Q&A with Pinterest: Shoppable Functions and Maximising Presence

BDB was lucky enough to sit down with Maeve Gallagher, Agency Partner Manager for Pinterest UK & Ireland, to discuss Pinterest’s shoppable functions and how brands and creators can maximise their presence across the platform.

Hi Maeve, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. First off, could you tell us a bit about Pinterest’s shoppable functions?

The idea behind our shopping pins is to create an in-platform high street. What we’re finding is that a large proportion of shoppers are putting in most of the groundwork for their shopping online and on their phones. Essentially, they’re window shopping online. Pinterest encourages interactivity with shopping which replicates the in-person experience. 

Our Product Pins function allows e-commerce stores to have their own digital shop within the app. Product Pins are enriched with metadata which are formatted to let people on Pinterest know they’re shoppable. Product feeds are pulled in and vital information (like product imagery, prices and stock availability) is ingested directly from a brand’s website. This updates every 24 hours and can be used with integrations such as Shopify and Square. 

Product Pins then lead people on Pinterest to the website where they can purchase products. The feature is growing rapidly in popularity as social commerce booms. It’s a great way of finding your audience and works across a wealth of verticals. Pinterest’s most popular categories continue to sit within food and drink, fashion and beauty and home decor. 

Does Pinterest offer shoppable ads too?

Yes! There are two different types that can be run with our Product Pins. Brands can focus on standalone pins – these include product name and price, with a swipe up to the website included. We also facilitate collection ads, which include a hero image with four or five additional products included below. We find lifestyle images work best to really draw Pinterest users in. 

What do you think are the benefits for brands using these features?

We’re noticing that brands are increasingly expected to have a more holistic presence and exist in multiple locations online. Pinterest provides a positive shopping experience for users who are taking to their phones to shop more than ever.

You have to imagine the platform as a personal shopping channel – people use it to create their “ideal” life scenarios, be that designing their dream home, wedding or simply deciding what they want for breakfast. The searches are very personal.

Our main selling point is that we have a way of targeting people who are already in the market to shop. Pinterest is the biggest shopping channel besides Google. It’s a no brainer for brands to make the most of these shoppable functions to drive ROI on an already captivated and engaged audience with intent to purchase. Consumers enjoy using Pinterest – it helps them find new brands and provides them with a positive social media experience.

Unlike other social media platforms, 70% of Pinterest’s content comes from brands – but users don’t mind. They’re on the lookout for new brands and in this way we can also support smaller businesses by providing them with a platform to target new audiences and expand their reach. They have an equal opportunity to show up.

How do you think brands get the most success out of their Pinterest presence?

One of the most important things with Pinterest is to put in the background work. The more effort brands put into images and descriptions, the higher they’re going to rank and the more visible they’ll become.

Brands which have established themselves as early adopters of these features have been successful. Given Pinterest is a visual platform, Product Pins lend themselves well to high quality, aesthetically pleasing product images. Imagery is key. Bespoke content also performs really well. 

Pinterest is a trends-driven platform. If brands are curating trending products and content, then the platform will do most of the work for them in pushing content out. These brands have an organic advantage, because they’re going to show up without massive amounts of targeting. Trending products rank themselves highly across the app, so if the content is relevant it’ll keep coming back to be seen time and time again. 

How can they use creators to really maximise their output?

Pinterest is full of hyper-talented creators you wouldn’t normally associate with social media. The app is a home for everybody – perhaps those who have maybe felt ostracised by other platforms and haven’t been able to establish themselves successfully elsewhere.

The brilliant thing about Pinterest is that users are looking for inspiration and aren’t put off by seeing something outside of their “norm” – it’s usual to stumble across uniqueness on Pinterest, and our users embrace this. 

They also respect luxury content and want to experience creativity. Usually, creators on Pinterest come from an artistic background curating bespoke, creative content, so brands should really look to tap into these valuable skill sets and create long-standing relationships with them. Not only can they drive awareness and engagement through creator exposure, but they also have access to the highest-quality, curated content to repost on their own channels. 

There is huge untapped potential for brands and creators to be working together on Pinterest. The platform houses a variety of talented individuals who produce incredibly sleek and engaging content, so brands have a broader spectrum from which to find their perfect match. Pinterest users are always looking for added value; for ways in which they can replicate what they see and the process of how to do it. Creators are that insider voice who can connect the bridge between the two.

One of our functions which supports brand/creator relationships is the Idea Pins which sit at the top of a creator’s profile. Idea Pins give creators more ways to share inspiration with up to 20 pages of videos, images and text. They’re easy for users to access and now is the time to leverage them – they were relaunched about a month ago and it’s the most effective way to get in front of as many eyes as possible.

Thanks to Maeve for sharing such valuable insight into Pinterest and how the platform can be maximised by both creators and brands. If you want to learn more about how BDB can support with campaigns on Pinterest, feel free to get in touch with Piet: [email protected]