Understanding Engagements and Analytics on Pinterest

Pinterest is a powerful platform that can significantly elevate your brand’s visibility and engagement. But simply posting visually appealing content isn’t enough to drive the results you're aiming for.

To truly stand out and optimize your efforts, you need to understand how your audience is interacting with your Pins. Engagement is the key metric that connects your content with user actions, whether it’s a repin, click, or save.

In fact, Pinterest saw an average engagement rate of 5.93% in 2024, up from 4.36% in 2023, indicating how many more users are engaging with Pins. Yet, many businesses and creators still struggle to unlock the full potential of this engagement. The solution? Pinterest Analytics.

In this guide, we’ll break down what engagements are on Pinterest, explore industry standards, and show you how to measure and optimize engagement using Pinterest Analytics. These insights will help you boost engagement, drive traffic, and ultimately achieve greater success on the platform.

What Are Engagements on Pinterest?

Engagements on Pinterest refer to how users interact with your Pins, and they play a crucial role in understanding the effectiveness of your content. According to Pinterest's official definition, engagements include actions such as saves, Pin clicks, outbound clicks, carousel card swipes, and secondary creative (collections) clicks.

In simple terms, engagements measure the total number of interactions users have with your Pins. These interactions indicate how well your content resonates with the audience, providing valuable insights into which Pins are most appealing. The higher the engagement, the more likely your content is driving interest and action.

What is Pinterest Analytics?

Pinterest Analytics is a data-driven tool that helps you measure the performance of your content on Pinterest. It provides valuable insights into how users interact with your Pins, which content resonates the most, and how your strategy impacts traffic and engagement.

For businesses, Pinterest Analytics is essential for making informed decisions about content, marketing efforts, and audience targeting. This analytics tool provides you with a clear picture of an important metric: Engagement rate. Let’s take a look at it.

How to Measure Engagement Rate on Pinterest?

The engagement rate is a key metric that helps measure this interaction. It is calculated using the following formula:

Engagement Rate = (Total Engagements / Total Impressions) x 100

This means the engagement rate is the total number of engagements divided by the total number of times your Pins were seen, then multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage. A higher engagement rate indicates that your Pins are resonating well with users, prompting more meaningful interactions. Tracking both engagements and engagement rate is crucial for refining your Pinterest strategy and improving overall performance.

To track your engagement rate, you’ll need access to Pinterest Analytics, which is available through a business account. Here's how you can easily measure it:

On Desktop

• Log in to Your Pinterest Business Account: Ensure you have a business account, as analytics are only available for this account type.
• Go to Your Profile: From your Pinterest profile, click on the Analytics tab at the top of the page.

• Select the Overview Section: Under the analytics tab, click on the Overview section to get a broad view of your account’s performance.
  
  
• Locate the Engagement Section: Scroll down to find the Engagement section, where you’ll see various engagement metrics.

• Calculate the Engagement Rate: Pinterest calculates this as the total number of engagements divided by total impressions, then multiplies the result by 100 to give you a percentage.

On Mobile (Android and iOS)

• Open the Pinterest app and log into your business account.

• Tap your profile picture.

• Click the three-dot menu and select Analytics to access your data.

• Once you have access to this valuable data, the next step is calculating the engagement rate using impressions and engagements data.

In addition to the built-in analytics tools, you can use Third-Party Tools like PinMaker, which provide advanced tracking and comparative analysis.

But that’s just for engagements and engagement rate. In the next section, we’ll look at the broader picture by exploring why this Pinterest Analytics is important for your business.

Why Pinterest Analytics Matters for Your Business?

You may be posting regularly, but without understanding which Pins drive the most engagement, where your audience is coming from, or how your content impacts conversions, you're missing out on opportunities for growth. Pinterest Analytics provides this clarity to make informed, data-driven decisions. Here’s why it is essential for your business:

• Data-Driven Strategy: Analytics helps you identify what content resonates with your audience, allowing you to create more of what works.
• Improved Engagement: By tracking user interactions, you can tweak your content to boost engagement rates and keep your audience interested.
• Higher Conversions: Understanding how users interact with your Pins enables you to optimize your content for increased website traffic, leads, and sales.
• Better Audience Targeting: Insights on demographics, interests, and behaviors allow you to tailor your content to attract the right users.
• Content Optimization: Discover which formats, styles, and keywords perform best so you can refine your approach for maximum impact.
• Competitor Benchmarking: Compare your performance with industry trends to stay ahead.
• Time Optimization: Analytics also help you identify when your audience is most active so that you can schedule your Pins at the most effective times. 
• Audience Sentiment: By analyzing interactions, you can gauge the overall sentiment of your audience toward your brand. 

