By: Kevin Poulter & Alicia Toye
The users of pinterest are known as “pinners” on the digital platform. Pinterest allows users to visually share their interests and discover new hobbies by ‘pinning’ images or videos to their own boards. Pinners can save pins from other users’ boards, as well as upload their own pins either from the internet or their own pictures. These boards can be categorized by users themselves, based on what they are interested in. Boards tend to follow a common theme, such as travel, cooking, sports, etc. Pinterest wants to help its users discover the things they truly enjoy and motivate them to participate in these activities. The founders of Pinterest want Pinterest to become the world’s largest discovery engine.
We’ll introduce Pinterest Analytics, a way for users to observe how pinners engage with content from their site or ‘pins’ from their profile. Pinterest Analytics only works for business accounts. A user can easily convert their personal account into a business account, or simply create a new one. Using analytics, pinners can see how things are trending over time, how changes to their pinning strategy have affected their activity on the site, and if there are seasonal trends leading to more traffic on their profile. Users can also filter and sort their analytics in an effort to get a more detailed look. These filters include viewing data for a particular time period or viewing analytics for different devices. Users can even export data to compare trends regarding metrics such as repins, clicks, and impressions. Pinterest Analytics are categorized into 3 different areas: profile analytics, audience analytics, and website analytics.
Profile analytics has a section where users can look at data that was collected over the last 30 days. With Pinterest, pins may not be discovered a while after they are added. Therefore, users may need to wait a while before they are able to see the full impact of their pins. In the case of Buzzfeed, it was discovered that much of their traffic came from content published more than two months prior. There are three main metrics that Pinterest analytics are derived from: repins, clicks, and impressions. Repins indicate that people find a user’s content interesting enough to save it or share it. Clicks indicate people wanting to learn more about or take action on a user’s content. If people are actively looking for a user’s content, it is indicated by impressions. Analytics provides the top 50 pins, following these metrics, in the last 30 days and the report is based on the data collected from the beginning of a user’s account. Pinterest Analytics presents this information in the form of tables and graphs for users, to help breakdown the information.
In the profile analytics section of Pinterest, there are also tables that indicate the top 50 boards within the past 30 days that users are viewing pins from and saving pins to. These analytics show the pinner’s journey, which breaks down the state-of-mind that pinners tend to be in when exploring Pinterest. These states-of-mind follow a pattern that begins with a ‘just looking’ state-of-mind. Pinners then move into a ‘maybe I could’ state of mind, followed by a ‘narrowing it down’ state-of-mind, and ending in a state-of-mind of ‘I know what I want’. If users learn to understand these states-of-mind, then they can add pins that help pinners along this journey. This is why it is imperative to post product-focused and aspirational pins, but that still relate to the business.
The All-Time report, in profile analytics, is another feature of Pinterest analytics. This feature involves metrics like All-Time most repinned pins, power pins, and best in search. These metrics provide insight into the content that a user’s audience is most interested in, pins with the All-Time highest engagement, and the pins that are ranked the most high in searches. Not only does Pinterest analytics provide users with all of the useful information previously mentioned, but it also provides ways for users to improve each of the metrics it uses to analyze their profiles and sharpen their pins.
The next category of Pinterest Analytics is website analytics. Website analytics allows users to see how the content from their website is doing on Pinterest, by showing data regarding pins that link back to the user’s website. Website analytics can also be filtered by clicks, impressions, re-pins and all-time top pins. Website analytics, much like profile analytics, shows top pins from the previous 30 days representing the most popular pins from a user’s website. The purpose of this feature is to aid users in deciding what pins and boards to add to their profile and what users should feature on their website. In addition to the top pins, website analytics also provides the top boards from the past 30 days. The top boards feature can help users to understand how pinners are organizing the content from a user’s website. Pinners can use boards that either they created themselves, or boards that the user has created, with pins that link back to the user’s website.
Unique to the website analytics category, of Pinterest, is the Original Pins section. This section provides a report showing the number of unique pins that are created from a user’s website on a daily basis. User’s can use this section to see the most recently created unique pins, understand how much unique content on Pinterest is coming from their site, and the latest pinning trends from the user’s website. In order to best utilize this section of analytics, users should consider how easy it is for viewers to pin from their website and if viewers can pin from the user’s mobile site. Users should also take into account whether or not their viewers actually know they are on Pinterest and how active they are on Pinterest. An important factor to these considerations is the Pin It button.
The Pin It button is beneficial to the success of a website through Pinterest and website analytics, as well. By adding the official Pin It button to their website, users will receive a snapshot view of how the button is driving traffic back to their website. The viewer’s activity (i.e. Pins, clicks, impressions) is shown in two separate graphs. The first graph provides data based on a single day and the second graph provides information based on the previous seven days. The data will exhibit how many times pins that were created by a user’s website are repinned, how many impressions they received, and how many times the repins led viewers back to the site. Similarly to profile analytics, website analytics also has an All-Time section which shows the complete history of the user’s business account on Pinterest. This history includes most repinned pins, best in search and Power Pins. This section for website analytics is meant to provide insight into bigger content trends across a user’s pins.
