How Pinterest Marketing + Influencers Are Delivering ROI for Brands

Does Pinterest Marketing Actually Work?

The Real Numbers Behind Pinterest’s Conversion Power 

Pinterest topped 600 million active monthly users in 2025 and is growing, with a heavy lean towards the U.S., female users, and high incomes. It’s proving to be incredibly effective at driving brand discovery and sales with the help of a growing community of Pinterest-first influencers. 

2025 research by LiveRamp found that users who used Pinterest spent 26% more each year, on average, than those who didn’t. The message? Pinterest is the home of high-value shoppers and can drive traffic to your website.

Why Pinterest Beats Instagram for Discovery & Sales 

While Instagram prioritizes social connections and entertainment, Pinterest’s visual search engine is all about products and their potential uses. The differentiator here is user intent. While users on Instagram are typically ‘just scrolling’, Pinterest users are likely to be creating pins and actively searching for inspiration or product types with a specific vertical – they’re primed and motivated.

Pinterest understands this and has developed itself into a highly shoppable platform; users enjoy quick and easy navigation to product info and checkout pages straight from Product Pins, turning discovery into decisions.

The Influencer Factor Changes Everything 

The overwhelming majority of searches on Pinterest aren’t just product focused, they’re also unbranded, making them a dream for brands looking to get discovered, because users are looking to discover.

Pinterest influencers are the perfect brokers and guides for these high-intent, high-value users, feeding them inspiration and advice that naturally includes your products. On Pinterest your brand can be unapologetically itself, showing products off and marketing to users without needing to hide within the jokes, creative and subtle sponsorship used on other platforms.

When Pinterest Works Better

Pinterest’s Buying Intent Advantage (That Most Brands Miss) 

While Instagram and TikTok thrive as sources of distraction, powered by increasing short trend cycles and content measured in the seconds, Pinterest is a purpose-built product search engine (around 90% of weekly pinners use the platform to make purchase decisions). 

Pinterest users collect content and plan their purchases over hours, days and weeks, leaning on influencers to access content across particular verticals like fashion, homeware, interior design, and weddings.

The Visual Search Advantage 

Pinterest’s Lens feature lets users find products using only an image, completely bypassing the need for keywords. This streamlines the buyer pathway, skipping straight from visual inspiration to identifying the product.

This means fewer chances for users to get lost, no need to wax lyrical through text or speech, and the fastest ever pathway between coming across your product online (or in the real world!) and getting into their basket.

How Long Pin Lifespan Creates Compound Returns 

“Pins” are the currency of Pinterest: they’re visual bookmarks that users can save to their personal mood boards, collecting media and products across any category they like. These might be Image, Video, Recipe, Article, or Product Pins. Product Pins include up-to-date info on price and product info, and take users straight to the relevant commerce page. 

While typical social posts begin to fade out within hours, a high quality Pin can drive traffic for months or even years. This evergreen quality turns every piece of content into a lasting asset, gathering ever larger numbers of eyeballs and conversions over time, all from a single investment of your resources.

Pinterest + Influencers: The Competitive Advantage

Why Influencers Are Natural Pinterest Creators 

Pinterest influencers are a different breed. While creators on Instagram and TikTok build followings around their personalities, where the individual is front and centre, Pinterest  creators are curators where the products take centre stage.

You’ll typically see less of Pinterest marketing influencers themselves and more of their product choices – whether it’s fashion pieces, bathroom design, or table spreads for weddings. While on TikTok you might be cross-pollinate between a personality and a (potentially) related product, Pinterest creators are popular specifically because of their choice in that genre of products.

As a result, when you leverage a Pinterest influencer, you’re collaborating with someone who’s likely already perfectly aligned with a vertical – and may already be using your products.

How Micro-Influencers Drive Incredible Results on Pinterest 

As mentioned, influencer careers on Pinterest are built by the quality, consistency and utility of an individual’s Pins – aka, their taste in a given vertical.

The number of niches on Pinterest has proliferated as its user base has increased, leading to an almost unlimited number of focused communities led by a rich community of micro-influencers.

These micro-influencers aren’t just laser focused on a particular niche, but they’re often normal people with a passion or knowledge in that area, offering users the height of trustworthiness when it comes to product recommendations.

Their incredible engagement rates reflect that trust. Micro influencers deliver an estimated 5-50% engagement rate on Pinterest compared to 5-25% for ‘macro’ influencers. Considering the high affordability of working with micro-influencers, they’re a new gold standard for marketing ROI.

Affiliate Links + Pins: The Silent ROI Driver 

Affiliate links are old tools when it comes to online marketing, but the Pinterest marketing influencer scene continues to propel their impact to all new heights.

Affiliate links are low-tech and self-guided: simply create them and make them available. Influencers earn revenue for every click, incentivising them to maximise traffic to your products. 

The genius of them is that creators get paid in direct proportion to the traffic they generate for you. You’re not only liberated from working out which influencers are worth spending money on, but you don’t have to lift a finger at all – as Pins remain searchable for months, every piece of creator content becomes a long-tail sales asset that drives sales without you having to do anything.

How does Goat use Pinterest Trends to power campaigns? 

Our partnership with Pinterest, powered by WPP Media’s bespoke integration of Pinterest’s Trends API, elevates how Goat plans, creates, and measures campaigns. With real-time trend data, we eliminate manual research and guesswork, using seasonality, search volume, and trend evolution to inform smarter decisions across platforms. 

