Shopify Merchants Can Reach Over 350 Million Pinterest Users

Visual discovery is a powerful tool to promote brands and help shoppers find products that will inspire them. As more people are coming to Pinterest to find ideas for working from home, gifts to celebrate life’s moments, and family-friendly activities to do, there will also be an increased opportunity for retailers to showcase their products.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a “visual discovery engine” people use to find inspiration for their lives and make it easier to shop. Categories include home decor, fashion and style, electronics, and more. Comparable to a visual Google, people can search for ideas, save the ones they like, or click to learn more. 

Pins are images or videos that link them back to a website URL. If you have an advertiser account, you can also promote your Pins. Users, otherwise referred to as ‘Pinners’, add Pins to boards to keep their ideas organized, and to share them with others. 

Shopify and Pinterest launch new app

On May 7, 2020, Pinterest launched a new app. The app gives over one million Shopify merchants a quick and easy way to upload their product catalog to Pinterest. This also allows merchants to turn their products into shoppable Product Pins. 

This new integration, which is now available in the Shopify app store, provides a suite of shopping features. These features include tag installation, catalog ingestion, automatic daily updating of products, and an ads buying interface. 

The integration creates a connection between a merchant’s online store and Pinterest. It doesn’t require retailers to edit, code, or even use development resources to maximize setup and distribution. This allows U.S. and Canadian merchants to seamlessly tap into Pinterests’ target audience and turn their store products into Product Pins.

Merchants can add a shop tab to their profile for free organic promotion. Alternatively, they can run pins as paid ads, bringing customers directly to their online store to make a purchase. The Shopify x Pinterest collaboration adds to the growing list of marketing tools available for Shopify merchants. It can help merchants grow their businesses in one place within Shopify.

Shopify Product Pins - Pinterest

Benefits of the Shopify Pinterest integration

The Pinterest app for Shopify offers 3 main benefits for online retail:

Connects your Shopify account with Pinterest

The Pinterest app can be installed to quickly publish Product Pins. You can automatically update your product catalog every day, and track performance with the Pinterest Tag.

Increases your organic reach on Pinterest

People on Pinterest can easily discover, save and buy products from your website for free. They can find your products online, even if you choose not to spend on advertising. 

Allows you to create Pinterest ads

Reach more people with a free $100 ad credit. This offer is available to new advertisers connected to the Pinterest Shopify app. Once set up, you can create campaigns to build awareness, drive consideration or get conversions all from your Shopify interface.

After 24-48 hours of installation, Product ads can be set up and promoted directly within Shopify. You’ll be able to manage your campaigns and publish your product Pins and ads. Each ad you set up will feature a product and image. This will also usually include the product name, your business name, and a link to the item you’re promoting.

Shopify App Page - Pinterest

Shopify taps into Pinterest’s growing audience

Pinterest has over 350 million monthly active users turning to their platform to discover products and brands they love. According to Pinterest’s newsroom, “The number of Pinners who have engaged with shoppable Product Pins has increased 44% year-over-year.” The company also mentioned that “total traffic to retailers has increased by 2.3x year-over-year.” 

Users typically conduct unbranded searches. This is why Shopify’s goal is to help the Pinterest community find the products and companies that inspire them. Shopify merchants in the U.S. and Canada can install the integration and start tagging today. 

The integration is planned to become available in other countries where Pinterest ads are available. This includes Australia, France, Germany, Spain and the UK in the coming weeks.

Here are a few more statistics about Pinterest’s audience:

Pinterest is popular among women, and moms

Pinterest’s audience is not as Gen-Z targeted as Snapchat or TikTok. It’s most popular among women between the ages of 25-54, with 60% of signups by women, and 40% by men. This is mostly because women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of household buying power and influence. 

Half of American millennials use Pinterest monthly

According to the company’s IPO filing, over half of millenials (born 1983-1998) in the U.S. use the platform per month. Pinterest says that these Pinners spend 17% more than millennials who don’t use Pinterest. They may be looking for a new makeup look or extra accessories to decorate a room.

Global monthly active users grow year over year

Pinterest’s international user base is growing fast. In the first quarter of 2020, the company reported 367 million monthly active users (MAU). They showed growth of 26% year over year. 

Of this amount of total MAUs, 277 million were international, with an increase of 34% year over year. U.S. MAUs were 90 million, with an increase of 6% year over year.

These numbers show that Pinterest offers an abundance of opportunities. Retailers can tap into the platform’s ever expanding user audience. 

Going forward, Pinterest plans to expand its user case with new features. This includes new content, ads diversification and shopping opportunities. New releases provide an even greater opportunity to deliver inspiration to users with measurable business results. 

What businesses can benefit from Pinterest?

Industries that commonly use Pinterest to promote their brands include auto, beauty, education, entertainment, financial services, food/beverage, healthcare/pharmaceutical, home decor/furniture, household goods, luxury, media/publishing, professional services, retail, small business, style, technology/telecommunications and travel.

Many merchants that have worked with diff fit into the above categories, and are active on Pinterest. This includes the following brands: Urban Planet, Aftershokz, Anine Bing, Effy Jewelry, Polysleep, Leesa, Goodee World, Ministry of Supply, and Popsockets, among others.

Pinterest is advantageous for brands that can appeal to life’s important moments. These include seasonal celebrations to major holidays to sporting events and more:

Seasonal moments

Seasonal moments spike at specific points during the year. This also increases peak advertising opportunities for brands that can appeal to certain tags, otherwise known as search terms. 

For example, retailers may choose to advertise during peak times when consumers are looking for inspiration on style. Pinners look for outfit inspiration during high shopping seasons. Examples of shopping season related tags include ‘New Years’, ‘back to school’, ‘Black Friday’, and ‘holidays’.

