What are ‘Impressions’ on Pinterest? The key metrics, explained
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New to Pinterest? Unsure what metrics to look at to understand how you are performing both organically and in Pinterest paid marketing? It can be tricky for people and brands who are just starting on the platform to know how Pinterest analytics works and where to find performance data like impressions, pin clicks, and conversion (checkout).
The Paid Social team at Embryo are very proficient on all there is on the platform and can help educate you on what metrics to look at and where to benchmark yourself against industry standards. Also, where performance metrics differ between paid and organic.
If you have any questions about Pinterest paid advertising, especially the analytical element, then get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to set up a call!
What are ‘Impressions’ on Pinterest?
The term impression isn’t a specific metric to Pinterest analytics, I’m sure you’ve come across this term on other social media platforms for both marketing and non-marketing activity. You would have also come across it if you are currently investing in SEO and digital PR.
Now, if you search on Google for the definition of ‘impression’ you’ll get bombarded with every marketer’s own version, especially if you start searching on LinkedIn! However, if we go straight to the horse’s mouth, Pinterest, describes the term as follows:
“The number of times your Pins or ads were on screen.” Source: Pinterest.
Essentially, it isn’t a complicated metric to get your head around in Pinterest analytics. What impression data tells you is how many times you have appeared within someone’s home feed both for you and explore, and their search results.
You can find this data by clicking on each individual pin and for business accounts you will be able to find your overall impressions in the analytics overall tab in the menu options, an example of what this looks like is below:
Do Pinterest impressions matter?
So you might be wondering is this even important? Do we, as a brand, need to know this type of data which can be seen as a vanity metric by other social media managers? The answer is yes. We’ve detailed as to why and how it’s important to look at your impressions data in Pinterest analytics.
Increase awareness of your brand
One of the more obvious reasons why you should be tracking your profile impressions is if one of your KPIs is to build brand awareness, especially if this is a new platform where you haven’t built up your loyal followers. For growth, you need to understand how many pinners could potentially see your content. How many times has one of your pins cropped up on there for you and explore page? Are you visible for any of their search-related queries?
If you’re not showing up how can you expect to increase the awareness of your brand? It’s key to look at it from both an overall account standpoint and an individual pin basis – which leads us to our next point.
A/B testing different keywords in your pin titles & descriptions
We recommended a/b testing different types of creative, pin titles and pin descriptions if you haven’t dug your claws into Pinterest properly. Why? Well, how do you know what works and doesn’t work for your brand if you haven’t tested anything?
A low count of impressions is one of the key indicators that you’re not including the right search terms in your pin titles and descriptions for your industry. You need to use the Pinterest trend data to identify what terms people are searching for on the platform and key category names you can include. You should be looking to use a mix of small and long tail keywords within your pins. Keep track of what you’re testing so you can identify opportunities and areas to test further.
Impressions aren’t everything – here’s why!
So, we explained some of the reasons why you need to be looking at how many impressions you’re getting monthly, however, it isn’t the be-all and end-all.
It all comes down to your priorities as a business. How do you judge success? If you’re an ecommerce business then realistically all performance comes down to profitability. If you’re not making revenue then how can you continue to operate? This is when impressions are great to look at but you’ll find your most valued metrics to keep a close eye on in Pinterest analytics are outbound clicks, total ROAS (checkout), total conversions (checkout, and total order value (checkout).
If you’re thinking, what are those metrics, don’t worry, it’s the Pinterest language that can be translated to ROAS, purchases, and revenue.
How to get more impressions on Pinterest
So you’re stuck. You’re only achieving a low amount of impressions and you don’t know what you can do next. One of the main questions you need to ask yourself is: are you posting? How many pins have you published?
If it’s less than 10 then we know why and it’s time to admit there aren’t enough pins to tell Pinterest where to show you, who to show you to, and what audiences are likely to engage with your pins.
Start posting pins and be consistent
The main issue marketers face when creating a social media strategy is access to UGC, lifestyle, and stock imagery. If you don’t have the creative to work with how can you possibly create a Pinterest strategy? Graphic assets can only get you so far on Pinterest that’s a very visual platform. It’s not like LinkedIn where a picture isn’t necessary to post performance.
Like any other social media network you need to be consistent. But… be realistic about what can you achieve. Is it one post a week? Two? Or bi-weekly? We recommend that you devote a day or two a month to creating all your social media plans, content creation, keyword research, captions, and scheduling. Pinterest has a feature where you can schedule your pins so you don’t have to set reminders each week to put a pin live.
Quality over quantity. Yes, the more pins you post will increase your impressions but if you create high-quality pins where you have strategically placed keywords relating to your industry – you will find you can increase your total impressions far more quickly than posting average-quality pins that serve no purpose. Pinterest SEO is the key to organic growth and including search terms in your pin titles and descriptions is critical.
Other Pinterest metrics you should keep track of
As we mentioned above impressions shouldn’t be the only metric you’re looking at to judge your performance. The metrics where you determine how successful you are all depend on your objectives as a business. Why are you on Pinterest and what are you looking to gain from this?
The objective is to increase brand awareness
If you look to increase your following and build brand awareness the below metrics should be something you become familiar with:
- Impressions
- Saves
- Engagements
- Engagement Rate
- Total Audience
- Engaged Audience
Looking further into individual pins:
- Follows
- Profile Visits
- Outbound Clicks
Drive ROAS and scale revenue
Like we have touched on above, the metrics you keep track of will differ depending on your KPI. For e-commerce brands, the below performance indicators are critical to measuring your Pinterest marketing:
- Total CPA (checkout)
- Total ROAS (checkout)
- Total Conversions (checkout)
- Total Order Value (checkout)
- Total Conversions (Add To Basket)
Increase the amount of leads generated
As you can gather, e-commerce and lead generation are 2 very different types ways a business can operate. So if you are looking at how you can increase the amount of leads your brand is generating monthly then the below metrics in Pinterest analytics are critical for success:
- Total CPA (lead)
- Total Conversions (Lead)
- Total CPA (Sign Up)
- Total Conversions (Sign Up)
- CTR
