Why Your Ecommerce Business Needs to be on Pinterest

Most ecommerce businesses tend to head straight to Instagram and Facebook when considering where to reach their audience. With over 2.9 billion monthly active users on Facebook and 1 billion on Instagram, there’s no wonder why that’s the case. However, for a long time now, there is a social media channel that has gone unnoticed by many businesses. That channel is Pinterest.

With 431 million monthly active users worldwide, yes it is smaller than the Meta channels, however, the stats don’t lie. Pinterest is the place where people go to get inspiration. Whether they are decorating their living room, getting outfit inspiration for an event or even looking for a new recipe to try, Pinterest users are at a crucial stage in the customer journey, an opportunity that your business can’t afford to miss out on.

85% of Pinners say they use Pinterest to plan new projects

While people use Pinterest in different ways, the largest percentage of Pinners are planners. People come to the platform when they are in the early stages of a project or purchase decision meaning this is the perfect opportunity to get your product in front of them.  Pinterest is now a crucial part of the buyer’s journey, even if shoppers aren’t necessarily purchasing from Pinterest directly. In fact, 83% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase based on the content they saw from brands on Pinterest.

 97% of top Pinterest searches are actually unbranded.

While product research is huge on Pinterest, barely any of the searches happening on the platform are brand-related. This poses a fantastic opportunity for smaller businesses as you are no longer competing with huge brand names. Content is king on Pinterest, if you’re sharing content that is engaging or informative, you will attract potential customers. Content should feature lifestyle shots, user-generated content and people-focused photos to grab the attention of serial searchers.

Pinterest users are 7x more likely to claim the platform is more influential than any other in the purchasing journey.

Pinterest isn’t merely a go-to platform for inspiration and product research — the platform is a huge motivator on the path to purchase. Whilst Facebook and Instagram are great for interacting with your followers, one of the best channels out there at the moment to drive brand awareness is Pinterest. 

Not only is it a great place to share lifestyle imagery and video to drive brand awareness, but you can also share a fully optimised product feed on Pinterest. The feed will show your products when relevant keywords are used in a user search. Your products will be shown organically and allow users to purchase directly from your website.

Shopping engagement grew by 20% in 2021

Pinterest reported that “the number of Pinners engaging with shopping surfaces grew over 20% both quarter over quarter and year over year in Q4” last year. With more and more people worldwide looking to make purchase decisions on Pinterest, it’s no wonder more businesses are also choosing to utilise the platform’s tools.  With catalogue feeds, ‘shop the look’ style posts and keyword search, there is plenty of opportunity for your business to appear to new audiences.

Pinterest drives 2x higher return on ad spend for retail brands, compared to other social media channels.

In addition to the behavioural stats above, Pinterest content serves as a place for shoppers to confirm their purchasing decision. Unlike Meta, Pinterest has designed its ads in a way that they blend seamlessly with the organic content, meaning users don’t feel like they are being pushed into making decisions or bombarded with ads. Pinterest is where people feel safe to research and explore new ideas which results in a happier shopper who is willing to spend twice as much monthly than social shoppers on other platforms.

80% of weekly users have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest.

if your target audience is on Pinterest, the social network should remain a top priority for your brand. With millions of monthly users searching for ideas and inspiration, it’s vital that your business shows up.  Pinterest users have shown that they are not brand focussed but more product focussed. No matter how niche your product is, Pinterest is a great channel to get on a potential customer’s radar. 

One of the main features that separates Pinterest from any other social network, is the use of keywords. Users find ideas by searching with keywords, this means that you can show for a wide range of user searches. Help Pinterest users find your pin with strategic keywords that describe or define the product or style. 

For example, if you sell women’s shoes and have just launched some new sandals, your content could show for specific searches like ‘women’s sandals’ to much broader search terms such as ‘summer outfit inspo’. Pinterest is essentially a visual search engine with users actively wanting to try new things, discover new ideas –  so it’s vital your business is present.

These Pinterest statistics signal not only the staying power of Pinterest but its potential opportunities for brands and advertisers when it comes to social shopping. If you’re looking for some guidance on how to make your Pinterest profile stand out from the crowd and how to reach new customers, get in touch with our team today! We can talk you through all things social and really help your business grow.