Pinterest says 250 million
people use its site each month to look for ideas and inspiration, and travel is
one of its most active categories.
“Travel pinner” is the platform’s
term for people who have actively shopped for or bought travel in the past
three months, and Pinterest says 76% of those people make their purchase decisions - about where to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to do
in-destination - based on travel content they see from brands on the site.
“Pinterest is a visual discovery
engine. What we are doing is fundamentally different from social media apps and
services,” says Nicolette Harper, Pinterest’s global head of vertical strategy
for travel, tech and telecom.
“While social networks are
primarily for communicating and connecting with friends, family or fans,
Pinterest is for connecting with yourself, because our users come to discover
inspiration and ideas they want to try in their own lives - such as planning
their next family vacation or researching remote island destinations.”
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To help brands fine-tune their marketing
messages on the platform, Pinterest has categorized these “travel pinners” into
five personas: the Group Vacationer, the Culture Chaser, the Spa Sojourner, the
Adventure Lover and the Eating Explorer. Pinterest has also identified keywords
to target each persona, such as “girls trip ideas” to reach the Group Vacationer.
“Our goal is to help brands
understand the attitudes and behaviors of travel pinners, as well as how they
use Pinterest to make their travel decisions,” Harper says.
“By understanding the travel
drivers and personas on Pinterest, advertisers are better able to connect with
their audience in the most contextually relevant and personalized way.”
Harper says Pinterest works with
brands to develop marketing campaigns. Examples include Carnival Cruise Line,
which used a keyword campaign that drove a 14% increase in click-through rates
and lowered the cost-per-click by 71%.
Pinterest is also encouraging marketers
to develop campaigns based on its 2018 “Pinterest 100” compilation of the most-searched
topics, released in December. For travel, some of the hottest search topics
include “small-town travel” (up 276% over 2017), “abandoned castles” (up 142%),
“less-traveled island” (up 179%) and “zero-waste travel” (up 74%).