Understanding Pinterest Analytics

One of the things I have found in running a Pinterest management company and a large Pinterest Facebook group is that people are really confused about which numbers to pay attention to when trying to analyze their Pinterest strategy. Today, I am talking with Kristie Hill about Pinterest analytics & Google analytics. We’ll share how to know what you need to be looking at and what to do with what you see.

You heard from Kristie back in Episode 44, where we talked about growing a Pinterest account in one year. What’s great about Kristie is that she loves analytics. Between the two of us, we are going to try to address some of the confusion that seems to reign in Pinterest marketing. But first, let’s get into why we should even pay attention to the numbers at all.

Why Do Analytics Matter?

Numbers are meaningless unless they are converting. 

~Kristie Hill

Here are 5 reasons you want to check your analytics-

• Content – Knowing your numbers helps you to know what types of content to create in the future.

• Strategies – You should be tracking the things you are trying out to see how they’re doing.

• Pins – Which pins are doing well for you? Why? What worked? What did people like?

• Growth – Are you improving? Are your numbers growing?

• Trends – Remember that Pinterest is a seasonal platform. In many niches, you should see your account growing during the fall and Christmas season every year. You can plan for the next year.

Pinterest Analytics

It is important to note that you must have a Pinterest business account in order to get Pinterest analytics. Please don’t be afraid of a business account. Pinterest is not Instagram, and you will not be penalized for switching. There are NO disadvantages of having a business account…only advantages!

Pinterest offers its own set of analytic tools. Pinterest analytics can tell you which pins are performing well, suggest promoted pins campaigns, and can help you manage those campaigns to your benefit.

Here at Simple Pin, we actually don’t pay too much attention to Pinterest analytics, simply because when we look at Google Analytics, they don’t seem to match up with what Pinterest says. There are definitely reasons for the discrepancies, but just be aware that the numbers you see in your Pinterest analytics don’t always tell the whole story.

How to Read Pinterest Analytics

The first thing you will see when you open your analytics page is your overall profile. This will include everything you’ve pinned, whether it’s your content or someone else’s. Whatever you have pinned, it will show up in this number.

This number will likely show you that you pin other people’s content too much!

The other numbers you’ll see here include frequency of clicks and shares. The reason we don’t pay too much attention to these numbers is that if we are mostly pinning other people’s content, we are sending traffic to their site, not ours. And as we said at the start, numbers that don’t convert don’t mean anything.

Pinterest analytics does provide one useful piece of information — if you go into your profile and scroll down to “Top Boards with Impressions”, you can glean keywords and ideas for content you might want to create.

You’ll also be able to see impressions in your Pinterest analytics dashboard. Impressions are defined as the number of people who’ve viewed your pin, not clicks to your site or how many saves you are getting. Those impressions do not represent a conversion (i.e., a click or share) so they really don’t mean anything.

Pinterest Analytics for Beginners

If you are just starting out, what do you need to know about Pinterest analytics? (Advanced users, just keep moving, there’s nothing to see here. Use your Google Analytics.)

When you are just starting, there actually is some information in Pinterest analytics that can be helpful. You should be looking at the “All Activity” section to see all of your pins. Look at which ones are doing well, even if they are other people’s content. See which boards they are being pinned to in order to help you create content that works well for you on Pinterest.

If you struggle with what types of content to create, seeing what people actually click through is a great way to fill up your content creation calendar. You could save those pins to a secret board and make notes about how you are going to create some killer content based on those ideas.

Google Analytics

Let’s move on to the big guy- Google Analytics. How do we get it, what is it, and why do we use it?

You first must have Google Analytics installed on your site. If you are using a WordPress.org site, you can go to Kristie’s site for a tutorial on how to install Google analytics on your site. If you are a creative type, which many bloggers are, don’t let all the numbers scare you. You can learn how to use Google Analytics and make it work for you.

Data is your friend if you use it and Google Analytics is the data that you can do something with. ~Kristie Hill

Once you have it, you can begin to see where your traffic is actually coming from and what your readers are doing once they get there. Here are couple of different things you’ll want to take a look at:

• Top pins that are driving traffic- You may have several pins for the same post, but this is the exact pin that is driving traffic. In your Google Analytics dashboard, go to All Traffic —> Referrals —> Pinterest and it will show you a list of the pins that are sending you traffic.
• Top posts on Pinterest- Your top pins that drive traffic and your top posts don’t always correlate. Back in your Google Analytics dashboard, go to Acquisitions —> Social, Network Referrals —> Pinterest. These are the posts that are drawing traffic to your site.

But what do you do with this information once you have it? So many things! Kristie shared tons of ideas in the episode on how to use this information to continue to grow. Be sure to listen in to find out how to create more content, optimize your content, create better pins and more!

How Often Should You Check Google Analytics?

It depends.

Kristie is a self-professed number nerd, so she checks in at least once a week, sometimes more. She wants to keep up with where her traffic is coming from, see any adjustments she needs to make, monitor anything she’s testing, etc.

She has recently gone through a site redesign, so she is actually checking in every day to see what is drawing people, what’s working and what’s not working. If you’re testing something, you might want to check in more often. If you are just on a regular posting schedule, check in at least once a week.

The One Thing You Should Focus On

This episode had so much information, and if you are just getting started I know it can seem overwhelming. Having just one thing to focus on can be helpful in getting your feet wet.

One thing to be wary of-

When you are learning to use analytics, be very wary of anyone who talks about their impressions. Impressions don’t show you anything that is real or measurable. Don’t follow strategies designed to increase your impressions. This is usually clickbait, so don’t click.

One thing to look at-

Kristie recommends your top priority be the top posts on Pinterest. Make sure those posts are optimized with updated links, etc to work their best for you.

Remember, impressions have their place- they can be helpful when working with brands, but they will never pay the bills. Clicks pay the bills. Don’t fall for clickbait. Use Google analytics to figure out how to better optimize your posts and how to create more killer content that will drive even more traffic to your site!

Time Stamp

Intro
 3:35 Why do Analytics matter?
 6:10 Pinterest Analytics
 9:25 How to read Pinterest Analytics
16:10 Pinterest Analytics for beginners
18:10 Google Analytics
30:10 How often to check Google Analytics
33:25 Helpful links
35:10 What is the one thing you should focus on?