Utilizing Pinterest Analytics can give you a competitive edge, helping you refine your content strategy, increase engagement, and drive measurable business growth.

That said, let’s break down the backbone of Pinterest analytics: the key metrics that shape your Pinterest performance.

Breaking Down Key Pinterest Analytics Metrics

To truly harness the power of Pinterest, understanding the key metrics is essential. These insights not only show how your content is performing but also help you fine-tune your strategy for maximum engagement and results. Here are the key metrics to track:

Impressions

Impressions measure the number of times your Pins are displayed to users, whether in feeds, search results, or boards. Impressions show the reach of your content, but they don’t indicate whether users engaged with it. 

• Why It Matters: Impressions help you gauge the effectiveness of your reach. If your impressions are high but engagement is low, it could indicate that while your content is getting seen, it’s not resonating with users.

• Actionable Tip: To get a sense of what your audience is searching for, look for patterns within your content to see which categories and keywords gain the most impressions. For example, if your “Healthy Meal Ideas” Pins get a lot of impressions, you might consider creating more content around nutrition and healthy eating.

Saves

Saves, or repins, occur when users add your Pin to their profile. This indicates that users find your content valuable enough to revisit or share it with others.

• Why It Matters: Saves are a strong signal that your content is engaging and resonates with users. More saves increase your visibility and can help your Pins reach a broader audience through users’ boards.
• Actionable Tip: Content that’s educational or inspirational tends to get more saves. For instance, Pins featuring “DIY Projects for the Weekend” might encourage users to save them for later when they want to try the project.

Engagements

Engagements track the total number of interactions with your Pins, including saves, clicks, comments, and reactions. This metric is an excellent indicator of how well your Pins are resonating with your audience.

• Why It Matters: A high engagement rate signals that your content is connecting with users. Engagements are a key metric for evaluating the quality of interaction with your content.
• Actionable Tip: Experiment with different Pin designs and types of content. If videos or carousels are getting more engagement, you may want to create more of those. 

Total Audience

Total audience refers to the number of unique users who have seen your Pins. This differs from impressions because it doesn’t count repeat views by the same user, providing a clearer picture of your reach.

• Why It Matters: This metric helps you understand how far your content is reaching across Pinterest. If your total audience is growing but engagement is low, it may indicate that your Pins need more engagement-boosting elements like compelling CTAs or better visuals.
• Actionable Tip: Focus on expanding your audience by targeting niche boards or participating in popular group boards. Tailoring your Pins to appeal to new audiences will help improve both reach and engagement.

Engaged Audience

Engaged audience measures how many users interacted with your content through actions like saving, clicking, reacting, or commenting.

• Why It Matters: A higher engaged audience indicates that your content is not just being viewed but is also sparking deeper interactions. This metric is a great way to see which Pins generate more active participation.
• Actionable Tip: If your engaged audience is small, try experimenting with different Pin formats or adding more interactive elements. Consider creating Pins that encourage user interaction, such as “Which color do you prefer?” polls or “Pin this for later” CTAs.

Other Metrics to Track:

Outbound Clicks

Outbound clicks measure how many times users click on the link in your Pin, leading them to your website or landing page. It’s a critical metric for understanding how well your Pins are driving traffic to your site.

• Why It Matters: This metric tells you whether your Pins are effectively driving traffic outside Pinterest. High outbound clicks suggest that users find your content compelling enough to explore further.
• Actionable Tip: Optimize your Pins with a clear CTA like “Click to learn more” or “Visit our site for exclusive offers” to increase outbound clicks. Monitor which types of Pins lead to more clicks and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Followers Driven

Followers driven measures how many new followers you gained after users interacted with your Pins.

• Why It Matters: Gaining followers after user interaction shows that your content is valuable and encourages continued engagement. More followers lead to greater brand visibility over time.
• Actionable Tip: Create content that encourages users to follow you for future updates. For example, offering exclusive deals or sharing new content series can prompt users to follow your profile for more.

Audience Analytics

Audience analytics provides demographic data such as language, gender, device type, and preferred categories of users who are engaging with your Pins. This isn’t a specific metric but gives valuable insights into your audience.

