Social Media Today has published a six-step guide on how to build a brand presence on Pinterest, as part of its ongoing platform overview series for marketers heading into the second half of 2026. Pinterest now counts 631 million shopping-focused monthly active users and has become a key product discovery channel, with its search results increasingly tailored to individual users.

• Use Pinterest Trends – Pinterest’s Trends tool offers insights into overall Pin trends and shopping-specific data, with the ability to search by keyword, filter by demographic, and identify growing and seasonal trends. Tapping through on any highlighted topic provides Pin examples showing what is resonating with users. Pinterest also offers a Promote a Pin activation, which can help brands test how their organic creative posts might work as ads.
• Use Pinterest search – The in-app search function lets users filter by Pins, profiles, products and boards, helping marketers identify top influencers within their niche and uncover deeper insights into trends and topics.
• Note what’s working – Marketers should analyse the content formats driving the most engagement, including colours, images and video, as well as product description details. Taking note of seasonal and life moments in the app can guide a strategy that connects with people while they are actively planning for specific events.
• Hashtags – Pinterest’s search tool is becoming increasingly context-aware, meaning specific hashtags are not essential. However, relevant keywords remain important - marketers should check key terms against Pinterest Trends to confirm they are being actively used for discovery.
• Formulate a strategy – Based on initial research, marketers can build a Pin strategy aligned with what is resonating with their target audience, with a particular focus on shopping trends to connect with users on their path to purchase.
• Analyse and improve – Pinterest profile Insights can be used to track what is working and double down on the best-performing approaches. Pinterest has also recently launched an AI-powered business assistant to help brands improve their ad performance.

For more information, visit socialmediatoday.com.