If you're wondering if Pinterest is still popular in 2022, the answer is yes. According to a study conducted by Kepios in January, 431 million people use Pinterest monthly as a source of inspiration for DIY, what to wear, home decoration, everyday cooking, and much more. It ranks 14th on the top of the most active social media platforms and is one of the platforms with the most significant potential for business promotion. Pinterest can certainly be counted among the big players in social media networks, even if the numbers do not yet come close to Facebook and Instagram.
Pinterest connects people from all industries, so it's a great way for brands to increase organic or paid reach and to connect with potential customers. Marketing is about experimentation, so there are no strict rules for success. However, some practices should be followed for effective progress in marketing efforts. This article will discover what Pinterest is and why you need to consider it in your 2022 marketing strategy.
What is Pinterest & who uses it?
Did you know that this platform is much more similar to Google image search than classic social networks like Facebook and Instagram? Pinterest works as a kind of visual search engine with the aim of collecting inspiration for specific topics in virtual pinboards. Users can enter search terms or use Pinterest's Lens feature, which allows them to find similar things by pointing their camera at a real object. Like social platforms, the home feed combines images and videos that match users' interests. Pinterest itself states that 60% of its users are female, and the rest, 40%, are men. Due to the demographic distribution, typically, female topics are on the rise, such as fitness and yoga, handicrafts, recipes, and decoration.
But what makes it different from other social networks and particularly interesting? The answer is obvious: branded content doesn't disrupt Pinterest, it's part of the useful content that inspires users.
Pinterest - a fantastic opportunity for business growth
When it comes to social media marketing for brands, Pinterest is still a bit overshadowed by more well-known giants such as Facebook or Instagram but it’s ideal for generating website traffic, and it's a good opportunity for brands to use the right marketing tactics to open up new target groups and pick up on existing ones. Pinterest is not used for self-portrayal but as an entry point into a creative idea-finding process that often ends with a purchase decision for the user.
Generate sustainable reach and traffic
Communication works via images and videos, and you don't have to fight for many followers on Pinterest to achieve a high reach. Pinterest boards rank themselves in Google and this means they get additional visits from people that don’t even have a Pinterest account. Actually, the number of followers you have on Pinterest is almost irrelevant because, as we already mentioned, Pinterest is a search engine - so your boards will be shown to everyone that searches similar keywords, not just your followers. This is why is important to optimise the title and description for every pin you upload.
In contrast to Facebook, Instagram, and other similar social media platforms, the content that is SEO optimised is still displayed to the user months or even years later - meaning the content you upload on Pinterest should be evergreen. Just imagine, a post that is 3 years old can still generate traffic on the website because it is repeatedly suggested to the users on Pinterest. But don’t forget that Pinterest is a visual search engine, which means that visually appealing photos are essential here, as these are the focus of the pinboards, while only a comparatively small amount of SEO optimised text per Pin is needed.
Many bloggers and businesses report the tremendous growth in reach with Pinterest. Since pins are ultimately nothing more than graphic links, the stunning and appealing images ideally refer to dedicated landing pages, which encourage the pin visitors to take specific actions, such as retrieving information or making a purchase. In this respect, the traffic performance of Pinterest is directly linked to an increase in sales. A successful Pinterest marketing strategy requires both good quality and high quantity. The more frequently you post on Pinterest, the greater the chance you will reach many members of your target group with your Pins.
Advertising on Pinterest
Pinterest Marketing can be operated entirely free of charge - just create a free business account and fill it with inspirational content. However, it is worth placing paid ads on Pinterest to get more attention and reach. Depending on the goal you want to achieve, you can create ads in video or image format or surprise your audience with fascinating carousels or collections. Pinterest also offers you the opportunity to make shopping ads with more targeting possibilities, so if your strategy includes eCommerce marketing, go for it.
To avoid wastage, you should define your target. Pinterest Ads offers six different targeting options from the basics ones like demographics and interests (reach users based on the topics they like on their home feed) to more complex targeting like recent search terms (reach users based on terms they’ve searched for), Customer Lists (you can also upload customer lists to reach people who have already interacted with your website or Pinterest content), and ActAlikes(find other users with similar interests and behaviors as your existing customers with ActAlike audiences - pretty similar to the LookALike audiences in Facebook Ads).
And now comes the part you probably expected the most:
Successful Pinterest Marketing: Tips & Best Practices
Pinterest Tip #1: Generate reach with group boards. There are public group pinboards niched to specific subjects maintained by experienced Pinterest users where you can participate by adding your pins in order to generate more awareness for your brand.
Pinterest Tip #2: Brand unity for recognition value. By using uniform colors, fonts, logos, or layout templates on al social media channels, you can achieve a high recognition value.
Pinterest Tip #3: Increase the number of repins. The number one goal on Pinterest should not be to increase the number of followers – it should be to increase the number of repins. Therefore, your own pins should be saved by other Pinterest users on their pinboards as often as possible. You can achieve this by creating content relevant to your target group and encouraging repinning.
Pinterest Tip #4: Create pins regularly. Ideally, you should create new pins every day and be active on Pinterest. Pinterest offers a scheduling tool that you can use to schedule new Pins to be published.
Pinterest Tip #5: Lifestyle images instead of product photos. Pure product photos are not as popular on Pinterest as lifestyle images that showcase the products.
Measuring success on Pinterest
No marketing activity would be complete without measuring its success. Luckily, Pinterest offers analytics and measurement tools for business profiles. This way, you can monitor your campaigns and, based on the data, optimise the targeting and thus improve the results. Among other things, the tool reveals which of your Pins are the most successful, which boards your Pins are integrated with, and provides information on the demographic data of your followers.
When you start building your social media marketing strategy, keep in mind that Pinterest serves as a source of inspiration. So, you need to create inspirational content that will attract users to your site.
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