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All right, today's episode is all about Pinterest search where it is currently and where it is going. A big thank you to Pinterest for helping me really gather all the stats and information for this episode. I am a part of the Pinterest Educator program and this is part of the content that I help create for that program in order for you to understand how to use Pinterest better. I am Kate all this is the simplepin podcast. I own simplepin Media. I have been doing Pinterest marketing for the last 12 years. And with our clients we help surface ideas, data patterns that help them get more sales, get more leads, get more eyeballs on their content. And one of the number one ways that we do that is by leveraging Pinterest search. Because Pinterest is so different than all other platforms out there. It's always been a visual search engine. It's often referred to as a search and discovery platform. I want to share with you some recent stats that we have about Pinterest. In the U.S. they reach about 46% of the people ages 18 to 24 and 40% of the people ages 25 to 3034 globally, which they are growing rapidly. They have 600 million monthly active users. 73% of consumers say the visual nature of Pinterest results make it better than traditional search. So let me repeat that. 73% of consumers say that the visual nature of Pinterest makes it better than if you're searching on other platforms like Google or even ChatGPT. Pinterest is emerging as the go to search engine. And that is from an Adobe article in April of 2025. 80% of businesses believe Pinterest outperforms other search platforms in driving engagement. Also from that Adobe article. That is because the visual nature, the I know it when I'll see it portion of Pinterest allows people to connect quicker, better and faster. They approach the platform looking for ideas, products and projects to tackle. It's set apart from other social platforms in that way. There's no engagement with other people. They're just dreaming into their own dreams. They don't have to Worry about weird DMs or comments or anything like that. It is the one app that people don't give up in their social media detox and they for sure aren't doom scrolling. They they have intent to find what they want, right? And when they get to that thing that they want, they're open to all the other ideas around that particular product or content. We often refer to this as high intent and low intent, meaning they are searching for something but they're not going to dismiss other ideas, making it an excellent place for businesses to be. The current search model on Pinterest goes a little bit like this. People open up the app, they go to the search bar at the top of the app. They type in words or phrases that will help them find what they're looking for. Here's a brief example of what I am talking about as it relates to my latest searches. So if you're listening in podcast app, I'm going to show screenshots. If you want to see those screenshots, you can go over to YouTube by going to YouTube.com and searching simple Pin media. The this should be one of the latest videos when you are listening. Okay, so I go to search and I look for lots of things. In fact, I'm going to share with you a screenshot of my recent search patterns. They are outfits for carrot body shape. I am actually in fact a carrot body shape. The next one was carrot body shape outfits because I didn't really get what I wanted the first time. Second Mashed potato recipe, third Air fryer fajitas, fourth pinning, fifth management and sixth Keyword guide. It's a little bit all over the place, but I would imagine if you opened up your app as well right now and clicked on your search bar, yours might be too. Okay, so after we get to the search bar and we see what we've been searching, now we're going to search for something new. You're going to put words into the search bar as to maybe what you. Well, carrot body shape. Actually let's start there. I got a few suggestions as far as shopping. So I got a few product pins first as to where I could purchase outfits from. Honestly, this wasn't super helpful right away because I needed a little more context about how to shape a carrot body shape. But if I scrolled right underneath those product pins, I also got more content. Right. I should also note that right under the search bar it gave me a guided search box. These are sometimes in multiple colors. They're little like oblong shaped bubbles. Mine only had one and it was labeled palettes where I could choose a color palette I was interested in. Since I'm not quite sure on my outfits and I'm not quite ready to buy, I also skipped over that. So scrolling past shopping, scrolling past guided search, I'm now presented with all these different options, both ads and pins helping me find capsule wardrobes which actually I wasn't searching for but now I was super interested in it and also there were instructions for how to dress an inverted triangle. One thing to note here is I didn't put inverted triangle into the search bar, but rather I used the word carrot. However, the body shape of a carrot is also called an inverted triangle. Pinterest actually knew what I was looking for. So after I scroll a little bit more, I can then take it to the next level and use Pinterest Assistant. So this is a new feature. I'm going to put a link down below so can you can read more about it. But I want to talk about my first experience with this and how you can leverage it as well. So Pinterest Assistant is the first AI powered visual, first collaborator that transform transforms online shopping and discovery which just launched in October of 2025. This tool leverages the same personalization signals that already make Pinterest the powerful search platform that it is is. But now we have a conversational style visual first. So we're taking the baseline of Pinterest search and we're