Note: This post below reviews stats for Pinterest Standard Pins.
The post linked here has the 411 about stats on Idea Pins, in case that’s what you’re looking for! 🙂
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When you hear about Pinterest pin stats, do your eyes start to roll back in your head?
If so, you’re not alone. I’m a Pinterest Strategist for coaches, course creators, and service providers – and even I get a little vexed by it all from time to time. 😉
Pinterest is a unique ecosystem. It has its own special vocabulary for analytics… Pin clicks. Outbound clicks. Sessions. Reach. Impressions. Saves. Re-pins…
Oh my.
But, no worries. I’ve got your back here.
In this post, I’m going to show you how to quickly evaluate a pin’s performance with a simple approach.
We’ll just be using four (yes! Just four!) important stats – all of which you can easily see just by looking at the pin itself.
Read on to learn:
- How to get a quick snapshot of a standard pin’s performance – and what the essential stats actually mean for your business;
- What to do when you’ve got a pin that’s performing well. (Go, You! 🎉); and
- What to do if your pins aren’t performing as well as you’d hoped
If you find this helpful, be sure to sign up for my free, on-demand webinar, too. It’s called The 5 Secrets for Growing Your Audience on Autopilot & Attracting Clients – Using Pinterest.
Add your name and email below ⬇⬇ and I’ll send you access right to your inbox.
Okay ready? Let’s get analyzing your standard Pin stats… (the easy way).
How to Get a Quick Snapshot of the Performance of A Standard Pinterest Pin
When you click on one of your Pins to make it larger, and then click “See more stats”…
You’ll find a page that looks like this:
You can use the drop down on the left side to choose the date range you’d like to view. In this screenshot, you can see I’ve selected “Last 180 days.”
And, you can hover over any of these four main stats – to display a larger version of the graph that illustrates that stat.
Here’s what these numbers mean:
82,770+ impressions. Don’t get too excited yet … this is simply impressions.
This is the number of times your pin has surfaced and been seen – in people’s searches and smartfeeds. (*Because of the keywords you used!)
Impressions can be an indicator that:
a) your account is healthy and getting reach on Pinterest; and
b) the keywords you’re using for this pin are being searched by pinners.
So, it’s great to see a high number here, but it’s important to remember that impressions don’t typically “pay the bills” (… unless your overall goal is simply to rack up stats and use them as leverage to be an influencer with sponsored brand deals, etc… which is not the typical monetization path for my course students or clients. If you’re reading this you’re likely making money by coaching, offering services, or selling digital products like courses.)
So, what does pay the bills? … We’re getting to that! Read on…
3,070+ pin clicks.* When a pin is organically distributed, a pinner clicks on it once to make it bigger, and a second time to click through to your offer or content. This “pin click” is the number of times your pin got the first of those two clicks.
*Note: Prior to February 2021, this “pin click” stat was referred to as a “close up.”
So, essentially, this is an “engagement” on Pinterest that means someone wanted to get a closer look at the pin, so they clicked once to make it larger.
Again, pin clicks can be a sign of a healthy account. This stat also can give you an idea of whether your pin is performing its first “job” – which is to stop the scroll – to grab your ideal client’s attention.
115 saves – this is the number of times someone saved your pin to her board – for reference later… or just because she liked it!
We like saves a lot. (Almost as much as we like clicks… More on that in a moment.)
Saves show the Pinterest algorithm that your pin is interesting and relevant to the people who are seeing it, which can help it get distributed more widely. Saves can also help our pins show up toward the top of relevant search feeds.
1,950+ outbound clicks.* Okay NOW you can get excited! … This is the holy grail (for most Pinterest marketers). This is the number of times someone clicked through this pin to your website, content, or offer.
*Note: Prior to February 2021, this “outbound click” stat was referred to as a “click.” (… I know. It’s a little confusing…)
Getting lots of outbound clicks means that:
a) your pins are keyworded well, so they’re being seen by the right people – action-taking women who are truly interested in what you are offering; and
b) that your visual / graphic is doing its “job” too… it has stopped the scroll and is getting that micro-conversion (the click).
So, essentially, all of the best practices are working in tandem here, and you’re getting targeted eyes on your content and offers! Yessss!
Okay, now a couple of technical notes here…
- You can change the view to filter by content type, device type, or source. These can be helpful if you want to really drill down based on any of these factors. I don’t slice or dice pin stats this way, but it’s possible from this view – if you want to get curious!
- From this view, you can also click on “See all” in the “Saved to these boards” section. To learn more about what insights you can gain here, and why you might want to see who’s pinning your pins, head on over to this post.
