The Ultimate Pinterest Guide: Your Pinterest Questions Answered

10.4 min readPublished On: 15 March 2021By
the ultimate pinterest guide

Pinterest is still somewhat of a mystery to a large majority of the population, but it’s continuing to growing exponentially with an increase of 26% in the last year alone. But why are we not all utilsing this social media platform in our marketing campaigns? In our ultimate guide below, we’ll be answering all of your questions about Pinterest to see if it could be the next social site for your business to take advantage of. From the trends to come in 2020, to who the demographic of the platform really is…

Click on the links below to skip to a specific question:

How to login to Pinterest

What is Pinterest for?

Are Pinterest pictures free to use?

Who uses Pinterest?

How many Pinterest users are there?

What should you use a Pinterest business account for?

What are the most searched terms on Pinterest?

What’s the difference between Pinterest and Instagram?

How can you use Pinterest for marketing?

What is Pinterest’s revenue?

How do you use image search on Pinterest?

Who should you follow on Pinterest?

How often should you pin on Pinterest?

How many Pinterest boards can you have?

Can you have secret boards on Pinterest?

When, and how did Pinterest start?

Are Pinterest ads effective?

How many Pinterest followers should you have?

Do any celebrities use Pinterest?

What are the 2021 Pinterest predictions?

How to login to Pinterest

To login to your Pinterest account visit: pinterest.com/login. Then, enter your details (password and email) and once you’ve completed this correctly you’ll be redirected to your newsfeed. If you are yet to create an account simply select Sign up and select either personal or business, this will then prompt you to then provide your email, choose a password and give your age – you can also sign up with Google or Facebook.

What is Pinterest for?

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine, providing inspiration in a variety of areas such as home, food-recipes, weddings, and more. Users can create specific boards and ‘pin’ images they find to this – using the site as an unlimited, virtual pinboard.

Are Pinterest pictures free to use?

As a service, Pinterest is free to use for all users. The photo’s on the platform are not owned by Pinterest unless otherwise stated, so if you wish to use a resource outside of the app you will need to ask the appropriate copyright owner – this is usually the publisher of the resource. Be aware, however, that not all images on Pinterest have been uploaded by the copyright owner and this is an infringement of rights. If you’d like to read more, visit the company’s help pages here.

Who uses Pinterest?

In the last year, Pinterest’s active user base grew by 26% to 335 million – something you may be able to thank the pandemic for as people turn towards new hobbies and shopping habits adapt. What’s particularly interesting about the social media platform is that two-thirds of all accounts are owned by females between the ages of 18 and 64, with children. This means that most users are actually parents! Anyone can of course create an account, but when marketing to the audience it’s important to understand the highest demographic available to you.

How many Pinterest users are there?

There are currently around 459 million active monthly Pinterest users and the site is continuing to grow at an impressive rate. Pinterest credits its expansion to the personalised features it has introduced to the social media platform, along with advertising outside of its largest country of use, the United States. This figure may be shadowed next to Facebook’s 2.8 billion but it does mean the site now has more active users than both Snapchat and Twitter combined, making it one to watch for your business.

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What should you use a Pinterest business account for?

Visual search is on the rise, 62% of Gen Z and Millenials want access to image search readily available so they can easily shop products they see in an image. At the moment, Pinterest is the only social media app that allows users to do just that, finding related content based on an image through its Lens feature. When you create a business account on the platform, you have the ability to post aesthetically-pleasing, in-use product content – utilise the Shop The Look feature, and pinners will be able to directly purchase from your images.

Pinterest remains widely underused by businesses, but with 77% of its users regularly discovering new brands and products, it’s time to take notice and understand what the site could do for you. Read more in this handy guide from Hootsuite.

What are the most searched terms on Pinterest?

