CHULUOTA, FL - What marketing magic do we have in store for 2017, and where should you look to stay ahead of the curve?
FullTilt Managing Partner Melinda Goodman teamed up with Alison Eiler, Project Manager, to help you hone in with the contributing piece below.
It seems Pokemon Go might not have been the most influential marketing trend of 2016. In fact, like most trends, those with staying power are those that capture the attention of multiple audiences and add value and entertainment to the everyday lives of consumers, and in our book that makes Pinterest the powerful star of 2016 and the top trend leader heading into 2017.
The Power of Pinterest
If you aren’t already considering a plan for Pinterest in your 2017 marketing plans, you might want to re-consider. And if you’re a brand who doesn’t have a Pinterest page and a variety of Pinterest boards, you’re going to want to do that just as soon as you finish reading this article.
Currently, there are around 100 million users who log in and use Pinterest daily; each of which spend about an average of 15 minutes at a time on the platform. Of those users, current data reports:
- 67% of them are Millennials (who by the way, make up about 21% of consumer discretionary spending)
- 83% of users prefer to follow a brand versus a notable celebrity (totally different than Instagram or Facebook)
- 66% of content comes from a brand’s website
- 87% of users have purchased a product because of Pinterest
While these stats are impressive, you might be saying to yourself, “But I already have social media, we do Facebook and Twitter.” Which is great, but the power behind a well-executed and thoughtful Pinterest plan can create results and impressions that surpass both of those platforms combined.
Here’s why…
- The half-life of a pin is about 3.5 months–which is 1,680 times long than a Facebook post.
- Your pins are permanent and live forever to be searched, refound, and repined over and over, and are much easier to be seen and discovered than an old Facebook post, let alone a Tweet.
- Pinterest is the fastest growing platform on the planet.
- Pinterest produces about 5% of all website traffic from its platform; only behind Facebook.
But as a food brand, how does this data apply to your products, especially if you don’t offer e-commerce? It applies based on usage alone. 57% of users interact with food related content on Pinterest. In fact, the Food and Drink category is the most popular and the content that gets re-pinned most frequently include the words:
- Chicken
- Minutes
- Bake
- Cake
- Cheese
- Recipe
- Cut
- Bottle
- Step
- Mix
Melinda Goodman, Managing Partner for FullTilt Marketing commented, “Pinterest data shows us food trends and applications in real time. This knowledge can propel innovation for new products, cross-promotional product ideas, and recipe development in ways we’ve never experienced.”
Food is the reigning heavyweight champ on Pinterest, and recent trends and data shows fresh produce pins including fruits and veggies are on the rise. In fact, a recent collaboration between Foster Farms and Pinterest analyzed comfort foods on Pinterest and found that the topic of comfort food is also on the rise with users saving about 50,000 comfort food ideas every day; a 140% increase over last year.
What’s unique about this trend is that it’s not your typical mac and cheese comfort food ideas and recipes that they are searching. Consumers are searching comfort food and veggies together to identify healthier versions of comfort food that include healthy ingredients, i.e., veggies and fruits. And if you’re not quite sure what that would be, just think of broccoli tots, zucchini noodles and cauliflower pizza crust–things you almost never heard about two years ago.
“Now is the time for each and every produce brand to up their Pinterest game. With tools for promoting sponsored pins and even analytics to evaluate pin performance and trends, developing a strategy for building your brand exposure on Pinterest is not only easier than ever, but a necessity,” remarked Heidi McIntyre, Managing Partner at FullTilt Marketing.
Here are a few of FullTilt Marketing’s top tips for developing pin worthy content.
- A picture is worth a 1,000 words, and great photography and clear headlines get more pins. Collaboration between chefs, food bloggers, and recipe developers and can help you build a library of quality recipes and images.
- Include good instructions. Pinterest Business data shares that how-to-instructions included with the pin drive an 80% higher save rate.
- Include keywords and trending content into your target strategy to reach the most consumers.
- Think seasonally, post seasonally, promote seasonally. All things pumpkin and apple pie do well in the fall and of course cucumbers and tomatoes trend in the summer. Special events, holidays, and meal occasions are always great times to target a food audience.
And if you need a few more trending ideas Pinsights from Pinterest Business released their 2016 Flavor Report that analyzed over 4 billion pins to highlight what’s trending now including saffron and turmeric, coconut, pineapple, cashew milk, chickpea flour, basil, and cilantro.
Goodman remarked, “It’s an exciting time to be part of the produce business when fruits and vegetables are trending, finding center plate opportunities and even creating new business niches like plant butchery. I hope every category in fresh produce can find the next cauliflower crumble.”
FullTilt Marketing offers free consultations to help businesses identify their business marketing and social media needs including Pinterest.
For more information on the veggie comfort food trend you can read a more in-depth post here.
