Pinterest is a place where people go to get inspired, and one of Australia’s leading furniture retailers has revealed how it uses the platform to reach audiences across the full funnel of marketing.

In the fourth article in a series examining the perhaps untapped power of Pinterest for advertisers and agencies, B&T investigates how the platform can assist brands in full funnel marketing.

One of Australia’s leading furniture retailers, Koala Furniture uses Pinterest to reach new audiences, to inspire and educate them on how they can decorate their homes with its furniture.

Koala Furniture’s digital marketing manager, Isabelle Zonderland, considers Pinterest to be a valuable weapon in her company’s advertising and marketing arsenal.

“We run Pinterest activity under an ‘Always On’ approach in our marketing mix,” Zonderland tells B&T. “Koala uses a number of measurement tools for website activity and source of sales, and we include Pinterest platform and pathway data in that set of tools.”

As a result, Pinterest plays an important sales influencer role for some of Koala’s key audience segments.

It also plays a role in reaching new audiences, which the company then re-engage in other stages of the consumer funnel and on other platforms.

Content on Pinterest has greater longevity than other platforms

Kirsten Armour is Koala’s director of creative content and social. Speaking to B&T, Armour says that Pinterest is “a valuable organic tool” for the company as it allows Koala to target audiences along their journey.

This is especially apparent during the discovery, dreaming, or planning phases, she says.

“It’s great for seasonal planning, introducing new Koala products, participating in trends or sparking ideas in a distinct way from other social platforms,” Armour tells B&T.

“We know that content on Pinterest has greater longevity than elsewhere, providing us the flexibility to adjust our content strategy in real-time so we can invariably deliver high-quality content that is interesting to our audience.”

Leveraging the Pinner mindset to serve consumer needs

People consume content on Pinterest in a completely different way to how they engage with content on other platforms, according to Koala.

The company, therefore, designs its Pinterest advertisements to reflect this mindset—people come to Pinterest expecting to see ads—while consumers are scrolling through their feeds on the platform.

“We use engaging visuals that feel native for the prospecting stage of the funnel which don’t interfere with inspiration browsing but allows access to explore more of the brand,” Zonderland tells B&T.

“We then utilise a traffic campaign directed at our blog page with ‘How to’ and ‘Tips & Tricks’ content to communicate a product’s lifecycle.”

This tactic performs incredibly well from a CTR perspective, she says. The company then introduces dynamic product ads and conversion-based campaigns from a lower funnel perspective, which retargets people based on their previous interactions.

These messages, Zonderland explains, include USPs and a subtle CTA to “shop the product”.

She adds that the personalised nature of ‘visual discovery’ on Pinterest assists Koala in leveraging the mindset of Pinners. It also assists the company in delivering on its mission: to help people thrive—at home and in their lives—by inspiring people, in part, to create beautiful homes for themselves.

“The targeted and visual nature of the platform helps us to reach new audiences who are at a point in the customer journey where they are in an open mindset to simply be inspired,” Zonderland says.

“Having a presence in this space gives us an incredible opportunity to capture an audience who may not even have been considering a new sofa or other home furnishings.”

Using Pinterest insights to inform product development

Meanwhile, as Koala seeks ways to constantly improve its operations, the company revealed the value of insights and trends identified using Pinterest.

“The platform information is a great help for keeping close to  topics that have seen increases in popularity that we may not have initially considered in our planning phase—or, it may sway us to pursue a different direction all together,” Armour tells B&T.

Zonderland adds: “Koala is constantly seeking ways to improve so we are always testing and learning with content, tactics, and various ad products.

“The results of each test help us to develop stronger copy, overlays, imagery, look and feel, and more.

“Consumers are exceptional individuals with unique content consumption behaviours and Pinterest allows us to deliver relevant and engaging content to each of them.”

Predicting trends

Freedom has been one of Australia’s best-known furniture retailers since 1981, when it began helping Australians create the homes that they love coming home to.

Assisting freedom in delivering on this brand promise is Pinterest, which brand marketing manager Darija Djeric tells B&T helps the furniture retailer to predict what could become the next trend.

It also assists freedom in delivering on its brand promise: to make beautiful things for the home available to everyone, and tailor each message to appeal to each target market—be they young independents and families, comfortable families, or wealthy families.

“I tend to use trend forecasting sites and then look on Pinterest for information to back up what I’m seeing from a very high level,” Djeric said.

“Pinterest is great at tracking movements of things people love to see, therefore, it helps us pre-empt trends, curate multiple products in a new way and execute them in a unique way to us.”

Djeric says that, often, trends begin in one form and then translate into other mediums, which then lend themselves to illustrations and toys.

Using visual discovery to assist in leveraging the Pinner mindset

Freedom utilises Pinterest to connect with highly engaged audiences already showing strong signs of intent.

Djeric describes this aspect of Pinterest as “very different from other forms of social advertising” where the focus is more about demand generation rather than capture.

“As many customers are arriving at Pinterest at the very beginning of their purchase journey, the personalised nature of visual discovery helps us gain increased exposure for our brand and range, ensuring that Freedom is part of the consideration set as they move further down the funnel,” Djeric tells B&T.

“This is quite different from other text-based discovery engines.”

Audience and creative segmentation, furthermore, allows freedom to leverage the mindset of Pinners and serve their consumer needs.

In certain examples, this could mean an unknown customer may receive a video or video collection that helps to introduce the freedom brand with light product and price.

“Alternatively, for a previously engaged shopper, we would leverage the product catalogue and serve them a shopping ad with a relevant product,” Djeric explains. 

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