Pinterest is an underrated, powerful platform for businesses wanting to drive traffic to their website and it is fast gaining popularity in Australia. Since 2014, Pinterest’s Australian users have grown from 2.7 million to 7.4 million this year, with 2 million of Pinterest’s new Australian users occurring in the last two years alone.
Interest in Pinterest has increased so significantly that they recently opened an office in Sydney, providing further support to brands and business owners. But for businesses and brands who aren’t yet using Pinterest; how do you start and what do you need to know? To answer these (and more) I recently interviewed Pinterest’s Country Manager of Australia and New Zealand, Carin Lee-Skelton, to find out all you need to know about using Pinterest in your business.
What’s driving Pinterest’s popularity?
Nielsen data shows that more than 7 million Australians are visiting Pinterest every month. Carin believes that much of the recent surge in Pinterest use is because Pinterest offers something different to other social media platforms. Carin sees Pinterest as a personal platform which focuses on inspiring people to create a life they love as opposed to a social platform where you are interacting with others. Pinterest is an inspiration destination which has proven particularly popular during the pandemic with engagement at an all-time high globally.
What’s the value for businesses and brands?
Pinterest attracts an inspired shopper at the early of discovery providing a great opportunity for brands to be discovered and purchased. Pinterest users are skewed female (70%) and are most likely to be Millennials who are going through major life milestones such as buying a house, getting a new job and having a baby. Increasingly, Australians are using Pinterest as a shopping destination, particularly in recent times during isolation.
Pinterest also is an excellent channel to assist drive traffic to your website. Julia Christie, founder of Nail Snail who sell nail trimmers for babies, spent a week uploading all her Instagram posts onto Pinterest and adding her website address to approximately 1500 Pinterest pins. Yes, it was painstaking work however the result was outstanding with Pinterest delivering 77,000 webpage views the following week. It’s ability to drive website traffic is indisputable.
Where should a brand start?
Carin suggests that businesses wanting to use Pinterest should start by setting up a business profile on Pinterest. This is free and takes a few minutes. Carin then suggests starting to think about what kind of content you want to pin, specifically whether your content will be static images or videos. Once determined, Carin suggests start pinning your collections. To support you, Pinterest has a business website with lots of resources. And, with the growing popularity of Pinterest in Australia, they have created a team to support businesses needing more tailored assistance. Further tips and insights are generously shared by Carin throughout the podcast episode which you can listen to here: https://marketingtomums.com.au/podcast/ep35_carin-lee_skelton_pinterest_marketing/
Katrina McCarter is the founder and CEO of Marketing to Mums, a marketing and research consultancy. She is a Marketing Strategist, Bestselling Author, International Award-winning Speaker and Business Advisor. Katrina specialises in helping businesses sell more effectively to mums, the world’s most powerful consumer, and provides strategic, research and educational support to brands. You can subscribe to her Marketing to Mums podcast here.
