PINTEREST x INFLUENCER MARKETING:Expanding Your Influencer Strategy Into the

Happiest Place on the Web

Note to self… Pinterest users are on the platform to plan what they’re going to do in the future, not scroll through pics to relive the past.

Keep content beautiful, actionable, positive.

Since it first launched in 2010 by invitation only (remember that?), Pinterest has been this little corner on the web that feels like a social platform, but without all the crap that comes with being on a “social” platform.

Pinterest is actually a visual search engine where different segments of the global population go to do stuff like dream, plan, and shop.

Over the past 12 months, the geniuses over at Pinterest have been rolling out updates and changes that will make marketing on the platform A LOT easier.

And probably a crapload more fun.

The new Pinterest updates are making our job a whole lot easier

367M85% of pinners use the site when they want to start a new

project

6 in 10 millennials use the platform to

discover new products

62% of US Millennials who use the platform have HH income of $100K+

85% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase based on content they saw from brands on

Pinterest.

5% of ALL referral traffic to sites

comes from Pinterest

Cross-promote to Pinners on YT

(94%), FB (90%), IG (57%)

80% of US moms & 40% of US dads

on the web use Pinterest

GLOBAL MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS

88 MILLION IN THE U.S. ALONE

97% of searches on Pinterest are

unbranded

Per P

intere

st...

The best

con

tent have these

5 th

ings

in

comm

on

The Algorithm Update

Most of the biggest changes happening with Pinterest are similar to the ones we’ve seen with the Google algo over the past few years.

Pinterest wants to make sure the in-feed content it shows Pinners is content that’s high in quality, relatively recent, loaded with value and compels people to engage (i.e. stay on the platform).

Recency. Relevance.

Show more video/actionable/interactive content(Video views on the platform grew 6x from 2018 - 2019, driven by food and beverage, beauty, DIY, entertainment and home decor. Recommend video length is 45s - 3m long)

Increase representation (diversity) among creators

Get Pinners using tools and features like Shop

Meet creator goals (Like a brand that wants 15% of its ads to show as video content)

Pinterest’s Controllable Distribution Goals

FreshnessDiversity

Recency

According to a MEDIUM post from one of the platform’s Engineers...

RECENCY is about keeping the users’ feeds fresh. Before, Pinterest feeds were largely based on user engagement data:

What’s already popular on Pinterest +

User preference based on previous engagement

The new algorithm favors newer content which is perfect for those Q4 holiday influencer campaigns.

Pinterest also favors content that ticks the boxes of “Controllable Distribution”, a process the engineers use to make sure certain content types are showing up in feed results.

Source: Medium, Social Media Today

RelevanceInterest of the user

Authority of the creatorContent & creator diversity

Relevance has a lot to do with user experience on Pinterest. The platform has taken some pretty big steps in the last year to influence how different topics and content types show up in-feed.

For example… previously, to keep from sharing misinformation, Pinterest would suppress searches most likely to turn up questionable or controversial info, like a search on vaccines.

Now, instead of suppressing searches, Pinterest presents information from trusted experts ONLY and removes users’ ability to comment and provide feedback on that info.

Another big one for that algorithm we mentioned earlier is that it’s also deliberately showing certain content to ensure not only cultural representation, but content from businesses of different sizes. Part of Pinterest’s commitment to help small businesses impacted by the current business environment.

The Checklist for Relevance Attainable - Can the user take action on the content? Pins need to compel people to try, make or do.

Authority - Is original content from a trustworthy? Is it from someone who has made a name for herself in this category? Does the pin link out to a trustworthy website?

Visually Appealing - Does the creator have a knack for creating compelling images/videos that can grab attention? Is the pin branded (with your brand or your influencer’s brand)? Does it have text overlay with a clear message that tells people what the pin’s about?

Positive - Does the pin inspire more ideas or motivate users to do something cool? Pinterest pegs itself as the last feel-good corner of the web.

Searchable - Is the blog post title compelling enough to push people to save the pins? Are both the title and the pin description keyword optimized? Do they include hashtags?

Pinnable/Shareable - Is the value prop/benefit of your product highlighted either in the title or somewhere else in the pin?

Strong CTA - Remember, you’re making these suckers actionable, so it’s okay to tell people which actions to take.

HERE’S A SPOT-ON EXAMPLE OFTargeted, Keyword Optimized PinsSo, let’s look at the pin to the right as an example. It’s a good idea for your influencer partners to create multiple pins for each sponsored post - optimized for different keywords.

An easy way to do it is to pull different titles from relevant H2s and H3s that are in the blog post you’r linking to (you may need to work with influencers to ensure those H2s are properly optimized, too).

Don’t forget to target. You can even have different pins targeting different points in the purchase cycle. Like one pin for choosing Festival-Style jean shorts and another for making sure your pre-made holes don’t get all stretched out. Pins can also target subgroups of a larger demographic by angling pins toward seasonal or event-focused concepts. 👉

The general idea is to show Pinners the different benefits and applications of your product.

Cool, New(ish) Features

They’re multi-page Pins that pretty much last forever. Pinners can add images, videos (up to 20s), and text overlays to each pin.

Story Pins reach your followers + anyone who has shown an interest in the topic, so it makes sense to rely on your hashtag strategy and keyword strategy here.

Story Pins are a great way to detail a step-by-step process, create a supply list, ingredients list for recipes, and embed products in outfit and decor inspo boards.

