lot of opportunity to showcase your products without having to be as concerned with constantly writing fresh content.
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of how you can use Pinterest to market your products and grow your brand. We’ll show you how to set up your Pinterest business profile, pin your products, advertise on Pinterest, and use Pinterest’s built-in tools to analyze your success.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest makes it easy to save or “pin” things on the internet that you like. Pins can be made from several things, like web pages, photos, videos, music, artwork, and products. When you create a pin, a thumbnail is created from images on the web page or from the image or video itself to represent the pin. Users can share their pins publicly or save them to a private board. Other users can discover public pins by searching for topics or browsing tags that they care about. The experience is visually rich and encourages exploration.
The social aspect of Pinterest adds value - users can comment on pins and collaborate on boards - but that’s not really the point. Most users are looking for inspiration and ideas; they’re consuming content more than they’re engaging with other users. It’s these consumers who make Pinterest a unique opportunity to market your brand. We’ll take a more detailed look at Pinterest’s user base and demographics later in this guide.
Why should I market on Pinterest?
Pinterest has over 300 million active monthly users. While smaller than giants like Facebook and Twitter, it’s still a huge audience. Roughly a quarter of its user base is in the United States and another quarter is in the UK and Europe.
People use Pinterest to get inspired — they look for what’s trending in fashion, ideas for their own projects, special moments, and innovative new products. Many are actively trying to decide what they want to do or buy next. They’re in a mindset to plan or make a purchase, and this makes them prime marketing targets.
- 77% of weekly users have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest.
- 98% report trying new things they find on Pinterest.
- 83% of weekly users have made a purchase based on content they saw on Pinterest.
- 73% of US women between the age of 25-54 use Pinterest.
- 53% of US millennials use Pinterest.
- 89% of US users say they use it for inspiration on their purchase path.
Also, 41% of US adults who use Pinterest have a household income of over $75k/year.