The last category of Pinterest analytics is audience analytics. On Pinterest, a user’s audience is defined as anyone who has seen at least one of their Pins. Engaged pinners, on the other hand, refers to anyone who has liked, repinned, sent or clicked on one of the user’s Pins. Audience analytics revolves around demographics and interests. Demographic data is based on content from the previous thirty days and is important because it let’s users know where their audience is coming from, what languages they speak and what gender they identify with. All of these factors can help a user better target their content. There is also a metro detail, which is currently only available in the United States.
Audience analytics largely regards the interests of a user’s audience. Under the interests section users will get a look at the most popular categories that the user’s followers show interest in and a collection of boards from the user’s audience that contain the user’s pins. Users will also be able to see other business accounts that their audience interacts with. The purpose of analyzing these areas is to provide the user with ideas about the kind of content in which their audience likes, how they think about the user’s brand, and to see how the user’s audience organizes the user’s pins. Additionally, users will see how their audience reacts to their pins, find inspiration on how to organize their boards and website, as well as learn who else their audience is interested in. Learning who else a user’s audience is interested in is important because it gives the user an idea of other things that appeal to their followers. This can help a user figure out what kind of pins they would like to create in the future.
Pinterest Analytics looks bright and has a great deal of potential for future businesses. It not only offers users a way to see how people interact with their pins, but is a way to gain more insight into their website. Pinterest Analytics provides users with monthly reports and data that are easy to analyze and show how effective a user’s pins are to the company. With Pinterest being a social media platform used more heavily by females, Pinterest Analytics would be ideal for apparel brands. The fact that Pinterest offers a direct link from the pin to the product for purchasing shows the company how well and effective online purchasing is on Pinterest. Another ideal business category for Pinterest Analytics would be food establishments. Users with businesses relating to food can pin recipes, new dishes, and photos of the restaurants. By using Pinterest Analytics the user can see how much traffic their page is experiencing from both Pinterest and their business’ personal site. Pinterest Analytics has the potential to give businesses a head start in the future of online marketing.
Sources
https://pinterest.app.box.com/s/4u9wx06yk91r463upuar
https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/pinterest-analytics
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-blog-post-simple-formula-ht
Marketing Discussions 
I am a Pinterst user myself and I find this platform to be very entertaining. It offers you exposure to new products, ideas, recipes, work outs and everything in between. As this post mentions, Pinterst offers you direct access to a product’s website which makes purchasing products very easy. I find this to be their most effective business strategy in that sales are made at the click of a button. I think that the future of Pinterst from a marketing standpoint has great potential.
LikeLike
I agree, Pinterest provides access to new and creative ways of doing things. It is my go to when I need a new recipe, decorating, or project ideas.
LikeLike
Pinterest is a great platform for marketers. You can create native posts that make the users think that it came from someone that they have personally followed. It is also a nice way to keep your ad circulating through the pages of Pinterest. There is a very high chance that many people will see the post. Pinterest also allows for easy accessibility, when it comes to listing the website url right below the post. This drives more traffic to your website and hopefully generates more sales as well. I am sure as time goes by we will start to see more companies using Pinterest.
LikeLike
Analytics in pinterest start with the day and time the website is verified. They are not retroactive, so you will not see information from before this day and time, even if you were pinning to a business account prior to that. So this makes me wonder how useful it would be, because for the analytics to actually matter, to see and understand the trend, we must have data and history.
LikeLike
I also agree that Pinterest is a great platform, not only for users but also for marketers. It helped the users save time, and it can provide a good experience for their online shopping. From this point, we can see that Pinterest has a big potential. However, Pinterest should also aware that they are a few competitors in the market, like WeHeartIt, Fancy, Indulgy and Piccsy. Pintertest would need to think about how to make their marketing strategies in the future.
LikeLike
I think Pinterest is a great Platform for anyone. Marketers are actually able to reach such a wide variety of consumers in a creative way. They are able to make it easier for the consumer to buy their product by getting to purchase it directly from the sire, or if you are able to click the picture you are able to get directly to the website and look more into the product.
LikeLike
Pinterest Analytics could be a great way for companies to target certain groups of customers related to what their brand is all about. After reading the post, it seems like Pinterest is similar to what Instagram is. Using Pinterest, companies can pin certain things that attract specific people and find out just when to post them and why. These pins could really push certain products and services and help a brand grow.
