Pinterest vs Instagram: Choosing the Best Social Media Ecommerce Platform

If you want to grow your online business, Instagram and Pinterest are great tools. 

Instagram is perfect for influencer marketing and has shopping features, while Pinterest offers visual discovery. 

Both platforms have unique benefits that can help boost your sales. Choosing the right one for your e-commerce strategy will drive your business growth and success!

Pinterest vs Instagram: Comparing the Purpose of the Platforms

Let’s take a step back and look at the fundamental purpose of each platform.

The main aim of Instagram is sharing and promoting.

The main aim of Pinterest is to discover and distribute.

Images are the main type of content for both platforms. However, on Pinterest, users also expect more value: You can share content in various forms like a recipe, a photo of a dish, or a DIY guide for home décor ideas.

Meanwhile, Instagram is more focused on the lifestyle and aesthetic of a brand’s feed, beyond just the individual image.

Pinterest vs Instagram: Comparing the Audiences

Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users, making it one of the largest social media platforms. It appeals mostly to younger audiences with features like Stories, Reels, perfect for real-time updates and interactive content. This makes it a strong platform for brands to engage with users visually.

Pinterest, with 250 million active users, focuses on creativity and idea-sharing through user-curated boards. It appeals to a broad audience, including many users over 55, making it a great platform for targeting diverse consumer groups interested in visual inspiration and product discovery.

Active Users:

In term of popularity, Instagram’s 1 billion monthly users speak for themselves and give marketers a much larger audience tap into it.

With approximately 4 times as many potential customers to reach each month than Pinterest, the sheer volume of active users is enough to give Instagram the upper hand in this category.

Age Distribution:

Both Instagram and Pinterest attract a large number of users aged 18-35, especially those interested in visual content and digital discovery. 

However, Pinterest has a stronger presence among older users, particularly those aged 55 and up, making it a platform for inspiration across all life stages.

Gender Split

Pinterest has a gender imbalance, with about 81% of its users being female, making it popular for women seeking inspiration in areas like home decor and fashion. 

On the other hand, Instagram has a more balanced gender distribution, with women making up around 68% of its user base, reflecting its broad appeal across genders and interests.

Gender:

With an 81% female user base, Pinterest is a great platform to utilize if women are your ideal customers. But don’t count Instagram out just yet.

They may have a lower percentage with only 68% female users, but remember this is 68% of 1 billion active users vs. Pinterest’s 250 million active users.

Essentially, if you’re trying to market to women, both platforms are a suitable choice to promote your e-commerce business.

However, if men are your ideal target audience, it’s a no-brainier that Instagram is the more appropriate marketing choice when comparing Pinterest vs. Instagram.

Targeting Options:

Another beneficial feature of Instagram is its targeting.

Because Instagram and Facebook share the same advertising platform, Instagram allows precise and efficient targeting, which is incredibly valuable for ecommerce marketers.

Pinterest vs Instagram: Comparing the Shoppable Features

Considering the steady growth and popularity of e-commerce, Instagram and Pinterest both recently introduced new shoppable features that enable users to shop without leaving their apps.

Shopping Features on Instagram

Instagram revolutionizes e-commerce with its array of shoppable features designed to enhance the shopping experience directly within the platform. Businesses can strategically tag products in their posts, making them clickable for users to explore and purchase seamlessly. 

Additionally, Instagram’s Stories feature supports product tags, allowing brands to showcase products in a more immersive and temporary format, driving immediate engagement and sales. 

1. Product Tags

Instagram’s product tags allow users to view the price of your products and go directly to a check out by simply clicking on the shoppable post icon.

Major e-commerce sites like Squarespace, eWorldTrade, and Shopify have built native integration with Instagram, allowing users to connect their online e-commerce inventory directly to their Instagram profile.

If you have a Facebook business account with a product store, setting up product tags is relatively easy and can be completed in just a few taps. Learn more.

2. Stories Tags

Similar to tagging products in posts, marketers also have the ability to tag products in Instagram stories.

Given the high engagement rates Instagram stories recieve, this is a huge benefit to brands. In fact, one-third of the most viewed stories are posted by businesses.

The popularity of the stories feature paired with an actionable product tag creates a huge opportunity for brands to drive more sales on Instagram. Plus, consumers have already shown a positive response to this new feature. Over 90 million accounts have engaged with Instagram shoppable stories each month since the launch of the feature.

3. Shop Button

The third feature Instagram has launched directly related to selling on the app is their “shop” button.

With this tool, all posts that have an Instagram product tag will be saved and shown in this section of your business profile.

The real benefit to this feature is it allows your followers to view your product in a more traditional shopping layout with the same high-quality, “Instagram-worthy” photos that bring your products to life.

It also keeps the user directly in the Instagram app; no annoying “link in bio” direction is needed.

Shopping Features on Pinterest

Pinterest enhances e-commerce with features like Product Pins, which showcase products with details, pricing, and links to purchase. Pinterest Lens allows users to search visually by snapping photos or using images, making shopping more personalized and seamless. 

1. Product pins

Pinterest’s Product Pins, like Instagram’s Shoppable Posts, show product details like price and stock, allowing users to buy quickly. Unlike Instagram, Pinterest lets you link to multiple e-commerce sites, which is useful for collaborations or managing multiple stores.

