A common question I often get asked is “Should I be using Pinterest for my business?” or “Is my audience on Pinterest?”. With more than 442+ million active Pinners, the answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY! We are diving into your unique Pinterest customer journey and can’t wait to share more about who the target audience is on Pinterest.
A Peek Into the Pinterest Audience
As a social platform, Pinterest is booming. Last year, Pinterest’s active user base grew by 26% to become the third largest social network in the US, and it ranked 10th in terms of most relevant brands. In April 2020, Pinterest reported that usage of the platform had increased by over 55% over March 2019!
With more than 2 billion searches conducted on the platform each month, and 97% of those being unbranded, business owners would do well to take Pinterest into consideration as a platform to reach their audience.
While women make up the bulk of Pinterest users, this is also the same group that makes 80% of buying decisions in US households. This unique group of people also says that content from brands is useful, something that sets Pinterest apart from other social platforms where users are not interested in branded content. As Pinterest grows and evolves, we find the male audience AND younger audiences are flocking to the platform (male usage grows over 50% each year).
The key to this lies in the fact that Pinterest is not just any old social media platform, and it doesn’t quite operate in the same way as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. However many business owners forget or overlook this, making a costly mistake.
In this blogpost, I want to share more about the unique customer journey on Pinterest compared to other platforms, and how (where) you can meet them to take them from Pin to Purchase.
Pinterest vs Other Social Media Platforms
While Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn focus on connecting people who share personal or career interests, Pinterest is designed more like a search engine to help people discover new ideas, products and brands. People who use Pinterest are there not to see what their friends or colleagues are up to. They are looking for inspiration, for fresh takes, and for new perspectives. 85% of Pinners report that Pinterest is where they go to start to plan a new project.
And this very thing that makes Pinterest different, also makes it incredibly powerful.
So what are the benefits of using Pinterest for business?
According to WebFX, the half-life of a pin is around 3.5 months. Think about it: A single Pin lasts approximately 1,680 times longer than a Facebook post. Weeks or months after you originally post something on Pinterest, it could still show up on a user’s feed if it is relevant to their search.
Compare this to any of the other social media platforms where A) your content has to compete with hundreds or thousands of other posts, and B) is almost instantly lost in the noise created by other brands and content creators. Add this to the fact that Pinterest users are open and actively seeking your content (perhaps without knowing it), and you would be hard pressed to find a reason not to use Pinterest in your business. What we love most about Pinterest is that Pinners are heading to the platform with INTENT to research – find ideas – get inspired… Not just engage in mindless scrolling.
From Pin to Purchase – The Pinterest Customer Journey
So you’ve decided to use Pinterest to reach your audience. Great! What next? It is a sad reality that many business owners make the mistake of using the same sales funnel for Pinterest that they use for other social platforms. This is a HUGE mistake and sadly, one I see even very seasoned marketers making.
Pinterest is completely different from the other social platforms! And your Pinterest sales funnel also needs to reflect that.
Knowing how to make sales on Pinterest starts with understanding the Pinterest customer journey. However, what happens from the moment your ideal customer or reader discovers your Pin until the day they say “YES” to becoming a customer isn’t always what you would expect.
Because people who come across your content on Pinterest are what I like to call a “cold warm audience” (find out more about what exactly that means), the journey they need to make from Pin to purchase is a slightly longer one.
For a visual illustration, check out my customer journey map.
The thing is, most people using Pinterest for business are not doing it intentionally. And what happens when they skip this crucial step of mapping out their customer journey on Pinterest specifically is they fail to adapt their sales funnel to the Pinterest audience.
So how do you create a sales funnel specifically for Pinterest users?
Pinterest users are in discovery mode. They don’t know you, or your business, or your products and services. There is no Like, Know and Trust factor. And where this is lacking, they are not going to buy from you.
That’s why it’s so important for us to make that connection with our customers and cultivate a deeper relationship with them. And there’s an easy way to do that …
How To Share Your Story, Differentiate Yourself on Pinterest
On Pinterest, business owners often want to rush the exchange, or push their audience to purchase without acknowledging that they haven’t had time to even get to know the business or the person behind the business.
Think about your own online purchases. Do you buy from complete strangers on the Internet, or are you more likely to buy from someone you’ve gotten to know over time and made a connection with?
At a time when more transactions than ever before are taking place online, it is absolutely essential to differentiate yourself and your products by sharing your story.
You can use Pinterest to:
- Raise customer awareness of your brand, your products and services
- Share content that users find useful and valuable
- Tell your audience more about yourself and learn more about them
By doing these three simple things, you can start forming relationships with your target audience on Pinterest.
LOOKING TO HARNESS THE POTENTIAL OF PINTEREST ADS + MARKETING? NO PROBLEM! I GOT YOU!
In case it isn’t apparent yet, I love Pinterest, and I want you to too! But as Pinterest continues to evolve and change, it becomes impossible to produce timeless content that remains true over time.
Hop onto my email list to gain access to my regular tips and strategies for using Pinterest marketing to grow your business and create more freedom in your business. Let’s do as Pinterest wants us to do and do MORE living and LESS working!
Joy Gettle
I have a Pinterest Business Acct and I had 125k in traffic until the last few months when is kept dropping, even though I was doing every thing the same and pinning every day. I am down now to 0 with only a few followers, what caused this? What can I do to fix it? Thanks for any help you can offer.
Meagan Williamson
Likely need to update your approach and strategy. With so little growth, you may want to check to see if you have been blocked@