Each year there is a new trend popping up, as a business it’s important you stay up to date and come up with creative ways to get your content in front of the audiences searching for these key terms. Take a look at the Pinterest top 100 from 2020 below:

90's RerunBeyond BinaryConscious ConsumptionFinding BalanceHome HubInternationally InspiredPampered PetsRe-WildingResponsible TravelSpace Everything
90s cartoonsGender-neutral namesThrifted home decorSelf-discovery journal promptsHome theatersIndian living roomsPet resortsLake fishingTrain travelAstrology-themed parties
Hip hop partiesTuxedo dressesThrift store craftsSocial media detoxIndoor microgreensSpanish bathroomsOutdoor cat playgroundsRockhoundingZero-waste travel essentialsPlanet makeup
Y2K outfitsEvery-kid playroomsLow-waste livingEmbrace being singleAudio roomsJapanese tubsPet fashionNature travelTravel storiesConstellation piercings
90s musicUnisex nurseriesLow-waste weddingsChicory rootWFH wearFilipino dessertsDog patiosRabbit hutchesStaycationsNASA logos
ScrunchiesAndrogynous wedding wearSolar light craftsArt therapy activitiesGarden roomWest African recipesGoat playhousesNorthern lightsReduced carbon footprintGalaxy painting
Braided hairstylesInclusive educational postersProduct swapsSea mossHomebrewingArabic treatsProtective halos for blind dogsOutdoor barsEco-friendly travelSpace tattoos
Grunge fashionUnisex kid clothesThrifted wedding dressesMood booster playlistsGranny podsKerala breakfast ideasDog toiletsOutdoor indoorsAgritourismSTEM activities
90s streetwearGender-neutral haircutSecondhand fashionYlang ylang oilHomemade baby foodFrench antiquesCakes for dogsHiking fashionLearning vacationsGalaxy birthdays
Lip gloss and linerAndrogynous flagsProtest postersFeng shui decorIndoor water fountainsMacedonian mealsPet memorialsBushcraft campingEco-structuresTwo the moon parties
Hair clipsGender-neutral party ideasOcean trash artCucumber juiceCoffee stationsAustralian landscapingCat birthdaysOutdoor play areasEco-friendly citiesConstellation crafts

What’s the difference between Pinterest and Instagram?

Both sites may focus their attention on visuals, but that is where their similarities end. Instagram is all about sharing images, whilst Pinterest is primarily used for discovery. Furthermore, Pinterest tends to require more value alongside the shared photo – perhaps include a recipe in the caption or a how-to guide as this is what will generate re-pins. There are several other factors that separate the two sites from the audience demographic, the style of the picture most preferred, and hashtag/linking features. Find out more here about how to curate the perfect content for Pinterest. 

pinterest questions

How can you use Pinterest for marketing?

Pins boost brand exposure, the more content you have available to online users the further your brand will reach. Using unique images and videos on the site can see your brand awareness grow, with up to 78% of users discovering new businesses on the site – and actively shopping their products. When you create a pin, you should ensure you add backlinks to your website/blog to generate traffic towards the site. Think of Pinterest as similar to SEO, boost your ranking with keywords and detailed descriptions.

What is Pinterest’s revenue?

The close of 2020 saw Pinterest’s revenue reach just under $1.45 billion, and considering that between  2017-2019 the revenue of the company grew by 55% we can only expect to see the rate continue to grow. Most of this, like the majority of other social media sites, is bought in via the platform’s promoted pins – used by marketers to boost their content and place this in front of a specific audience.

How do you use image search on Pinterest?

To use the Pinterest Lens feature is very simple. Open the app, tap the magnifying glass icon and either take or select a picture. You’ll be able to zoom in specifically, and with any luck, you’ll find the specific product you were after – or in any case, related searches.

Who should you follow on Pinterest?

Whilst there is no limit to how many followers you can accumulate on the site, users can only follow 50,000 profiles – a huge number but you may want to be a little selective! If you’re new to the site have a look at the top 5 pinners for inspiration:

ProfileFollowers (million)Monthly Views (million)
Joy Cho / Oh Joy!12.7 5
Maryann Rizzo98
Bekka Palmer8.51
Poppytalk8.17
Bonnie Tsang7.13

How often should you pin on Pinterest?

You could pin between 5 and 30 times a day, dependent on what Pinterest-ready content you have available to you but be careful not to step into overkill. Studies show the sweet spot to be 11 pins per day, and these should be spread out across several times. When using Pinterest, it’s important to also engage with other users – re-pin at least 5 posts that are not linked to your account a day but find a way to curate these into your profile.