We can filter for moments, categories, keywords, demographics, and emerging trend types to keep our teams continually updated, so we can identify meaningful opportunities and avoid fleeting trends. These insights flow directly into campaign planning, creative alignment, activation, and measurement, ensuring ideas resonate with the right audiences at the right time. 

The result is higher-quality, trend-led work that drives product sales, web traffic, and measurable growth, at scale.

Find out more

How to Leverage Pinterest for the Best ROI

3 key actions for Pinterest marketing influencer content that converts

Think in terms of campaigns, not one-off collabs

Instead of a single Pin, look for ways to drive multi-Pin campaigns with phased content. This might look like a series of related pins, whether they’re inspirations, shopping lists, or look books for a certain season. 

Try and reflect the Pinterest user journey with your campaign – going from brainstorm to planning, and of course, purchase.

Idea and Video Pins are great for engagement

Pinterest algorithms favour Idea Pins and short-form video for its main feed. You can think of Idea Pins as roughly equivalent to Stories – multi-page, narrative – but they’re permanent.

These formats drive longer view times, which generally correlates with brand recall and higher click-through rates. As more brands catch on to the potential of Pinterest marketing, it’s important to make sure your content can outpace competitors wherever possible.

Negotiate content licensing for repurposing

Don’t forget, Pinterest influencers are creators and curators more than they are personalities. When it comes to your campaign, don’t reinvent the wheel when you can leverage what already works. 

Savvy brands should consider engaging with leading Pinterest marketing influencers, with a view to getting rights to use the creator’s best-performing assets and creative in branded Pinterest Ads.

3 ways to avoid Pinterest influencers campaigns that fall flat

Don’t miss seasonal planning windows

Pinterest users live in the future, planning far in advance for everything from Christmas to next summer’s outfits. 

Running campaigns just before key seasonal points will likely see you arriving far too late to the party, when your target audience has already made their key purchase decisions.

Don’t send Pin clicks to a generic homepage. 

Everything you and your Pinterest influencers do is geared towards getting clicks on those all-important Product Pins – make sure the opportunity isn’t wasted.

Your Pin destination links must be specific (and mobile-optimized) landing, product, or category pages that are not only relevant to the Pin’s visual content, but offer a streamlined pathway to further qualification (if necessary) and purchase.

Don’t do low effort cross-posting 

Pinterest audiences will be able to spot content that’s been quickly repurposed from Instagram Stories or TikTok, whether it’s due to aspect ratio, on-screen text or ephemeral content styles that are making their way through other platforms.

It’s not only audiences that will turn away from poor quality content – Pinterest’s algorithms are just as likely to penalise poorly optimised or low effort Pins.

…

Pinterest is a gold mine for conversion, with audiences that arrive specifically to find their perfect products. If you want to make sure you’ve got the right tools to tap it, The Goat Agency can help.

Pinterest Marketing FAQs

1. What is Pinterest marketing and how does it work?

Pinterest marketing uses Pins, boards, and influencers to drive discovery, engagement, and sales. It works like a visual search engine where high-intent users actively seek products and inspiration.

2. Do I need a Pinterest Business account for marketing?

Yes. Business accounts unlock analytics, ad features, and product Pins, letting you measure performance and optimize campaigns effectively.

3. How do I optimize Pinterest for SEO and search rankings?

Use keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and boards. Combine this with high-quality visuals and influencer content to boost visibility in Pinterest search.

4. What keywords should I target for Pinterest marketing?

Focus on terms your audience searches for when planning purchases – product types, trends, and verticals like fashion, homeware, or weddings.

5. How often should I pin content for best results?

Regular posting matters. Consistent, high-quality Pins over time build evergreen traffic, with top content driving clicks for months or even years.

6. What are the best practices for Pinterest pin descriptions?

Write clear, keyword-focused descriptions that highlight the product’s use or inspiration. Keep it concise but actionable to drive engagement.

7. Should I use hashtags on Pinterest?

Use them sparingly. Keywords and descriptive titles are more important than hashtags for discovery on Pinterest.

8. How do Pinterest ads work and when should I use them?

Promoted Pins appear in relevant searches and feeds. Use them to boost high-performing content or target new audiences.

9. How long does it take to see results from Pinterest marketing?

Pinterest builds long-term ROI. Pins can generate traffic for months or years, so initial growth may be slow but compounding.

10. What analytics should I track on Pinterest?

Track impressions, saves, clicks, and conversions to see what resonates and refine your strategy.

11. Does Pinterest marketing drive traffic to my website?

Absolutely. Product Pins and influencer content link directly to your site, turning inspiration into measurable sales or leads.

12. What image sizes and formats work best for Pinterest?

Vertical images (2:3 aspect ratio) work best. High-quality visuals and clear text overlays boost engagement.

13. Should I use scheduling tools for Pinterest?

Yes. Tools like Tailwind or Pinterest’s scheduler help maintain consistent posting without manual effort.

14. How do I measure ROI from Pinterest marketing?

Measure clicks, conversions, and sales driven by Pins and influencer campaigns. High-quality Pins deliver compounding long-term ROI.

15. What common Pinterest marketing mistakes should I avoid?

Avoid inconsistent posting, poor visuals, ignoring keywords, and overlooking influencer collaborations that amplify reach.