Why and how to integrate Pinterest into your digital strategy?

Although it may suffer from the preconception that it is a social network used solely for planning weddings or decorating homes, Pinterest can in reality deliver significant results for your marketing strategy.

With no fewer than 459 million active users per month, Pinterest continues to attract people, and the profile of its users is evolving. Among them, perhaps, are your target audiences! So, let us explore together why it may be worth creating an account for your business.

Why should you pay attention to Pinterest?

Launched more than ten years ago, in 2010, Pinterest quickly found its audience. By the end of 2011, the platform had already ranked among the ten most popular social networks in the United States. The rest, as they say, is history: its reputation spread internationally until the landmark moment of its stock market listing in 2019.

The principle of Pinterest is to save (pin) images into different folders (boards), rather like building digital libraries. This technique is often compared to the "moodboard" concept, with each board centred on a particular theme or aesthetic.

Who is the (new) Pinterest audience?

To echo our opening sentence, Pinterest was long considered a social network for women, where only images related to home décor, DIY, fashion and the like were shared. That is no longer the case — or at the very least, everything is changing.

The reason to pay attention to Pinterest is that its audience is constantly growing and diversifying. The figures for 2020 speak for themselves.

First, regarding the age of its users. There is a remarkable surge of interest from the younger generation. Although they are more active on platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, Pinterest seems to be increasingly piquing their curiosity. Growth of 36% has been recorded among Generation Y (people born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s), and as much as 50% among Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2010).

That is not the only development worth highlighting: among more than 450 million active users, there are also increasingly more men. In 2020, the number of male users grew by 48% — another impressive figure.

An engaged community

Long overlooked and often misunderstood, Pinterest has always been considered one of the social media platforms with the most qualitative and relevant content, and — above all — one where the engagement rate remains among the highest.

No fewer than 2 million users pin "pins" to their boards every day. In total, there are over 200 billion pins saved across more than 4 billion boards.

Long live your content!

All of this makes perfect sense when you look at Pinterest's algorithm. Many social networks could take a leaf out of its book, because Pinterest is one of the platforms where your content has a significantly longer shelf life.

According to DMR Business Statistics, a visual published on Pinterest can have a lifespan of more than 4 months — or even 1,600 times longer than a Facebook post. This extended exposure is due to the simple principle that every time your publication is pinned by a user, it is pushed back into the spotlight by the platform's algorithm, gaining a fresh wave of exposure.

3 essentials for getting started on Pinterest

Like every social network, Pinterest has its own quirks that you need to take into account to make the most of your presence. Here are a few tips on the key elements that deserve the most careful attention.

Visuals

This is the foundation of the network, so you will want to choose — as you might expect — high-quality visuals that stand out. Do not hesitate to let your identity shine through the images you publish (colours, typography, layout…). Maintaining a consistent visual identity across your publications will make you more easily recognisable and identifiable. And we cannot say it enough: that is hugely important! Depending on your field, you can post photographs as well as infographics, illustrations, and so on. Adding your logo to each of your visuals is the best way to embed it in users' minds.

Text

For better search engine optimisation, do not neglect the text attached to your posts. Just as on Instagram, images take centre stage — but they do not do all the work on their own. Make sure you write a proper description for each of your posts. These should include the keywords relevant to your publication, which users are likely to type when carrying out a search. For greater impact, your brand name can also appear in the titles of your posts.

External links

Yes, Pinterest allows you to add an external link to your publications. If you have a blog, for example, you can create a visual with the title of one of your articles and then include the link in the post so that visitors can follow it if the topic interests them. Do not hesitate to make the most of this feature, as it multiplies the number of visits to your site. And the more visits you receive via your Pinterest account, the more Google values your web page in its search results, since it sees this as a quality signal. According to a study by Search Engine Watch, a pin on Pinterest generates up to 2 visits to a website and at least 6 pages viewed.

Our final tips

As with every social network, you need to develop a strategy tailored to your target audience and your objectives in order to make the most of Pinterest.

Do not forget that nothing is set in stone. You will need to monitor the statistics of your publications, but also create an editorial calendar so that you post in a deliberate and productive way.

Pinterest is a platform that is primarily browsed during leisure time, so it is best to avoid posting during working hours. Opt instead for evenings and weekends. Surprising as it may seem, Saturday evening appears to be the best option.

Now that you have all the basic information, you have no more excuses for not integrating Pinterest into your communications strategy… Over to you!