The biggest difference between Instagram’s and Pinterest’s shoppable posts for e-commerce brands is the ease of set-up. Instagram takes the win here as Pinterest marketers will have to do a bit of coding to get this feature up and running. Learn how to set up Pinterst Product Pins Here!

2. Pinterest Lens

This feature was appropriately referred to as “the Shazam for products”.

Perhaps their most technologically advanced feature, the Pinterest Lens is a ground-breaking tool for product discovery.

The process is simple: Point a camera on an object or access your camera roll.

Then, let Pinterest analyze the image and suggest relevant items based on your personal recommendations and available pins.

3. Visual Search

While it is not a direct shopping feature, Pinterest’s Visual Search is aimed at making the app more e-commerce-friendly by creating a shortcut for users to discover your products.

Upon holding down on any Home or Style pin, Pinterest will scan elements in the image and then suggest products for users to buy and “get the look.”

Most often the pins that are suggested contain Product Pins, so this feature is yet another way for customer to find products they are searching for.

Pinterest vs Instagram: Which social media e-commerce platform is right for you?

When choosing between Pinterest and Instagram for e-commerce, consider their unique strengths. Pinterest is great for long-lasting visibility through its SEO-friendly pins and targeted ads, ideal for businesses focusing on visual discovery and inspiration. 

Instagram, on the other hand, is perfect for building community through Stories, Reels, and direct shopping features. It excels in driving immediate conversions and influencer collaborations.

Pinterest works best for businesses aiming for long-term engagement, while Instagram is more suited for direct interaction and boosting sales. Your choice depends on your brand’s goals and audience preferences.

Type of Products to Sell on Pinterest vs Instagram

Because Pinterest has an older demographic with a higher level of disposable income, e-commerce brands that sell big-ticket items such as furniture, art, kitchen appliances, etc. may see more sales from Pinterest product tags than that of Instagram.

Just take a look at Pinterest’s most popular categories and you’ll see that the demand is there.

On the other hand, Instagram has a much stronger hold on the male demographic as well as millennials. Therefore companies that are selling lower priced items that target these two demographics are seeing major success with Instagram.

This is particularly true for fashion brands who were among the first businesses allowed to use Instagram’s product tags and have enjoyed increased online sales because of the feature.

Since then, Instagram has opened up its shopping to most e-commerce brands that sell physical goods such as home decor, make-up, and jewelry.

Consumers Purchasing Habits on Pinterest vs Instagram

It’s no doubt that with the Visual Search and Product Lens features, Pinterest is making some major strides in product discovery technology.

Back in 2016, Ben Silberman, the co-founder and chief executive of Pinterest, announced that their platform is “not a social network”, but rather, “Pinterest is really about planning and getting ideas for your own personal life.”

For this reason, Pinterest serves customers who are in the ideation phase of a long term, one-time purchase.

However, Instagram is the superior app for recurring purchases and impulse buys.

When users are on Pinterest, they are often scrolling through their custom explore feed searching and pinning photos to their own self-made boards.

It is much less common for users to follow a brand on Pinterest compared to the common practice of following a board or category.

Now consider how consumers interact with brands on Instagram. 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business account and a reported 75% of users engaged with a company after seeing a post.

Once an Instagram user follows your brand’s Instagram account you have the opportunity to bring them into your online community and market to them again and again via their newsfeed and stories.

Pinterest vs Instagram: Which one is better for ecommerce?

The truth is both platforms have begun to successfully evolve into ecommerce-friendly platforms with the business owner in mind.

However, if you’re an ecommerce brand looking to maximize your efforts, Instagram is the ideal social platform to market your business.

To recap some of Instagram’s most impressive stats:

1. Instagram has 1 billion active users
2. 72% of users have bought a product they saw on Instagram
3. 80% of users follow at least one business

There are even rumors that Instagram plans to release a standalone shopping app called IG Shopping with even more shoppable integrations.

As Instagram rolls out more options for e-commerce brands to sell to their followers in a way that is native and fully integrated to the app, the potential of sales from Instagram will only continue to rise.

Why Instagram Will Increase Online E-commerce Sales

Instagram has 500 million users who check Instagram every day. 

(Source)

Instagram is a great way to reach customers, especially millennials, who often make buying decisions based on what they see on the platform. With features like Stories and influencer partnerships, Instagram helps businesses show off products and interact with users.

Squarespace complements this by offering beautiful website designs and easy e-commerce tools. 

It also lets businesses tag products from their Squarespace store directly to Instagram, making it easy for users to shop. Setting this up is simple, and once done, it’s a powerful way to boost your online sales. 

Keywords

SEO and keywords help attract the right audience on Pinterest. As Pinterest grows, popular keywords can get lost among unrelated content. To stand out, use specific keywords in your board titles. Instead of terms like “art” or “fashion,” try more specific ones like “graffiti” or “vintage clothing.”

You can also use Pinterest’s autocomplete feature to find trending keywords. Experiment with different keyword combinations that fit your brand. Pinterest is great for sharing links, while Instagram focuses on visuals.

Summary

Both Instagram and Pinterest are fantastic for e-commerce, each offering unique strengths. Instagram is perfect for visual storytelling and influencer marketing. Users can tag products in their posts and Stories. 

Pinterest is a great tool for discovery, helping customers find inspiration through features like Product Pins and Pinterest Lens for personalized shopping experiences. 

Each platform brings something special to the table, depending on your business needs!