Lessons
Lesson Info
Foundations of Pinterest
So Pinterest helps you discover and do what you love. Pinterest is a discovery tool. I know this is social media week, and I know that we talk about Facebook and Instagram and all these things, but Pinterest isn't really social. It is more of a search engine. People come to actively consider what to do and buy next. So every time that someone is visiting Pinterest, there's always future intent. So when I'm coming to Pinterest, I know I have an idea in my mind, or I wanna know more about something so that I can execute it. There's intention behind everything that people do on Pinterest. Ultimately, Pinterest is a visual discovery engine. That is what Pinterest likes to say. I think that, I also call it like a curated Google, or better Google in a way. Like if I search Granny Smith apples on Google, I'm gonna get a picture of a green apple, on a white background probably. But if I search Granny Smith apple on Pinterest I'm gonna get an idea of how to implement Granny Smith apples into my...
life, and to yummy baked apple pies, right. It takes it to another level. Three-fourths of all content people pin are from a business' website, which I think is such an important thing to note, because people aren't afraid to be marketed to on there. If you have a great idea that's gonna help my life and make it better, I don't care if it's an ad or not. Just tell me about it, so I can make my life better. People are coming to be told what they should do to make their lives better, so mark it, hopefully as a business owner, your product or service that you have, you're doing this to help people. At the end of the day, you started these businesses to change lives, whether it's just a really great looking dress, all the way to helping children with special needs, your business has a purpose and you're passionate about it. And people want their lives changed when they visit Pinterest. So who is on Pinterest and what happens? Let's talk about that. So there's over two billion searches each month. Wow. So people are, they're ready for you (laughs). And about 70% of pinners are saving or clicking on pins, not just visiting. So you know those people that just get on social media sites and they just scroll and scroll, and never interact? No, 70% of people on Pinterest are taking action, they're ready. More than half the pinners are from outside the U.S., so there is an international audience, if you're trying to expand your brand, this is the place to do it. Pinterest has grown nearly 40% since last year. If Pinland were a country, it would be the seventh largest country in the world. So, people discounting Pinterest is just dumb. Like, that is dumb, I will say, I won't call anyone dumb, but that is a dumb thought, don't discount it. And one out of two U.S. millennials use Pinterest every single day, every month, sorry. So, the reach, let's talk about what happens when you share content on Pinterest. So followers will first see your content. So when you share something, your followers see it. And the more that they engage with your content, then more people will see it. So the algorithm is an engagement based algorithm, and it's saying, "Oh hey, like her community "really likes this, we're gonna suggest "this pin or this board to other people, "they probably will like it." Because at the end of the day, Pinterest wants to create a really good user experience. Ideas live on and they provide value for years to come, as we talked about. This is my favorite. I know this is a lot information to throw at you guys, but this is one of my favorite things ever. According to Wisemetrics, the half-life of a tweet, the time in which you earn 50% of all clicks and views, is approximately 24 minutes. On Facebook your posts have a 90 minute half-life, at best. And on Pinterest it's three and half months, so that basically means that a single pin lasts approximately 1,680 times longer than a Facebook post. So you're getting so much bang for you buck to invest in Pinterest. But is, the Pinterest user my customer? Because I'm not gonna tell you guys to, I mean I know we have have a lot of different choices when we're trying to figure out where our customer is, and we want to spend time with our customer, and we want to hang out where our customer hangs out. So it is important that you're investing in places where that person is, and I'm not gonna say, "Oh yeah, "everybody needs to use every single social platform, "and it's all gonna work for you." I mean you kind of have to pick and choose where it makes sense. So, let's find out if your customer is on Pinterest. So who uses Pinterest? There's 200 million monthly users. (laughs) Yeah. And 70% are female, and 30% are male. Okay, that is an amazing statistic to me, because when you're thinking about Facebook or Instagram, you're dealing with a 50-50. And knowing if you have a female target market, you know that organically if you spent time on Pinterest you're reaching them. 70% are users are female, so you just know right away, my audience is hanging out here. 98% of pinners try new things they find on Pinterest. So we know that the majority of the users are actually taking your ideas, and implementing them. Whether it's buying a product, or trying that DIY, they're active. And 60% of Pinterest households have children five and under. So we know that they're parents for sure, and then we know that they're young parents, so if I have a product line for babies, you better believe that I am spending time on Pinterest, oh my goodness. If I do decor, like home decor, maybe I have some great nursery decor, or I wanna style some content that fits with nursery designs. So think about who that person is, and whether your business is fitting with them. Okay, so that's a lot of information about who is on Pinterest, and what happens on Pinterest, so what do you if you want to start using Pinterest for your business? First things first, you wanna sign-up for a business account, and you can go to business.Pinterest.com. And that is going to basically give you the ability to look at insights, or analytics of what's working and it'll also help you to run ads, which we will talk about in the ads class. But overall it gives you a lot more tools and things versus a personal account. It's free, so you don't need to worry about that either. You also wanna claim your website, and make sure that Pinterest knows where your website is, and it's verified, and Pinterest will basically say, that anytime someone pins something from your site, it will give attribution to you. So whether I'm pinning from your site, or you're pinning from your site, that will make sure attribution happens. And then you'll want to start to pin content each week. So that means content from other websites, or content within the platform, because when you login to Pinterest you'll see a home people of ideas that you can be saving. And also content from your own site. And make sure that your email address that you're using, is your active email address, because Pinterest sends you a ton of emails, and you wanna make sure that you, in the best way, not in like a spammy way. But all those emails, I open every single one, and that's how I learn about new products or tools that they're offering that they can help me.
Ratings and Reviews
Crystal Cervantes
This class was awesome! I have never really thought about how to use Pinterst to help build my brand. The only thing I wish she would touch on is how to collaborate and communicate to reach other Pinterest influencers.
Joshua Proto
Amazing! I had never thought of Pinterest as a meaningful ad platform, but I was super wrong! If one has a physical product or market in the lifestyle or fashion sectors they need to seriously consider this platform. Alexandra is easy to understand and presents her information in an engaging and thorough style. She truly is a Pinterest master!
Student Work
Related Classes
Social Media