For the record, I am not a Pinterest newbie.
Far from it. I actually first joined Pinterest back in 2011 when it was still “invite only”—a beta site just catching on among my social media circles, and I wanted to try it for myself.
Since then, I’ve turned into a passionate pinner, as well as part of a Pinterest-focused tech startup, advising independent publishers and Fortune 100 brands on their Pinterest strategy.
But for all the time I spend on Pinterest, watching trends and data relating to Pinterest, and thinking about how publishers can adjust to recent Pinterest changes, I realized I don’t know what Pinterest is like these days for new users.
How is Pinterest framing up the signup experience for noobs, and how might this framework impact content marketers who want to perform well on Pinterest?
Easy enough to find out, right? I created a brand-new Pinterest account, and here’s what I found.
Interests are priority #1
Back in the day, Pinterest used to recommend Pinterest accounts for newbies to follow. Now, the new user is first presented with topics or Interests to select, which will then help Pinterest populate their feed with pins that match those Interests. The topics I was asked to choose from were:
- Ab Workouts
- Abandoned Mansions
- American History
- Anchor Charts
- Animals
- Anime
- Architecture
- Art
- Astronomy
- Baby Shower Ideas
- Basketball
- Batman
- Boho
- Books
- Braids
- Bucket Lists
- Camping
- Casual Outfits
- Clean Eating
- Constellations
- Container Gardening
- Dance
- Design
- Desserts
- Disney
- Diy Crafts
- Diy Home Decor
- Drawings
- Dresses
- Earth Science
- Education
- Eye Makeup
- Fashion
- Fitness
- Flowers
- Food Recipes
- Funny Quotes
- Furniture
- Game Of Thrones
- Gardening
- Gluten Free
- Graphic Design
- Hairstyles
- Halloween
- Hand Lettering
- Harry Potter
- Healthy Snacks
- Hiking
- History
- Horses
- Illustrations
- Industrial Design
- Inspirational Quotes
- Ireland
- Italy
- Jennifer Lawrence
- Landscaping
- Life Quotes
- Love Quotes
- Makeup
- Marilyn Monroe
- Marvel Comics
- Milky Way
- Modern Architecture
- Nails
- Nebulas
- Nutrition
- Paleo
- Parenting
- Photography
- Portrait Photography
- Pranks
- Pregnancy
- Pugs
- Puppies
- Relationships
- Sewing
- Shabby Chic
- Sherlock
- Shoes
- Skin Care
- Softball
- Star Wars
- Steampunk
- Street Art
- Street Styles
- Tattoo Ideas
- Tom Hiddleston
- Travel
- Typography
- Volleyball
- Walking Dead
- Wedding Ideas
- Wedding Photography
- Writing
Eclectic selection to choose from, eh? (The one I really puzzled on was Tom Hiddleston. Who’s that? Anywho …)
Once I chose my top Interests, I immediately moved on to my home feed, now chock-full of pins labeled as “Found in Parenting” or “Found in Travel” to indicate which Interest they represented.
Suggested board titles have changed
You can usually tell if someone’s been on Pinterest for a while based on their default board titles. Examples: “Products I Love,” “Favorite Places & Spaces” and “My Style.”
In my recent new user signup, when I clicked on my first pin to repin it, the board titles Pinterest suggested for me were:
- Places to Visit
- Stuff to Buy
- Projects to Try
- Things to Wear
- Recipes to Cook
- Ideas for the House
These updated board titles indicate how Pinterest views itself as a platform. They’re emphasizing inspiration to action, whether it’s related to travel, fashion, cooking or home decor.
Individual boards recommended to follow
After choosing Interests and creating a few boards, Pinterest prompted me to “follow 5 boards to fill your feed with pins you love.” The top categories of boards were:
- Featured
- Design
- DIY & Crafts
- Food & Drink
- Hair & Beauty
- Health & Fitness
- Home Decor
- Humor
- Women’s Fashion
The remaining categories were under “More Interests,” which I had to click to reveal. My conclusion? The top list represents the categories Pinterest believes are the most popular and/or useful to newbies.
Heavily promoting mobile app
From the first login page to the follow-up emails I received as a newbie, the Pinterest mobile app got prime real estate. This wasn’t surprising to me, given that 75% of Pinterest activity happens on mobile devices. However, it did reinforce how important Pinterest views the mobile experience for its new users—which means publishers and brands also need to consider how their pins and content appear on mobile devices, too.