From inspiration to action: the purchasing power of Pinterest’s full marketing funnel

Judging by the array of nominated work entered this year, there has been a notable shift from brands using the platform just to create visually engaging content to positioning Pinterest as a more integrated part of the media mix. By creating strategies that leverage the platform as a full-funnel solution and adopt a test-and-learn strategy, brands have been able to unlock effectiveness.

Adding value from awareness to conversion

For the launch of John Lewis’s Anyway range, MG OMD saw an opportunity with Pinterest to grow the brand’s profile and revenue in the home improvement sector. The strategy was to not just own Pinterest across different discovery phases but to constantly take risks and test-and-learn to understand how to make the platform work stronger. This was a dynamic campaign, with several creative phases, goals and objectives. But by taking advantage of Pinterest’s ad product suite, John Lewis was able to raise awareness and shift perception.

The agency leveraged innovative ad units including Premiere, Pin Extensions and Shopping ads, ensuring that all assets were made and optimized for Pinterest. In the background, a brand lift study ran across the multi-phase campaign to measure success. The campaign was able to showcase that Pinterest can be used as a holistic approach, adding value at every phase of the customer journey.

“We went the extra mile by ensuring the strategy had measurement in place across the campaign so we could effectively gather learnings and determine success,” wrote MG OMD. “As a result, we saw positive outcomes, with the conversion phase driving the strongest lift in campaign awareness, showcasing the benefit of users being exposed to a full-funnel approach.”

The Tile Shop was also able to establish multiple touchpoints to capture pent-up digital demand and nurture Pinterest users further along their path to purchase. It targeted higher-funnel audiences with smart and visually appealing video creative but with clever insights was also able to optimize activity towards Pinterest users who were more likely to click. Through this always-on approach, the brand was able to continually inspire audiences, encourage them to engage and eventually convert into customers.

From inspiration to digital excellence

But it wasn’t just work with a full-funnel strategy that made it onto the shortlist this year. Nominated entries from Rocell and Ryvita leveraged data analysis and research to pinpoint specific trends and demand opportunities to be discoverable, deliver contextual reach and inspire potential customers. By tapping into micro-moments and trends, with specific hashtags and captivating copy, they were able to create novel content strategies that utilized a range of creative formats – including short-form video – to attract customers and increase organic traffic, thus increasing conversions.

The Soul Publishing, winner of this year’s ‘Best Use of Pinterest’ Award, tapped into the appetite for Pinterest’s strong affinity for DIY-related content to create a new distribution approach that took advantage of features such as Idea Pins to record levels of engagement.

“While most other platforms are about what is happening right now, Pinterest is focused on helping people plan for the future – it’s where you go to be inspired,” wrote The Soul Collective. “The ‘stickiness’ of the platform is not available on other channels, where trending content burns bright and fast.”

And speaking of trends, each year Pinterest utilizes its understanding of cultural trends and consumer behavior around the world to offer brands a ‘not-yet-trending’ window into the future. For two years consistently its Pinterest Predicts trends report saw 80% of predictions come true.

The newly launched Pinterest Predicts for 2022 is bigger than ever with more trends and in-product consumer experience and creator spotlights. Dive in and take a look into the future.

See how businesses of all sizes are succeeding on Pinterest here.