Pinterest’s full-funnel performance: A seamless shopping experience

The boom in social media advertising has been largely driven by its ability to create cost effective awareness in the upper funnel, but platforms such as Pinterest are creating tools that help drive engagement right through to conversion.

A focus on performance has seen a shift in emphasis with new Pinterest products delivering powerful lower funnel results, increasing traffic, boosting conversions and enhancing visibility through improved campaign measurement.

Full funnel performance

“The platform has clearly invested in building its capabilities in the lower funnel,” says Jessica Whitney, managing partner, Total Social. “Previously it was viewed more as a lever to drive inspiration, brand discovery and consideration. Now, through the likes of shoppable Pins and product recommendations, advertisers can take users from low-intent to high-intent, through a seamless shopping experience.”

Pinterest has always been a great driver of quality traffic. Its monthly 518m ¹ active users turn to it for inspiration, community and, importantly, to buy.

Two-thirds of Pinterest users are women ² and 42% are Gen Z. Pinterest shoppers spend 40% more per month than users on other platforms. ³

Considerate shoppers

In an age influenced by factors such as the cost-of-living crisis and the rise of intentional consumption, buyers on Pinterest are mindful consumers.

Matt Siberry, lead client partner, Pinterest says people think a lot about what they buy, researching more and putting as much consideration into budget purchases as those at the luxury end.

“Part of the boom in online is people looking to research more and we’re not as flippant with our purchases,” he says. “The journey is no longer linear. Influencing people is therefore tricky. We see a growth in intention which is why Pinterest is in this new era of performance and shopping.”

From search to sales

By empowering Pinterest users, the platform lets advertisers provide the depth of information that buyers want. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of search, social and commerce, Pinterest leverages the trend of Gen Z gravitating towards visual platforms for search.

In the battle for attention, tools such as video play a critical role. Pinterest’s suite of video ads is designed to cater to every stage of the purchase journey, from driving brand lift in the upper funnel to converting in the lower funnel.

Research found that Pinterest users view videos three times slower than they do on other social platforms ⁴, partly because it is a future-facing platform where they go to seek inspiration, save ideas and plan.

Brands that use videos in their collections ads have seen a 44% better return on ad spend, compared to static collections ads. ⁵

By becoming more shoppable, users are able to buy across all surfaces of the platform, which has resulted in a 50% year-over-year increase in buyable items saved to boards. ⁶

Measurement and optimisation

Understanding what works and why in a campaign is crucial, and Pinterest has more than 30 measurement partners to show conversion more clearly, improving signal data resilience and measurement of attention.

Advertisers can combine measurements with testing to isolate individual variables to see what’s impacting results. Pinterest’s MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) approach helps performance marketers gather nuanced insights and tweak specific variables to optimise campaigns.

According to Rachel Morman, head of social, PHD Global, brands facing budgetary constraints need to show ROI and diversification of budgets can uncover value, especially if they test and learn with specific content for the platform.

“Ads are more native and less interruptive on Pinterest and that’s more appealing to a more sceptical generation,” she says. “The lesson is don’t make ads, make creative that resonates.”

It’s a new era for performance on Pinterest. See the full suite of performance products here.

Sources
¹ Pinterest analysis, global, Q1 2024
² Pinterest analysis, global, Jun 2023
³ Dynata for Pinterest, shopping study with people who use Pinterest weekly for fashion and beauty, compared to people who use other platforms. UK, Apr 2021
⁴ Pinterest Lumen Pinpointing Attention Study, Jan 2022
⁵ Pinterest analysis, compares results for video collections ads and static collections ads, global, Nov–Dec 2023
⁶ Pinterest Internal Data, Global, Q2 2023 vs. Q2 2022.