Pinning Your Way Into the Future | Gen Z and Pinterest

Let’s be honest, creator marketing is going nowhere anytime soon. In recent months we’ve seen the progression of TikTok partnerships and have been introduced to the huge benefits of platforms such as Discord, but there’s another one to watch in 2023…

Social media platform Pinterest allows users to, in its most basic form, share and pin inspirational and aesthetic images to their virtual boards, and was a hot topic in our recent Student Beans webinar ‘How to Supercharge Your Creator Marketing For Gen Z’.  Ultimately, it’s a way for ‘Pinners’ to get creative without the negative backlash that many experience on other platforms. 

Pinterest are also drivers of change, with people using the platform to plan their futures and map out their lives (in the most visually appealing way possible, of course). According to renowned annual Pinterest Predicts, 80% of the platform’s predictions have come true over the past three years. From determining the next beauty trends to revealing Gen Z’s holiday habits, Pinterest is a platform that’s changing the way youth marketers work. Ruby Soave, Head of Influencer Marketing at Student Beans, says: “Pinterest is often overlooked but is a fantastic way to engage Gen Z, who are increasingly using the platform - 40% year-on-year growth within this demographic is testament to this. The product and creators functionality has already begun an impressive upward swing, and we expect the Pinterest community to become an even stronger force in 2023.” 

But how can your brand get involved in this exciting opportunity? Today, we delve into the world of Pinterest a little further and hear from one of the leading Content Creators on the platform, Tati.

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A post shared by tati kapaya | lifestyle/travel (@tatikapaya)

Hi Tati, please tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m a 23-year-old creator and entrepreneur based in London, and I’ve recently finished an MSc degree in Digital Marketing at Kings’ College London. 

I’ve been creating content for a number of years now and have loved being able to build an engaged community and work with a variety of brands (eg. Samsung, Adidas, M&S, Pinterest & more) on campaigns across my different platforms.

Everyone is talking about TikTok, but we know that Gen Z users are up 40% year-on-year on Pinterest. Why do you think this is?

Pinterest is the perfect tool for finding inspirational and aspirational content without the pressure of negative comments that can be found on platforms such as TikTok.

The platform is incredibly simple to use and acts as a search engine, making it easy for users to find exactly what they’re looking for with minimum effort.

Whether you’re renovating your house, looking for gift ideas or finding outfit inspiration for an upcoming trip, Pinterest allows users to create ‘boards’ to pin images and videos relating to various aspects of their life across any category. I think this is a large reason as to why the platform’s users are growing rapidly.

Why is Pinterest an important platform for you as a Creator?

As a creator, the most important thing (after enjoying the process of creating) is getting your content seen by as many people as possible for the longest amount of time. I think Pinterest is the best place for this in terms of shorter-form content. 

With a search engine platform like Pinterest, the lifespan of a creator’s content is endless, unlike other popular social media platforms where your content is likely to lose visibility after a number of days.

What can brands gain from working with Creators on Pinterest?

Apart from the large user base and wide demographic of the platform, creators can tag products and websites directly in Idea Pins (videos) across multiple pages and Static Pins (images).

This allows brands the potential to drastically increase their conversions, as users don’t have to go through multiple steps and click out of a video (to visit a ‘link in bio’) to shop for a product. 

You recently completed the Creator Residency programme at Pinterest. Can you tell us a bit about your experience and how it has helped you grow as a creator?

I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Pinterest ‘Rising Stars Programme’ and, most recently, the ‘Creator Residency Programme’. These were both great opportunities to work closely with the Pinterest UK team on my creative strategy, learn about upcoming features and hear about the Pinterest trend predictions, all of which aided my growth on the platform. 

The residency involved me having a minimum number of pieces of content to produce each month across different categories (4 Idea Pins and 10 Static Pins). This allowed me to focus on my consistency first and understand the value in this for growth and engagement further.

Can you give brands any tips for setting up a Brand channel on Pinterest?

Make use of the Pinterest Business tools, specifically the trend tool. This will be a great way to identify high-traffic keywords to include in captions and help when building a content strategy/plan based on what is being searched online at that moment. 

If possible, include existing creators on Pinterest that are familiar with the platform in the content to make it feel as organic as possible. Consistency is important, and using as many features on the platform as possible will increase engagement and reach.

Can you give brands any tips for working with Creators on Pinterest?

On Pinterest, having a ‘niche’ is not as crucial as on other platforms, where creators would focus on a few select categories. I would therefore advise brands to do more research into the type of content a creator makes on Pinterest specifically and not be afraid to try new things. 

For example, I mainly create travel and lifestyle content across my other social media platforms; however, on Pinterest, I create beauty, food and home content too. One of my first paid Pinterest campaigns was in the food category, and it performed extremely well!

Working collaboratively with the creator is also extremely important to receive the best content, reach and engagement. They will be familiar with their analytics and the style of content which performs the best, allowing for a better performing campaign.

Pinterest is testing the Creator Rewards programme in the USA - what are your thoughts on this? Is it a good move for the creator economy, and would you like to see it in the UK?

I think the Creator Rewards programme is a great move for the creator economy as it encourages creators to produce high quality content on the platform and rewards them for doing so.

I particularly love how the programme focuses on underrepresented groups/communities and provides them with more resources and educational opportunities. It shows the commitment Pinterest has to creating a diverse internet ecosystem, so I would definitely like to see the programme in the UK. 

Pinterest has also launched an expanded music library in the USA, which allows Creators to use popular music within their Ideas Pins. How do you think this will affect creator marketing within the platform?

Music is a huge part of video content, arguably just as important as the video itself, so creators can better express themselves and create better content because of this expanded library. This will, in turn, increase creators’ overall engagement and produce better results in terms of creator marketing.

What is your favourite functionality that Pinterest provides Creators that other platforms don’t?

When posting Idea Pins (videos), as previously mentioned, Pinterest allows you to directly tag product links as stickers in the video, allowing creators to share their affiliate links. You can also directly link your full Idea Pin or Static Pin (image) to other websites. 

Pinterest also has great features for encouraging user engagement, such as question stickers and user mentions in Idea Pins - features that are only widely used on Instagram stories/TikTok captions, not in actual videos.

And, what product feature would you most like to see implemented for creators on Pinterest?

With the rise of the live-streaming industry, I’d love to see wider opportunities for Pinterest creators to start using this feature. It’s currently being tested with certain verified creators' shows, such as ‘Tastemade’, and I think it would be great to see a wider genre of shows being created in this format.

What’s your prediction for Pinterest creator marketing during 2023?

I definitely predict that more brands will understand the value of Pinterest as a platform for content creator collaborations. I think we’ll see more and more paid partnerships on there due to the lifespan and large reach of the content.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Tati! We hope you’re all ready to get ahead of the trend and connect with your young consumers in a new, aesthetic and creative way…

At Student Beans, we offer brands a whole host of ways to effectively market to Gen Z students. Check out our Student Beans creator marketing solution for more.