Pinterest's New Guide 'How To Inspire Through Uncertainty' Helps Brands Plan For The Future In Light Of COVID-19

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest recently published a new guide in How To Inspire Through Uncertainty, which is focused on helping brands plan for their future amid COVID-19.

“Pinterest is unique. It’s a platform where people consciously come to plan their future rather than scrolling through posts about the past. Because Pinterest is grounded in the future, we get an earlier indication of where consumers are headed, and can help brands better predict what’s to come for their category. Right now, every marketer in the world needs that insight. Consider this a field guide for how brands can stand apart by staying ahead of a rapidly changing curve of consumer behavior,” the platform explains.

Over the 14 page guide, Pinterest provides an overview of the four phases of marketing brands should consider in light of COVID-19 and how they can incorporate them in their planning for the future.

Below are notable highlights from the guide.

As you can see from above, Pinterest’s four phases of marketing are Triage + Information, Empathy + Relevance, Escapism + Optimism, and Recovery & Rebound. According to Pinterest, these align with current emerging consumer behaviors and search trends on the platform. In addition, these phases assume that the world will be "returning to both an injured and a changed collective psyche,” once the shelter-at-home rules loosen up.

Based on searches on the platform, most consumers fall between future optimism and information. With searches for event planning, future family, travel, outfits, and wedding dresses increasing and searches for easy pantry recipes and at-home activities leveling off recently, Pinterest users have settled into isolation, but are optimistic and planning for the future.

Due to these trends, Pinterest encourages brands to already be planning creative and media for the Recovery + Rebound, stating that, “many audience behaviors are already moving swiftly into phase three and beyond.”

However, it also mentions it’s important to keep in mind that phases aren’t mutually exclusive as some people may be moving from different phases depending on the country they are living in and where that country is at with the battle against COVID-19.

Pinterest says that the four phases can be used as a mental model as brands map out the relative investment in each phase they should be making while considering what is the most strategic for their industry and audience. For example, a brand in the restaurant industry might focus 50% on Empathy + Relevance messaging (Mom. Teacher. Breadwinner. We can help with chef) while a CPG brand focuses only 30% of their messaging on Empathy & Relevance (We’re donating X% of profits to Feeding America).

It also provides a few ways on how brands can set themselves up for success, things to consider for each phase, and examples of potential creative for each phase. For example, for Escapism + Optimism, brands can offer a vision for the future by shifting their messaging “from support in the moment to an inspirational vision for the future” while during the Recovery + Rebound phase, where things are starting to go “back to normal” brands will want to address how long-term habits have changed such as consumers continuing to use grocery delivery services instead of shopping in-store for groceries.

Lastly, Pinterest shares insight on some of the industries that will likely see permanent changes in consumer behavior. As expected, industries such as retail, health, automotive, and travel will likely be impacted the most in the long-run.

Overall, the guide provides some helpful insights that brands should consider as well as easy to understand examples of how they can incorporate those insights into their planning. While the guide is specifically for creating and sharing content on Pinterest, a lot of what was mentioned can easily be incorporated for other channels such as Instagram and Facebook.

If you’re interested in diving into the full guide, you can do so by downloading it here.

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Source: Pinterest