This week, a look at Pinterest’s rise as a luxury commerce hub. Scroll down to use Glossy+ Comments, giving the Glossy+ community the opportunity to join discussions around industry topics.
Luxury brands aiming to get in front of affluent consumers intending to shop, while also communicating a lifestyle, are increasing their investment in Pinterest.
“Pinterest is becoming a crucial platform for luxury brand promotion,” said Olya Bar, head of digital strategy and communications at Twisted Lily. The multi-brand e-commerce site sells luxury fragrances, including Byredo, with prices topping out at $3,000. “We’re seeing great engagement and a lot of interest in our products on the platform. So, going into 2024, it will be a huge part of the marketing strategy and the budget. We’re diving deep.”
As luxury brands become more strategic about their social media strategies and reprioritize resources, Pinterest is gaining new traction. Its valuable user base, thriving product categories, comparative lack of congestion, recently launched tools, and opportunities for discovery, storytelling and commerce have earned it a growing number of luxury clients. Some are reporting successful Pinterest campaigns and upping their dedicated investment, while others are newly showing up on the platform and realizing its potential based on organic wins.
“Especially in Europe, 2023 marked a turning point for a lot of luxury brands,” said Kelly Emanuelli, head of luxury at Pinterest. “There was a shift from inspiration to conversion; their Pinterest campaigns went from upper-funnel awareness campaigns to e-commerce campaigns.”
One example she referenced was YSL Beauty’s first-time “full-funnel” campaign on the platform, for Mother’s Day. It included video and static ads, as well as user targeting adapted to each stage of the path-to-purchase. Among success metrics, the brand reached 84% of its target audience, saw a 23% lift in incremental sales on its e-commerce site and earned a 10% lift in awareness of the Libre fragrance being promoted.
“Now, YSL [Beauty] activates Pinterest for each step of the marketing funnel [as a rule],” Emanuelli said.
Other brands she noted as having successful Pinterest strategies included Dior Couture, Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera and Louis Vuitton. To promote its collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in early 2023, Louis Vuitton launched a video campaign on Pinterest with the goal of reaching a maximum number of users interested in luxury, fashion and beauty in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The video reached more than 3.5 million users in three days.
For its part, Twisted Lily has been leveraging Pinterest as part of a plan to revamp its positioning since being acquired by fragrance distributor Europerfumes in March 2020 — it was formerly a physical retail store located in Brooklyn. On top of revamping its product curation, the company has launched a diversified marketing mix that also includes Google, Facebook and Instagram ads, as well as a new TikTok channel, PR, and substantial influencer and affiliate programs.
“Pinterest is really effective in driving engagement with the high-end consumer,” Bar said. “These [shoppers] have great spending habits and a strong interest in luxury.”
The luxury goods market is expected to double in size by 2030, fueled by the strength of Gen-Z spending. According to Emanuelli, referencing PA Consulting data from November, Pinterest users are “affluent and young,” they head to the platform with the intent to buy, and they “buy more luxury products than users of other social platforms.”
More than half of Pinterest’s 482 million monthly users consider Pinterest a shopping destination, according to the company. And, overall, Pinterest is their No. 1 destination for inspiration when shopping for luxury, per PA Consulting. Among its luxury users — defined by those who have searched or saved a pin from one of 60 top luxury brands — 70% are under 35 years old and four out of five are women. Meanwhile, three out of every five say they use Pinterest to research luxury brands and products. Compared to other social platforms, 35% of its luxury users are more likely to make a six-figure salary, with one in three making at least $100,000 per year. They spend 87% more on luxury goods, and, according to Global Web Index, they’re 27% more likely to buy premium products.
“When someone saves a pin from a luxury brand onto a mood board, the purchase intent is strong,” said Emanuelli. She noted that, over the past three years, boards related to self-gifting and personal wishlists have become more popular.
Bar said that Pinterest’s central pinning functionality is perfectly suited to Twisted Lily, which heavily focuses on providing opportunities for the discovery of its fragrances. For example, its e-commerce site offers tools including the AI-powered “ScentGenie,” offering three product recommendations based on submitted words related to a shopper’s “ideal fragrance.” Sampling has also been a priority and has proven “hugely” successful, she said.
Twisted Lily’s fragrances have shown up on mood boards focused on the “Cherry Girl” and “Clean Girl” aesthetics, for instance, supporting the growing idea that a scent is an extension of one’s personality, look or lifestyle.
“[On Pinterest], you have this big community of incredibly creative people, and their ideas are right there in the open,” Bar said, describing an “intricate web” of discovery possibilities.
Bar mentioned the opportunity to facilitate more storytelling through the platform by linking posts to blog content. Meanwhile, Emanuelli hyped the ability for brands to establish a product catalog feed, allowing Pinterest users to organically shop their e-commerce sites with one click.
Emanuelli said that, other than during the holidays, most Pinterest searches tied to luxury brands are related to the “brand universe,” including fashion shows and the house’s designer. However, from late September until Christmas, products take the top spot.
“Pinterest is the only [social] platform where the product is welcome because it’s seen as a solution; it’s additive and not intrusive,” she said.
Along with Pinterest, Bar said Twisted Lily is newly exploring other platforms that are, so far, less congested with brands, compared to other platforms, That includes Reddit.
“We’re trying to figure out what’s next, because the rest of the platforms are so saturated and becoming so expensive,” she said. “You have to look outside of those, and right now, there aren’t many new options.”
In 2024, Twisted Lily plans to up its Pinterest focus by launching advertising, creating an account for each of its exclusive brands, leveraging newer creator tools and investing in influencers who are increasingly showing up on the platform.
“The potential is huge,” Bar said.
For brands putting new weight behind their Pinterest presence, Emanuelli recommended leveraging videos, largely because video view rate on the platform is 3x more than on other social platforms, according to 2020 GroupM data. Integrating the brand’s product catalog and adapting creative assets to Pinterest’s audience were also advised.
According to Pinterest, Gen Z represents its fastest-growing and largest user demographic, making up 40% of users and growing 20% year-over-year.
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