How many Pinterest boards can you have?

In total, you can have 2,000 boards on the site – and trust me, that’s all the boards you could ever need and more! This total includes public, private, and group boards; the average number for pinners with over 300k+ followers is 56.

When creating boards think about your industry and then more specifically your business – for example as a marketing professional you may have a board for evergreen blog posts, and then several other boards for different seasonal blog posts.

Can you have secret boards on Pinterest?

You can have secret boards, and these are included within your 2,000 board allowance. You can invite others to also work collaboratively on these secret boards, and should you decide you’d like to make this public in the future it’s a quick switch to do so. Make a board private following the following steps:

  1. Log in to your Pinterest account, click your profile picture in the top right-hand corner of your screen to open your profile
  2. Click the add+ icon to create a board
  3. Scroll down and toggle Keep this board secret
  4. Click Done

TIP: Secret boards can be very useful if you are working on a design for a client: personalised the experience and create a private board you can both add ideas to.

When, and how did Pinterest start?

Pinterest went into development in 2009, and the site first launched as a prototype in early 2010. The site was gained immense popularity, listed as one of the “Top 50 Best Websites of 2011” by Time magazine and the development of its mobile apps only furthered this surge.

The site was created by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp as a ‘catalogue of ideas’, to read it’s full history check out the Wiki timeline here.

Are Pinterest ads effective?

Using Pinterest ads can be very effective when used on the correct product for the platform demographic. Given that 84% of the audience is female, brands within the fashion, beauty, and home industry have previously reported an increase in website traffic and sales conversions when advertising using Pinterest. Promotions on this platform might not be for everyone, but if you know your buyer persona and it correlates with Pinterest’s audience it may well be worth running trials to see what effect it has on your product.

How many Pinterest followers should you have?

There is no limit to how many followers you can have on Pinterest, but the average account has 300 profiles following them. To boost your follower count we have a few top tips:

  • Be active and engage with your followers, this is absolutely key when building up a community around you
  • Follow your competitor’s followers to start a relationship with potential customers, an audience that will already be interested in what you have to offer
  • Utilise the search bar and place industry keywords when naming your boards, in your bio and profile name (think SEO!)
  • Take advantage of the promoted pins feature, boosting your reach gains you followers

Do any celebrities use Pinterest?

Pinterest is used by celebrities to advertise their own style preferences, making it easy for you to copy their interior design preferences or fashion looks. However, the social site doesn’t seem to have grasped onto celeb culture quite like Instagram. The most notable of users is Martha Stewart, Pinterest goes hand in hand with her profession (Martha Stewart Living) as opposed to the likes of musicians, etc.

What are the 2021 Pinterest predictions?

Pinterest describes itself as the go-to site for discovering the new trends of tomorrow, where you’ll see the future before anyone else. In light of this, they’ve created a set of predictions for 2021 – and here at Delivered Social, we think it’s pretty accurate (catch the whole team in ‘athflow’ forevermore!) Take a look at the top ten below or click here to see the full list.

CategoryTrend
FashionAthflow
BeautySkinimalism
TravelGetaway cars
Food and drinkSpice
HomeNeon
Well-beingManifestation
Hobbies and interestsEmbroidery
ParentingReptiles
CelebrationsUnplugged weddings
FinanceEntrepreneurs

The Ultimate Pinterest Guide: Conclusion

We hope we’ve answered all of your Pinterest questions and this site is a little less of a mystery to you! From getting ahead of the next trend to take hold of your industry to create mood boards for your private clients. Whilst the platform may not be for everyone, for businesses with a specific interest in targeting females, particularly mothers as their audience, Pinterest could be an essential addition to your marketing strategy. Are you an avid pinner or yet to get creating? Why not sign up and as a user and try the site for yourself!

Have any more questions about Pinterest that we haven’t answered in our guide? Drop us an email at hello@deliveredsocial.com and we’ll be more than happy to help!

Want to keep reading? Check out our Facebook Abbreviations Guide today.

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