just adding even more to it. Right. This elevates the I'll know it when I see it, but I kind of can't describe it in just four to five words function of Pinterest search. So it stays the same. We're just adding an AI powered tool that can take it to the next level. Your ads and your organic content remain visible through traditional feeds, search and browsing experiences. The assistant just adds a new complimentary discovery layer that leverages the same personalization signals. Okay, that sounds like a mouthful, but here's how it works. Pinterest Assistant allows you to go beyond a text search and ask open ended questions. So when you tap the mic icon that's in the search bar, some have noted that it is showing up at the bottom of their screen. I don't have that yet. It could be that it's not updated for me as of December 25th. When I'm recording this, I tapped on the mic icon in my search bar, but some people are saying it's at the bottom of their screen and you just say what you're looking for. Pinterest Assistant will show you proactive recommendations based on your current preferences and taste. And that is pulled from your pins, your boards and your feet. Okay, so here's a practical walkthrough. When you go to the search bar on Pinterest, you click on the microphone icon. If you don't have settings set to allow voice, you'll have to do that. I didn't already, so I had to go to my Settings allow microphone and then hop back to Pinterest. Super easy. I now clicked on the microphone icon and Pinterest is asking if I'd like to access speech recognition. It's basically saying the data from this app will be sent to Apple to process request, which also helps Apple. This may or may not happen in your Android phone, but I'm just giving you a heads up that it's asking for permission. This is a personal decision for each person, so I'm going to let you decide whether or not you allow your data to be shared or not. All right? I asked it to help me find the best molasses ginger cookies. It took a little while to listen to my prompt, but I imagine it will get better soon as time goes on. I should also say I didn't approach it like I do ChatGPT or Claude with longer search queries, but that's just me and how I use Pinterest. I don't know how people are going to use this going forward, but here's what I'm hearing about search overall in a recent interview last quarter on do this, not that the HubSpot CEO made a comment about search changing now. This is like global search on all platforms. She said search is going from a forward prompt to a 23 word prompt, which is incredible. I see a day soon where that type of user behavior engages the Pinterest assistant in a way to elevate their searches, but I don't know if we're quite there yet, but it could be an option in the future. So why does all of this matter? Why does it matter to you, the business owner, the creator or the e commerce seller? Creators have seen a massive shift in online search and user behavior and it's put all of us in a little bit into a tailspin to try to figure out where we go, how we situate our content, all of it. I will say, simply put, it is elevated our need to really double down on making sure the information that we have can be accessed easily. Regular search is still going to stay the same, but this enhances how people search on Pinterest, this AI powered assistant. It's not just a simple word search, but it's going to broaden the ideas that people are going to put into into this assistant to ask more questions, to really leverage that. I'll know it when I see it that people can get from searches. I want to pause here really quickly because we have changes that come to Pinterest. We know that there's sometimes this it's either not on everybody's phone or it doesn't work the same on everybody's phone. There's this rollout time. So if you're listening to this and you're like, I don't have Pinterest assistant. I don't have the little microphone at the bottom, but I do have a microphone on my search bar. Just know that things might move around and be fluid in the next couple of months, which I feel like in general, that's how the Internet is right now. Everything just needs a little bit of fluidity and some grace for the changes that are going to come. So with that, be patient. Okay, a little bit more geeky details about search. Pinterest has this thing called the Taste Graph. If you are really into engineering blogs and you want to go deep, I will put a link for you to read all about the taste Graph. If you're having trouble sleeping, I'm pretty sure you could go read it. But if you're an engineer and you love this kind of stuff, this will be like your Super Bowl. Okay? I want you to think of the Taste Graph as a massive web that connects everything on the platform. It's tracking billions of saves, clicks, searches to understand what you like, but also why you like it. So I'm going to go back to my example of searching for carrot body type outfits. It didn't just show me the pins where, where people were talking about carrot body shape, but also inverted body shape types, capsule wardrobes and dressing for day to day activities. It took my original intent and it elevated it to other things I might be interested in. So I think that's really, really important that we understand that it's not just like, oh, it's not just linear, I guess it's like spherical. We're gonna go with that. It's encompassing a lot more. So what does this mean for you? What does it mean for your content strategy? Three things for you to focus on. Write your pin descriptions like you're answering someone's question or sending a friend a text. This has been guidance we have been giving for a long time. It doesn't stray from anything we've said previously. Use keywords in sentences that make it sound natural. Number two, visual consistency is your secret weapon. If you have a consistent look across your pins, Pinterest gets