Pinterest and Instagram are both really good visual social media platforms, and give businesses a great counterbalance to the more text-driven platforms, Facebook and LinkedIn. In this article, we help you answer the question of which platform can drive the most attention for your business.
Note that this isn’t a definitive answer – ultimately, the right choice for you will be the platform most used and valued by your target customers. However, we were interested to read an article in Social Media Today which suggested that Pinterest drove 170% more customer attention than other apps, including Instagram. This is a remarkable claim and is worth looking at in more detail.
‘Active’ And ‘passive’ Attention – The Key To Understanding Pinterest’s Success
There are two types of attention that play a critical role in the success of online content: ‘active attention’ and ‘passive attention’. What do these mean?
- Active Attention captures your audience’s immediate focus. It’s the kind of attention that makes you stop scrolling and engage with a piece of content.
- Passive Attention is a different proposition. Instead of demanding mindful focus, some content can reinforce brand recognition subtly over time, keeping a brand or message in people’s minds as they go about their decision-making process, like a song playing in the background.
Pinterest is an interesting platform because it excels in both areas, creating an environment where content can grab attention actively while also staying at the back of the mind. Taken together, these strategies explain the ability of the platform to captivate its audience, and the value of Pinterest as an advertising and marketing platform for small businesses.
How Does Pinterest Do This?
The Pinterest platform is designed differently from Instagram and other social media apps. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and many others are designed for users to passively scroll through content on their phones, absorbing messages and branding almost subliminally over time. People open Instagram for entertainment or to kill time, often without a specific goal in mind.
Pinterest users approach their platform differently. They are more likely to come to Pinterest with a sense of purpose, actively looking for inspiration and solutions. Here’s why this matters:
- User Intent: People log on to Pinterest in ‘discovery mode’. They may be planning a project, searching for home improvement ideas, or curating gift ideas. This mindset makes them more engaged and open to the possibility of exploring new products and brands.
- Positive Experience Design: Pinterest prioritises user experience, helping the platform to feel uplifting and inspiring. People don’t go to Pinterest for a ‘doom scrolling’ fest; they expect to be inspired and go looking for deeper engagement with the content they care about. According to the Social Media Today article, users scrolled ads on Pinterest 1.5 times more slowly than on Instagram. This deliberate pace allowed more time to be spent on each post, increasing the likelihood of message retention and conversion.
- Feelgood Content: Pinterest’s emphasis on positivity is no accident – the platform has deliberately cultivated a space in which users can feel good about what they’re seeing. This helps to draw customers back time and time again, and also establishes the perfect environment for advertisers to connect with their buyers in a more positive and meaningful way.
The Verdict On Instagram Versus Pinterest
Instagram remains the go to visual platform for most B2C brands. However, Pinterest is making a growing number of businesses sit up and listen, and the platform is becoming a lucrative place for SMEs to connect with engaged and purchase motivated audiences. This is something worth exploring. By investing in contextual content placement on Pinterest, creating emotionally engaging adverts, and blending active and passive attention techniques, you can reach new audiences and drive further recognition for your products.
Take The Next Step
To find out more, please get in touch with one of the social media specialists at JDR today by clicking here.
Image Source: Canva