Story Pins aren’t yet widely available. You have to request access.

FEATURE: Story Pins

So, here’s a Story Pins board from Pinner Alee (on Pinterest @aleefreemanshush). She has a bunch of these on all kinds of topics. People seem to really like her “What I Would Wear” series.

With Story Pins, brands can contextually embed products as part of a single overarching theme where your product isn’t the focus. In this example, it’s a Story Pin dreamed up by a young Pinner about what she would wear to meet Shawn Mendes. On the next page, we also grabbed screenshots of her outfit ideas for the first day of school. This is the next level of outfit idea pics. You’ll notice in these pins that the Pinner isn’t even the person featured in all the pins because Pinterest is about sharing ideas, not social validation.

On Pinterest @aleefreemanshush

Shop from a board When a Pinner visits their board, they’ll now see a Shop tab that shows products from (or inspired by) the Pins on their board. You wanna show up in those recommendations? Time to start pinning and getting pinned. Shop from search Shop tab appears on search, making it easier for Pinners to shop in-stock products from different retailers when searching for terms like “spring outfits", "office decor", "DIY kitchen remodels". Pinners can also filter by price and brand now. (Start pinning!!) Shop from Pins Pinners can Shop products & similar products right from the Pins shown in visual search. Just click “shop similar” to see related in-stock products for looks and rooms. Style guides Browsable style guides appear for “ideas” searches. These visual recommendations make it possible to explore trending styles, new products, and “style profiles” even when you don’t have exact words to describe what you’re looking for.

FEATURE: SHOP

See… all the styles

Shopping Spotlights is an influencer-curated list of shoppable recommendations based on current Pinterest Trends. The lists surface for users according to their interests, previous behavior with similar content, AND THEIR LOCATION.

** Since Pinterest is aiming to display local retailers as part of its push to support small businesses, .(Seriously… you gotta start pinning stuff).

For this feature, Pinterest is bringing in well-known style influencers (including bloggers, magazine editors and designers) to create articles/content with shoppable links/products embedded in them.

Plus, influencers will do “lookbook” types of catalog pages - again, based on Pinterest Trends - curated by brands.

FEATURE: SHOPPING SPOTLIGHTSLocal targeting

Notice the different

price points

FEATURE: SHOP LENS

Pinterest has been consistently improving on the performance of its Lens function, which lets you snap a picture of an object to find similar objects from different brands.

You can also upload a screenshot of something you’ve seen on another platform to conduct a visual search and shop that item on Pinterest.

Fashion and home decor are HUGE categories for Lens users, and the feature is getting 3x the visual searches it got in 2019.

FEATURE: SHOPIFY APP

If you have a Shopify store, you’re in luck. Shopify merchants in the US and Canada can upload entire product catalogs to Pinterest in just a few clicks.

Shopify has one million merchants. In addition to offering Shopify merchants a $100 credit for their first Pinterest ad (if they’re new advertisers) the integration comes with tools to track inventory (updates daily), to monitor performance, and to simplifying the tagging process for product searchability.

The Shopify app will roll out in Australia, France, UK, Germany in the next few weeks/months.

3 Final Tips for Brands Storming the Gates of Pinterest

#3 LOOP IN BLOGGERS TO COVER ALL THE BASES

#2 GO WITH MULTIPLE MEDIA FORMATSThe first step for any brand planning

to leverage Pinterest for marketing is to become a Verified Merchant.

Pinterest uses this program to judge the legitimacy of a brand. Only pins from Verified Merchants surface when Pinners choose to Shop, Shop Collections, or Shop Similar.

Verified Merchants have:● a digital footprint besides

Pinterest● a secure website ● high-quality website content and

product pages (quality product photos - no stock photos)

● a way of providing daily inventory updates (usually via RSS)

Brands that sell affiliate products, upcycled goods, animals and services aren’t eligible to become Verified Merchants.

#1 BECOME A VERIFIED MERCHANT

One of the really cool things about becoming a Verified Merchant is you’re not stuck in Canva for hours on end styling Pins. All you have to do is upload your product catalog (Pinterest can handle up to 5 million product pics per account), and each product is made into its own Pin. So, there’s that route.

These are the formats you can use. The more the merrier: ● Standard Image Pins - these are the

scroll-stoppers, make them eye-catching● Video Pins - super-short videos (with

audio) that can catch Pinners with cool demonstrations

● Product Pins - these are the pins that show up when Pinners show purchase intent

● Collection Pins - a single pin that features multiple products (good for tying together outfit ideas and home decor

● Story Pins - using multiple Story

Here’s where you can add variety, reach, and SEO value to your otherwise awesome Pinterest ad strategy.

Partnering with bloggers and influencers to create content that contextually embeds your product allows you to leverage the social proof offered by bloggers who can demonstrate the real-life application and value of your product.

So, during the influencer selection process, choose a few bloggers who have had multiple pins get repinned a bunch of times.

Note: Bloggers usually style their blog pins differently than a product pin, and blogger pins link back to individual blog posts. Just be sure the blogger includes high-quality pics of your product in action.

We are The Shelf.

We are data-driven.

We are strategic.

Contact us for a free, SUPER-customized proposal.

We would love to knock your socks off!

Contact The Shelf Full-Funnel Influencer MarketingTM

sales@theshelf.com - Schedule a Strategy Call

The End