better at recommending your content to the right people. I have seen this firsthand with my pins. When I look at related pins underneath one of my pins, I see more pins there that don't have anything to do with the subject, but it's more matching visual components of my branding. So maybe my top pin is about how to upload video to Pinterest, but a related pin down below is about what to pin in winter. It's kind of interesting, but they have related branding. Here's a caveat. The only time I would tell you to deviate from your visual consistency is when it comes to seasonal if you have a seasonal component to your content, think a food blogger or a fashion influencer. If you're talking about outfits for the fall and your brand colors are light pink and yellow, maybe more spring, don't choose brand over seasonal recognition because the seasonal recognition can really benefit too. Using oranges or browns or greens number three the third tip I have for you is context matters more than ever. Don't just think about individual pins. Think. Think about the story. Your board, your titles, your descriptions. They're telling. Similar to the guidance we've kind of been giving you all along, this will still support the Pinterest assistant. Make sure your boards are named well, your descriptions are completed and your pin titles and your pin descriptions all match. I want you to think of it like a silo, right? Putting all carrot body type information inside a carrot body type board or inverted triangle is going to allow the algorithm to know. Oh, this is the content we need to pull from because it's all about this particular topic, the future. What does it look like going forward? Voice and visual combined. We're moving towards a world where you can speak to Pinterest. While it's showing you an image. Show me shoes that would go with these pants. The multi modal search combining voice, text and images is where things are going, which is so awesome. And that means more new customers, new readers and interactions with your pins. It's predictive, not just reactive. Eventually Pinterest won't just respond to your searches, it'll anticipate what you need next. It's already doing this to some extent. The platform is getting smarter and smarter about understanding your journey. Here are some practical takeaways. Audit your pin descriptions. Do they answer the questions that people are looking for? Do they include the keywords that people would say or type? Number two Build boards that tell a cohesive story, not just random collections or like one offs. This is why we often tell people when you audit your profile and you go to clean it up. If you have lot. If you're a food blogger and you have lots of recipe boards and you have one about nails and hair and trips to Jamaica, you might want to pull those down into secret boards and create this cohesive story about your brand. It would be very similar to looking at a feed on Instagram. If you're all about posting food photos and all of a sudden you come in with this thrift store find of this really great coat, it doesn't make sense. It's out of context. So make sure that you build boards that have a really cohesive story. Number three, use the lifestyle imagery that shows your ideas or your products in context. Especially for product sellers. This is going to be so important. You want to show your vintage vase collection in a really beautiful buffet or you have this display at a flower market. You give it context instead of showing a vintage vase that people can buy. Pinterest isn't becoming less a search engine, it's becoming a smarter one. The fundamentals still matter. Great visuals, strategic keywords, understanding what people are searching for. But now there's an AI powered assistant that is amplifying that connection between your content and the people who need it. The future of Pinterest search will still be visual, but it'll also be conversational and personalized. If you focus on creating that authentic content that matches how real people search and shop, you are positioning yourself perfectly for where this platform is headed. Now I'd love to know from you, have you used the AI powered assistant, the Pinterest assistant? What have you thought? What results have you got? I would love for you to comment if you're on YouTube in the comment box with. We answer all of the comments here. We love chatting with you. If you are listening to the podcast, hop over to YouTube. Let's have a conversation about it. Because I think it's really important to talk about new tools that are released to us and how we as marketers can use them. Because sometimes it can feel intimidating to go at it alone to try to figure out how do I use this. But I'm. I don't know, I might need ideas from other people. Let us help you. Alrighty. Thanks so much for listening. And note this is the last podcast that we are recording for 2025. We have great things coming in 2026. We are going to be doing a lot of interviews. We are also going to be doing a new series called Kate's Take. These are just 5 minute short episodes that will only be in the podcast. So if you are watching on YouTube and you are not subscribed to the audio podcast, I highly suggest suggest that you do. You can hop over into your player, your favorite player and just search Simple Pen podcast those are only going to be released on audio twice a month, and that is really the behind the scenes. We're going to have some other communities coming up for behind the scenes, but this is going to be one of those places where you get to hear what I'm processing, what I'm thinking, what do I think about changes on Pinterest? How have I used the Pinterest assistant? So just know that if you want a little bit more of my take, you can go ahead and subscribe over in the podcast app. Happy New Year. Cheers to the end of 2025 and here is expecting great things for 2026. Thank you so much for listening.