In the spotlight today:
Pinterest.
The news:
Advertising reach on Pinterest has never been this high, and in fact, 1 in 2 users is ready to purchase a new product or brand after discovering it on the platform. (Source)
The details:
Statista notes that as of April 2022, the number of monthly active users (MAU) on Pinterest is 433 million. Although this number is lower than a year ago, there is a reasonable explanation for it.
During the global pandemic, the platform’s popularity spiked to a record of 478 million MAU which was marked in Q1 2021. It wasn’t a big surprise as people spent most of their days at home and dived deep into different digital channels, including social media platforms. Pinterest in particular was a winner of the pandemic, as it had been one of the most positive corners of the internet, filled with inspiration. However, with the ease of global restrictions, user behavior started shifting again, towards slightly less daily screentime.
In the graph below we marked the number of MAU (in millions) in the first quarter of each year since 2016, and pointed out the period of the official global pandemic. While COVID-19 is not over yet, today we live our lives more similarly to pre-pandemic times. So after all, if we exclude the period of Q2 2020 - Q4 2021, the numbers visualize exponential growth and look like this:
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126 million MAU (Q1 2016)
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175 million MAU (Q1 2017)
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239 million MAU (Q1 2018)
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291 million MAU (Q1 2019)
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367 million MAU (Q1 2020)
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433 million MAU (Q1 2022)
After this clarification, let’s take a look at advertising reach on Pinterest. The Digital 2022 April Global Statshot revealed that as of last month, the total potential audience reach of ads on the platform is 235 million. For comparison, it was 218 million in April 2021, and 170 million in April 2020. See the data graph below.
Here’s how to #WorkSmartly:
All of us in social media marketing know that Pinterest is a visual discovery engine. It’s different there. Pinterest’s mission is to give everyone the inspiration to create a life that they love. And while the idea of inspiring users commonly appears on other social channels as well, what’s truly unique to Pinterest is personalization. Much more than on other platforms.
When it comes to shopping, we can say Pinterest is a place for the kind of browsing and discovery consumers are used to getting in real life. This means that shopping on Pinterest is not about what everyone else is buying — but it’s about the individual based on personal taste and values. And naturally, brands play a critical role in this.
The Digital 2022 April report also showed the main reasons why active global social media users keep coming back to each platform. Apparently, Pinterest users log in primarily (37.9%) for following or researching brands and products. Bingo! This provides the perfect opportunity for social advertisers to leverage this space not only for product launches but also for every stage of their advertising funnel.
Is Pinterest part of your social advertising mix already? If so, how do your Pinterest ads differ from your Facebook, Snap, TikTok, or other social ads?
