For this week’s Manly Monday episode, I went where many men fear to tread…A Jr. High girl’s classroom.
I was lucky enough to interview some very insightful girls on how they were using Pinterest on a daily basis.
Since this group of girls included my daughter, I knew all them were active on Pinterest and used it in ways we may not think about. You can watch the episode below.
Here’s a couple of takeaways from the interview.
1. Mobile cannot be ignored.
Most of the time, these girls are using mobile devices to pin. I know that my daughter rarely ever uses a desktop to browse online. She spends most of her time using Pinterest on her IPad mini. When this age group matures they will be using mobile devices to find your content. Gone are the days when you could optimize your site for mobile as an afterthought. You need to be testing and working on “mobile first.” You need to start finding out what works for your audience and their mobile viewing habits now.
2. They are using Pinterest to search.
They are using the search feature on Pinterest, and they like using it. They even mentioned how they really like the new guided search feature to help find related content. They are using Pinterest on how Pinterest wants their users to use the platform, as a discovery engine.
Will this type of search give desktop Google search a run for its money? Are teenagers more likely to search in mobile apps rather than the desktop search engines or even mobile search engines? They clearly are finding what works for them and modifying their habits accordingly. Most all of them use Instagram, but they even mentioned in the video that they didn’t like searching with hashtags. They liked using Pinterest guided search better.
3. They are using Pinterest the way they want.
This really took me by surprise. As a marketer and someone who tries to dive deep into Pinterest, I’m used to looking at “best time to pin statistics” and “how many pins can you pin in a row before making your audience mad” articles. I really wasn’t expecting the comment, “You can go on a pinning spree and nobody cares” They are clearly using Pinterest for themselves. They don’t care about pinning too much or what other people think of their pins. Pinterest is for finding content for themselves and their friends. Marketers and brands need to keep this in mind as this demographic continues to mature.
4. They are training for the future.
This age group has not known a world without the internet. They are being trained right now for their online habits in the future. When this group matures into a group that has actual purchasing power (only a few years away), they will already be conditioned to use Pinterest to help make buying decisions. They will turn to the social network they are comfortable with and trust. Brands that take this long view and start cultivating this audience now will reap the benefits in the future.
5. Keep it simple.
These kids may be born with tech, but that doesn’t mean that they automatically know how to use it. In the video, they didn’t know how to turn off email notifications. They came to pin, not to read instructions! Making sure that interfaces and instructions are simple will be extremely important in the future.
I hope this video gave you some insights on how teens are using Pinterest. There is much more great insight in the complete video that you can watch below. Keep an eye on this demographic on Pinterest. These are our future Pinners!
Dustin W. Stout says
Great stuff here Jeff! Although my audience is not teenagers, it’s good to know what trends may be on their way. Lots of insight from these girls!