• Why It Matters: Knowing who your audience is allows you to tailor your content, posting schedule, and overall strategy to better match their preferences. This data can also help you refine your targeting efforts and maximize reach.
• Actionable Tip: If you notice that most of your audience is mobile-based, create more mobile-friendly Pins with vertical images. Additionally, if certain demographics show higher engagement, you can create more content tailored to their interests.

More Engagement Metrics to Track:

Pin Clicks

Pin clicks refer to the number of times users click on your Pin for a closer look.

• Why It Matters: Pin clicks help you measure how compelling your content is. If users are clicking through to see more, it means they are intrigued by what you have to offer.
• Actionable Tip: Use clear, actionable CTAs like “Tap to shop” or “Click to read more” to encourage more clicks. Ensure that the content within your Pin delivers on the promise of the CTA.

Carousel Card Swipes

When users interact with multi-image Pins by swiping through them, it's counted as a carousel card swipe.

• Why It Matters: Carousel swipes indicate that users are engaging with multiple images within a single Pin, which is great for showing different aspects of a product or multiple products in a single post.
• Actionable Tip: Use carousel cards to showcase product variations, step-by-step tutorials, or ideas that require more than one image. For instance, a carousel Pin showing a recipe’s ingredients and cooking steps can keep users engaged for longer.

Secondary Creative Clicks

Secondary creative clicks measure how often users click on additional elements within collection-style Pins, such as product tags or extra images.

• Why It Matters: These clicks provide insight into what additional elements of your Pins are catching users’ attention. They also highlight which parts of your Pin are driving more interaction.
• Actionable Tip: Consider using more interactive elements in your Pins, such as shopping tags, product links, or additional images. These features engage users further and help convert interest into clicks.

By tracking these key metrics, you can gain a deeper understanding of your Pinterest performance and make data-driven adjustments to boost your content strategy.

Now that you’re familiar with the metrics that define your Pinterest performance, it’s time to focus on Proven Strategies to Boost Engagement and how to make the most of these insights.

Proven Strategies to Boost Engagement on Pinterest

Here’s how to boost your engagement and make your Pins stand out.

1. Design Eye-Catching, High-Quality Pins

Pinterest is a highly visual platform, so your Pins need to be visually appealing and easy to understand at a glance. Use bright, high-resolution images, ideally 1000x1500 pixels, to ensure clarity across different devices. 

Incorporate bold, readable text overlays to communicate your message quickly. Maintain consistent branding by using a cohesive color scheme, fonts, and subtle logo placement.

2. Write Keyword-Rich Descriptions

Pinterest functions as a search engine, so optimizing your Pin descriptions with relevant keywords is essential. To increase discoverability, incorporate Pinterest SEO-friendly terms that align with user searches. 

Additionally, include a compelling call to action (CTA) to encourage clicks, such as "Read more," "Shop now," or "Get inspired." Keep descriptions concise yet informative to provide context without overwhelming users.

Use the AI Pinterest Description Generator tool to create compelling pin descriptions that drive engagement and reach.

3. Pin Consistently and Leverage Group Boards

Participate in high-quality, niche-specific group boards to expand your reach and tap into new audiences. These boards allow you to tap into an engaged audience that may not yet follow your profile, increasing the chances of your Pins being discovered and repinned.

Be consistent in contributing valuable content to group boards. Ensure your Pins are relevant to the board’s theme and engage with other members’ content to build relationships and increase your own visibility.

4. Utilize Rich Pins for More Information

Rich Pins automatically pull metadata from your website, providing users with additional details about your products, articles, or recipes. Enabling Rich Pins enhances credibility, improves engagement, and increases the chances of conversions by giving users more context before they click.

Make sure your Rich Pins are properly set up for product, recipe, or article categories. They add context directly to your Pin and increase your chances of conversion by providing users with up-to-date information.

5. Engage With Your Audience

Respond to comments on your Pins, engage with users who save your content, and actively follow relevant accounts in your niche. The more you interact, the more visibility and engagement your content will generate.

6. Pin at the Right Time

Like any social platform, timing matters on Pinterest. Posting when your audience is active improves the chances of your Pins being seen and engaged with. The best times to post are evenings and weekends, when users are more likely to browse and save content.

Use tools like PinMaker’s Analytics to analyze when your audience is online. This helps you automate and schedule your Pins for peak engagement times, ensuring your content reaches users when they’re most likely to interact.