LikeLike
I believe that Pinterest is a great way to market products and companies. The visual pictures of products and ideas are what consumers love, and if companies can create unique ways to reach the viewers eye by using Pinterest, it could be very successful. Pinterest Analytics is a great way for businesses to create certain targets of groups, and find what people are searching and what they are interested in. Pinterest, like many digital social media sites allows for customers to see what they want to buy, and it allows for more impulse sales for companies, which can benefit them. The direct purchases of clicking a picture makes buying very convenient for customers, and that is what they want! Pinterest is a great platform for both the viewer and companies, and if they can continue to create great marketing tactics to gain customers, it will be very successful.
LikeLike
Using Pinterest for marketing is an interesting tool, even though it may not reach the widest audience. Many times users that utilize Pinterest do not connect with their friends on the site, so people aren’t influencing their friends to purchase the products. Other social media sites connect users more, and provide insight into their lives. Pinterest is a very visual marketing form, and companies can utilize this aspect by posting many images about their products.
LikeLike
Pinterest is a very creative platform. Personally I have the app but don’t use it a lot, but when I do it is to find new ideas on various different things such as recipes, gift ideas, and even things to do with the kids when I am babysitting. It is a great way for people to share their ideas in a way that is going to be helpful for others.
LikeLike
As a fairly new user to Pinterest I’m not quite familiar with the whole site yet so reading this article and listening to the presentation was very helpful! From an entertainment standpoint I find Pinterest very effective, especially with all the DIY posts. I think the direct link to purchase products is a competitive edge for this social media platform compared some of the others besides Facebook.
LikeLike
Pinterest allows companies to show their creative side. They can take risks on posts and campaigns that they normally would not do elsewhere. However, I feel as if there is a lot of competition for Pinterest and it sometimes can be confusing. As someone who does not frequent Pinterest, I found the platform hard to navigate.
LikeLike
I have never considered the analytics of Pinterest and the thought process that really goes on in one’s mind while scrolling through thousands of pins and narrowing down to the pin that you ultimately utilize. It is a very good strategy for business to use Pinterest to see the mindset of their consumer base and to really focus their efforts on whatever category of topics or population of pinners that are viewing their content the most. This was a great article and definitely an interesting topic.
LikeLike
I personally have never used pinterest, however, my girlfriend is an avid user of it. I often find myself trying some recipe that she made from a pinterest pin or driving to some destination that she saw on pinterest because she wants to take a picture like she saw on a pin. Pinterest is great for marketers because users seem very willing to try or buy or whatever it may be that the pin offers.
LikeLike
I am a Pinterest user and should say that I am obsessed with it. I like how strategically it is organised. I can choose the pins and could save them for later. I do not have to go to the website every time only if I want more information about the picture, and the pictures usually convey a lot by themselves. When I want to visit the website it directly takes me there without multiple clicks. The best part is lack of ads or pop ups.
LikeLike
Prior to reading this blog post, I had no idea the in depth analytical tools that can be provided through Pinterest. I myself have the app, but have never been too familiar with it. I “pin” or “repin” occasionally, but never really got in depth in all the features that were available, especially for businesses. I usually search ideas on the app and that is about as in depth as I will get. I was amazed and the analytics that can be accessed through a business page. I thought it was strange that only business pages had this feature however, and not every page. I enjoyed learning about profile analytics, web analytics and the all time report. It seems to me that if more companies were more aware of some of the features and data they could obtain from Pinterest, more companies would engage on this platform. I agree, that some companies would not be a good fit on Pinterest, as a highly female target market, but those appropriate to the platform could really see great success in my opinion.
LikeLike
Businesses have a wide variety of analytics to use in determining their marketing success on Pinterest. I think a strength of this media is the ability for businesses to target certain audiences and groups of people. I also agree that this social media is similar to Instagram. Companies who are focusing on targeting females could greatly benefit from using Pinterest.
LikeLike
Pinterest is a multi-functional platform for marketing tools. The different uses can be for fun, designing, or for marketing tools. I personally use Pinterest almost everyday. It uses many different analytics that can help a marketer reach its target market. It can be difficult though for marketers because people have to follow a board in order to see those pins. A good idea to reach an audience is to make an ad sponsored in order for it to reach many people.
LikeLike
Pinterest seems like a very creative app that does something different then most social media platforms out there today. I don’t have a Pinterest, but I like how unique the platform is. This app is great for marketers, because they can easily get their product out to their target audience. I don’t think that Pinterest will ever get as popular as other social media platforms, but I think its uniqueness will allow it to stick around for awhile, and businesses should take advantage of that.
LikeLike
I personally do not have Pinterest but I know many people who do and love it. It is a great thing for marketers to really showcase their products and gain consumers. It is a difficult app at times because there is so much to the app that many consumers do not know about. It is very similar to Instagram but should focus more on targeting men.
LikeLike