Are you still thinking about creating content and marketing campaigns for Halloween or Thanksgiving? Well, your audience may already be a couple of steps ahead of you — on Pinterest that is.
Pinterest users, commonly called pinners, start planning for the holiday season a bit earlier than most, according to Pinterest data. Pinners start collecting holiday-centric content in September — a full four weeks before the general population.
And this is a segment of the population you absolutely want to pay attention to. Pinterest's 110 million active monthly users live for the holiday season. Last year, they saved more than 1.1 billion holiday pins, and 67 percent of pinners say "Pinterest is important for planning holiday purchases."
Pinterest data confirms that, too. Pinners will spend twice as much on the holidays than the general public. That number makes sense. Pinterest users are there to find inspiration for the season while also discovering unique brands and gifts.
That's why Pinterest is the social platform most connected with sales. Pinners are four times more likely to find and shop for products than any other social network out there. In fact, 55 percent of people on Pinterest use the platform to find or shop for new products.
With e-commerce sales expected to be higher than ever this year, spending a bit of extra time optimizing your Pinterest marketing strategy will pay off. Pinterest even boosts brick-and-mortar sales. The image-driven network is five times more efficient at driving in-store sales than any other platform. More on that below.
You'll also discover a snapshot of what to expect this holiday season along with Pinterest holiday trends your business should embrace.
Forecasts for the 2016 holiday sales season
All data below is from eMarketer 2016 data.
- Total retail sales are expected to be $884.5 billion. That's an increase of 3.3 percent from 2015.
- U.S. e-commerce sales will rise 17.2 percent this year.
- With that increase, e-commerce sales will represent 10.7 percent of total holiday retail sales. That's the largest portion ever.
- Mobile sales are forecasted to increase 43.2 percent. That accounts for nearly 30 percent of retail commerce sales, totaling $115.92 billion.
- More people will be shopping on smartphones rather than tablets for the first time.
Hottest holiday trends on Pinterest
People — specifically those interested in online shopping — are ready to buy. And data has proven that Pinterest is the best social platform to drive sales.
Get pinners' attention by capitalizing on the season's biggest Pinterest trends. By creating trend-specific pins, new users will discover you, which will in turn drive new sales. Did we mention 70 percent of incremental sales come from new customers?
You should still upload your standard product shots to Pinterest, but you can't stop there. Be sure to create inspiring, lifestyle content to show how your product is used.
Finally, work in your product or service to the below Pinterest trends to boost engagement and conversion rates.
Hottest holiday trends on Pinterest so far
All data is from an internal Pinterest study.
- Retro décor is in. So are any decorations that evoke a rustic, Christmas feeling. Go nostalgic with this year's pins.
- Show how your product can be used in holiday festivities. 70 percent of pinners are planning holiday festivities — and they're the host.
- Pinners spend 1.5 times more on food and 1.7 times more on décor than non-Pinterest users. Specifically, this year, they're interested in Grinch-inspired food and drink, warm beverages, breakfast casseroles and trifle desserts.
