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The Difference Between Pinterest And Instagram
Introduction: 2 Social Media Giants
When it comes to marketing in the wedding industry more than not these are the two platforms that come up, and are most commonly used. For good reason since they are both more focused on visuals and being in the wedding industry visuals is very much a part of it.
My goal for this post is to help you understand these two platforms and how they are different. Which means they provide different outcomes and are used for different parts of the marketing funnel.
Once you really understand the purpose of different platforms you will be able to maximize the results you experience. But, the flip side of that is if you keep expecting an outcome from a platform that isn't in alignment with what it is designed for it will hurt your marketing efforts.
What Is Pinterest?
I think this is a good place to start since most don't understand Pinterest. Pinterest often gets lumped into the other social media platforms, which isn't a fare description and I believe it sets people up to look at it the wrong way.
Pinterest is a visual search engine. It shows relevant content to the user based on what they are searching for. Pinterest pulls images that have relevant keywords or the image itself depicts what is being searched for.
Just like an internet search engine Pinterest thrives on SEO tactics. So, keywords, location keywords, and descriptions are very important to your success on Pinterest. More importantly using keywords and phrases that people are actually searching for.
Because of this Pinterest content has a much longer shelf life than other platforms like Instagram. The average pin can gain exposure for 6-8 months. Then when you have a pin that does well you can be looking at traffic for years. A one time effort can result in hundreds or thousands in new traffic to your site.
What Is Instagram?
Now Instagram is a more traditional social media platform. Yes it is visual/video content focused, but the main goal of the platform is to engage with others.
That is how the algorithm for the platform works. It is not based on what people are searching for like Pinterest, it is about what and who you engage with. So, if you are interacting with a lot of florist accounts. The platform is going to keep bringing you more florist content thinking that is what you want to see.
What this means is if you are using this platform you have to be engaging with people to drive more traffic and interaction. Yes good content is important, but if all you are doing is posting content without interacting you are missing out on how that platform works.
Social media is all about being social. Your content becomes more relevant the more social you are. Not the other way around.
The key differences between the two
There is a major difference between the two platforms. To put it simply Pinterest is excellent for building targeted audiences and Instagram helps with building a connection.
Since Pinterest is all about search you already know right off the bat that most interacting with your content actually want to see what you are offering and need it. That is a much higher quality lead. Whereas Instagram can show your content to people that have no interest in your content and would never use your business.
Pinterest also allows you to target the right traffic easier. Through location keywords and Geo-tagging on their ads platform makes sure you are bringing in traffic that can actually be customers.
Pinterest is also a platform that is set up to sell. They want you to be making sales and sending people to your website or landing page. That whole platform is designed for that. Which again makes it the superior option for building a targeted audience and actually getting a result for it. You can't forget the point of your business is to make sales not get likes.
Since Pinterest is not a true social platform that also means likes and followers don't mean anything. You don't need any of that to build solid traffic. We have clients with under 50 followers that are generating over 100k in monthly impressions and 300-600 website clicks.
Now with Instagram it is not set up to make sales or send traffic to your site. They want you to stay on the platform and to keep your audience on the platform longer. So, if you are trying to direct people away from the platform Instagram will hide your content and not reward you for that.
This is why Instagram is better to focus on building relationships. That is more in alignment with the platform and you will be rewarded for that. It is about posting content that allows people to build know, like and trust with your business. So, they feel like they know you.
It is a much better use of your time on Instagram to post engaging content and then interacting with potential customers' accounts. Don't get caught up in the dopamine hits and thinking likes are a good thing. Likes don't pay the bills and grow your business. So if you are spending hours a week creating reels, really analyze how that is translating to dollars. If you are spending 40 hours a month on creating reels to only make 1-2 sales that is a poor use of your time and you are chasing likes over real results.
Your business is not a social media influencer. Don't get caught up in their game. Remember what you are doing and use the platform appropriately.
Which Should You Use For Your Business?
Like I stated earlier you can and should be using both platforms. It just comes down to what matters most to know where you spend more time and resources developing.
For driving sales results and building a targeted audience, then Pinterest is the clear winner. It is proven over and over that search based marketing is far better than relying on an algorithm of a social platform. It is the reason why Google ads are the top with paid ads. It is based on search.
That is why we focus on Pinterest for our clients. Not because we are in love with the platform. But, because we see what it is used for and the result it is focused on. We only care about getting results for our clients and with that in mind we will never focus on tactics that compromise that outcome.
Most of our clients that have been working with us for 3+months are generating 30,000+ impressions a month which results in 200-800 website clicks a month. Which leads to more bookings for your service or venue. Are you hitting those kinds of numbers on Instagram or any other platform?
If you are ready to build a marketing channel that is focused on results to put you in front of your ideal customer at the moment they are ready to take action, then we invite you to click the link below to book your marketing strategy call.
We will go over your current situation and breakdown how a Pinterest strategy will help grow your business.
Your marketing team,
Justin & Lindsay
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