Life moments

Life moments include life milestones. Top tags include ‘wedding season’, ‘buying a new home’, ‘having a new baby’, ‘car buying’, ‘retirement’, and ‘gifting’. Brands that can inspire specific life moments have an added opportunity. They can get their products in front of users who are looking for their ideas. 

For example, retailers could advertise products related to engagement photos, or a luxury lifestyle. Alternatively, they may showcase the perfect baby shower gift, retirement gift, or a new home gift.

Pinterest as a customer acquisition strategy

Merchants can show the most up-to-date price, availability, product descriptions, and provide a link directly from their website. A user can save a Pin they are interested in to their board to look at later. They can also click the visit button to be sent directly to the merchant’s landing page. There users can choose to browse, add to their shopping cart or process an order. 

This is why Pinterest is a powerful marketing tool for online stores to sell. Users stumble across products as they proactively find Pins via search. Users also stumble across Pins they see as they scroll their feed. 

Here are a few statistics from Pinterest’s 2019 Seasonal Insights report. These demonstrate why Pinterest is a solid platform for targeting your shoppers:

• Over 300 million people use Pinterest every month, with people having saved more than 200 billion Pins globally.
• 98% of Pinners report trying new things they find on Pinterest, showing they are open-minded and ready to make decisions.
• 77% of weekly Pinners have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest.
• 83% of weekly Pinners report having made a purchase based on seeing content from brands on Pinterest.
• 97% of searches on Pinterest are unbranded. This gives retailers an opportunity to get products in front of shoppers early on in the decision making process.
• Revenue from shopping ads grew over 100% in 2019. As revenue increased in the first 2 quarters, the number of active advertisers increased as well by 125% in the same period. In Q4, attributed conversions grew 2.5x year over year. 

These numbers suggest that Pinterest is an ideal platform choice. This is because merchants can reach people while they decide what to do or buy next. When users are Pinning, they’re actively seeking new ideas on Pinterest. 

Your ecommerce brand might just have the right idea they are looking for. This may include fulfilling seasonal moments, like buying the perfect outfit for New Years. Or this may include life moments, like planning a special gift for Valentines Day.

Finding success on Pinterest

One example of a Shopify retailer that used Pinterest to scale up their online store is Inkbox. This semi-permanent tattoo company used Promoted Pins and Promoted Video to generate more revenue while keeping costs manageable. 

After being active on the platform for years, Inkbox’s profile built an organic following. The profile features photos of original tattoo designs from their international artist community. To take things further, they created a direct-response campaign to build a tattoo ecosystem. The goal was to help people test out temporary designs before making permanent tattoo decisions. 

They used similar creative to their organic Pins, in addition to a vertical format that stood out more. Visuals showed Inkbox tattoos applied on various skin tones, and demonstrated their easy application process. They also answered common FAQs like how long they take to develop, and how long they last. Keyword and audience targeting helped Inkbox get in front of a relevant audience that would match their interests.

With over 10 million monthly visitors to Inkbox’s profile, this campaign delivered high value while keeping costs affordable. Promoted Pins and Promoted Videos increased metrics from product discovery, through to consideration and purchase and drove 6x more monthly conversions. Aside from boosting traffic, Pinterest helped Inkbox diversify their digital acquisition strategy and generate revenue while keeping costs low.

This example demonstrates how a Shopify retailer can use Pinterest as an acquisition tool, to increase leads and boost sales. For Inkbox, the channel fit the company’s business model, which was people looking for tattoo inspiration and idea discovery online. Through keyword and interest targeting, they reached an audience that helped them drive both traffic and business. 

If you’re interested in reading more Pinterest success stories, you can check them out, here.

How to make a Pin that converts

Here are a few strategies Pinterest suggests that can help you make a Pin that converts:

Prioritize high quality content

It’s important to focus your energy on creating content that resonates with your audience’s interests. To do so, you can follow creative best practices.

Stay consistent

Add new Pins gradually, rather than adding them all at once. This will help you reach a wider audience. 

Relate to your audience

Always think from your audience’s perspective. Imagine what ideas they are looking for on Pinterest, and how you can help them make decisions.

Use Pinterest insights

Pinterest publishes seasonal, category, and audience insights on their insights page. Here, you can keep up with the latest trends. You can also use Pinterest Analytics to learn more about your audience.

Plan ahead for seasonal trends

Remember that people plan way ahead of time before holidays and seasonal events. Make sure to factor timing into your schedule. Pinterest recommends saving seasonal content 30-45 days in advance.

Optimize landing pages

Ensure you pick a landing page that helps Pinners learn more about your Pins. For example, Pins of clothing should link to a page where they can buy that product. 

Write a full description

Ensure your product descriptions add context and clearly represent your branding. Descriptions can fit up to 500 characters. The first 50-60 characters are most likely to show up in people’s feeds. Prioritize that information first and use relevant keywords.

Follow community guidelines

Pinterest lists community guidelines to discourage spammy behaviors. By following these rules, you can ensure your content is relevant and will create an engaging user experience.  

Pinterest: A powerful marketing tool 

Shopify’s partnership with Pinterest adds yet another powerful marketing tool to help Shopify merchants sell online. It makes it easier for merchants to share their products with Pinterest's over 350 million users to discover shoppable Pins. This allows Pinterest users to purchase an item directly from a Shopify merchant’s store. 

This integration also makes it easier for merchants to advertise on Pinterest. By doing so, they can acquire new customers and grow sales. This makes it a big win for businesses of all sizes.

As a bonus, Pinterest is offering new merchant advertisers $100 in advertising credit when they publish their first ad on Shopify! To get this promotion, simply download the Pinterest integration in the Shopify App store.

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Written by Debra Weinryb, Content Strategist at Diff Agency