Pinterest is one of my favorite social media sites. I use Pinterest nearly daily and have pinned thousands of ideas, photos, and recipes, among other pins. According to Barnhart from Sprout Social (2021), I am not the only “Pinterista”, 42% of all women on the internet use Pinterest, and the platform has about 400 million+ users per day!
Pinterest has many different options for paid posts and analytics. Users can post crafted video clips, images, and gifs to grab the attention of other users. Users can also click right through to websites or blogs, and even purchase pages, or they can save a pin for later. These pins can be targeted to users by different demographics and psychographics letting companies or users leverage their target segment’s interests and ideals. Posts are also evergreen, so they don’t disappear from the algorithm, and people can continue to repost them by “pinning” them to their boards.
Users can also like and comment on posts, creating interaction between brands and users, or simply between users. This can also help to create brand awareness, as well as affinity. Brands can also track their monthly views, followers, impressions, saves, and clicks helping them to understand how well their strategies are working.
Pins are also categorized by hashtags which helps users find certain genres of pins, like recipes or fashion. This helps to keep the pins recirculating and continuing to bring in clicks and purchases drawing consumers into a purchasing cycle (Redalkemi, 2017).
Additionally, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (2020), found that the largest generation, Millennials, prefer shopping on Pinterest over other social platforms and that 47% of Millennial users say they have purchased something they have pinned from the site. I have personally bought many things off of Pinterest. I am attracted to list pins, and often click through to Amazon pages. I like pins like “ Top 10 gadgets you didn’t know you needed!” I can’t seem to resist these pins, and I end up adding something to my Amazon lists at the very least, even if I don’t buy it right away. To be honest, though, I’ll probably buy it later… don’t tell my husband please, it can be our little secret!
References
Barnhart, B. (2021, May 05). Social media demographics to inform your brand’s strategy in 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#pinterest
Redalkemi. (2017). Importance of Pinterest for Businesses! Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://www.redalkemi.com/blog/post/importance-of-pinterest-for-businesses
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (2020). Millennials and Social Commerce: Brands and buy buttons. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://www.umassd.edu/cmr/research/2016-millennials.html
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