And now, let’s talk about some actions you can take with this knowledge. What should you *do* of you’ve got a high-performing pin? And what should you do if you have a dud, for that matter? 😉
Read on to find out…
What to do when your pin is performing well… (Whoohoo!)
Okay, so you’ve looked at the stats of a pin, and you’ve got a winner! (It’s performing well – which could mean it’s having a viral run, or it’s simply doing better than some of your other pins).
So what can you do to amplify this success, and maybe even to replicate it? Here are a few ideas and strategies to consider:
1. Make more pins for that piece of content (the freebie, blog post, podcast episode, etc).
If your audience on Pinterest is responding well to this pin, and the content it’s promoting is relevant for your current business goals, make more pins for it! The pin pictured above performed well, so in the following months we made more pin designs that pointed to the blog post about fibroids. And, guess what? Those performed well, too!
To learn more about making more than one pin for each piece of content you create (it’s one of my favorite strategies!), head over to this post!
2. Make more pins in a similar visual style.
Take a look at the visual style of the pin. Is it lighter? Darker? Does it have a colorful call to action “button?” Does it incorporate a certain image or image type that might be resonating? You can look for common denominators across your best-performing pins and lean into what’s working, design-wise, for next month’s fresh pins.
3. Consider creating more content around that topic.
Take this as a sign! Your audience loves this topic, apparently… So maybe it makes sense to give them more of it!
If your pin is promoting your podcast episode about “online dating red flags” and it’s taking off (maybe even having a viral run!), consider inviting guests on to further discuss this topic. Or plan a solo episode or two that break this topic down into more detail… (Or, maybe you plan to create more episodes about very closely related topics.)
4. Visit the pin URL and make sure it’s serving you!
This last idea is an important one. When you have a high-performing pin, click through it! Make sure that the link is working correctly and that the content is up-to-date and optimized. Visit the content like a new visitor would. See it through her eyes.
Ask yourself:
- Is there anything you could update or add to make it more valuable – or to better serve your business goals?
- Is there enough value in this content to keep the pinner on the page when she lands there?
- Is there a call to action, so it’s really clear how she can take the next step?
- How she can continue to learn from you, subscribe, join your list or Facebook group, or book a call with you, for example?
You’ve got a high-performing pin, so capitalize on it!
What to do if your Pinterest pins’ stats are not impressing you…
Okay, now… What if you don’t really love what you see for stats?
If this is just one pin that’s not meeting your expectations… then in the immortal words of Elsa from Frozen, you can just “Let it go…” (Seriously. Not all pins are going to succeed. It’s a bit of a numbers game.)
However, if all of your pins seem to be falling a bit flat, it’s likely time to consider going back to basics. Audit your pins (and your account as a whole) against my “4 Pillars of Pinterest Success.”
Pillar 1: Keywords.
- Are your pins, and your account keyworded well?
- What keywords are you using on your pins and your account?
- Did you do some initial keyword research – to be sure the keywords you are using are being searched? And that you’re not using jargon or terms that are too specific?
- Are you properly adding your keywords to your pin descriptions – and to five other areas of your profile, too?*
(*Once you have a clear keyword strategy, and you’ve done some keyword research, you can add keywords to: your pin descriptions, pin titles, boards, board descriptions, profile name, and bio!)
Pillar 2: Visuals that stop the scroll and convert.
- Are your pins eye-catching and easy to read?
- Are they following all the best practices on Pinterest?
- Are they clearly stating what the content is about? And who it’s for?
- Are you offering a clear incentive? What will the pinner get or learn by clicking on the pin?
Pillar 3: Consistency of pinning.
- Are you pinning every week? (Or most weeks! No one is perfect!)
- Are you using a system or checklist to help you be consistent (and save time)?
Pillar 4: Time on the platform.
- Have you been pinning for at least a few months? (Pinterest takes time to generate results. It’s not an overnight thing!)
- Have you given the Pinterest algorithm some time to learn who to show your pins to? And to “trust” your content and site?
Ready to learn more? If you’re an online coach, course creator, service provider (or other online expert) – a great place to start is by learning my 5 Secrets for Using Pinterest to Get Clients.
I reveal them all in my FREE Masterclass, and you can access it below! 🎉
I’m pulling back the curtain on how to use Pinterest the right way.
You’ll learn how to…
- Ditch the overwhelm that comes from aaaaaallll the Pinterest advice you’re hearing.
- Know what to focus on – and what not to waste your time on – so you can generate a steady stream of quality, targeted leads for your offers.
- Set yourself up for long-term, consistent sales – and even for success with those passive income offers you’re planning!
- Figure out what your ideal clients are really searching for – and get them to pay attention to you – on Pinterest!
Ready? Sign up here – for FREE! 👇🏼 Add your name and a good email address, and I’ll send you access!