7. Use Pinterest SEO

Pinterest functions as a visual search engine, meaning SEO is crucial for making your Pins discoverable. Here’s how to improve your Pinterest SEO:

• Use relevant keywords in Pin titles, descriptions, and board names. Think about what your audience is searching for. Utilize PinMaker’s AI-driven title and description generator to create compelling, SEO-driven pin content.
• Research trending topics with Pinterest Trends to create content that aligns with user interests.
• Add hashtags to categorize your Pins and increase visibility in search results.

Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your niche. These tend to have less competition and can attract more targeted traffic to your Pins.

While these strategies will give you a solid foundation, using Pinterest Analytics will help you take your efforts even further by refining your content for maximum impact.

Utilize Pinterest Analytics for Smarter Strategy Adjustments

To truly refine your Pinterest strategy, you need data. Here’s how to leverage Pinterest Analytics to make informed decisions and optimize your content for better results.

1. Identify High-Performing Pins and Repurpose Them

Identify Pins that generate the most impressions, saves, and clicks. Repurpose these successful designs by creating variations with updated colors, text, or formats. You can also redistribute them to new boards or refresh their descriptions with trending keywords.

2. Optimize Underperforming Content

If certain Pins aren’t gaining traction, analyze potential reasons. Test different design styles, revise captions to be more engaging, and experiment with new posting times. Sometimes, even small tweaks like adjusting image contrast or adding a clearer call to action can significantly boost performance.

3. Track Seasonal Trends and Align Content Accordingly

Pinterest users plan ahead and often search for seasonal content several weeks or even months before the event or season begins. Use PinMaker, Pinterest Trends, and analytics to identify upcoming seasonal shifts and create relevant Pins before they peak in popularity. This proactive approach ensures your content reaches users at the right time.

4. Understand Audience Behavior for Better Targeting

Explore demographic insights to see where your audience is coming from, what devices they use, and when they’re most active. Tailor your content and posting schedule to match their behaviors, ensuring maximum engagement.

5. Monitor Click-Through Rates and Refine Your Strategy

Engagement is valuable, but clicks drive traffic to your website. Track outbound clicks to see which Pins successfully convert views into website visits. If a Pin has high impressions but low clicks, refine the description and call to action to encourage users to take the next step.

By continuously analyzing and adjusting your strategy based on data, you’ll improve your Pinterest performance and create a cycle of sustained growth.

Now, let’s explore how PinMaker can help streamline this process and take your Pinterest marketing to the next level.

Maximize Your Pinterest Success With PinMaker

Managing a winning Pinterest strategy takes time, effort, and precision, but PinMaker simplifies the process by helping you easily create, optimize, and schedule high-performing Pins.

• AI-Powered SEO Optimization: Instantly generate keyword-rich titles and descriptions optimized to rank higher in Pinterest search results.
• Customizable Pin Templates: Design eye-catching, high-converting Pins in minutes, even without graphic design experience.
• Smart Hashtag Suggestions: Get AI-driven hashtag recommendations to boost discoverability and reach the right audience.
• Advanced Scheduling Features: Automate and schedule your Pins for consistent visibility, ensuring you stay active without the manual effort.
• Data-Driven Performance Insights: Track engagement, analyze trends, and refine your content strategy based on real-time analytics.

Supercharge your Pinterest success, optimize your content, and maximize your impact with PinMaker today!

FAQs

1. What is Pinterest Analytics, and why is it important?
A: Pinterest Analytics is a built-in tool that provides insights into your Pins' performance, helping you track engagement, reach, and traffic. It allows businesses to refine their strategy, optimize content, and improve conversions based on data-driven insights.

2. How do I access Pinterest Analytics?
A: To access Pinterest Analytics, you need a Pinterest Business Account. Simply log in, click on the Analytics tab in the top menu (on desktop), or go to your profile and tap Analytics (on mobile).

3. What are the key engagement metrics on Pinterest?
A: Engagement metrics include:

• Impressions: The number of times your Pin appears on users' screens.
• Saves: How many users save your Pin to their boards.
• Clicks: The number of interactions leading to close-ups or website visits.
• Comments & Reactions: Direct feedback from users engaging with your content.

4. How can I improve my engagement rate on Pinterest?
A: Boost engagement by:

• Creating high-quality, visually appealing Pins with bold text overlays.
• Use keyword-rich descriptions for SEO optimization.
• Pinning consistently and leveraging group boards.
• Posting content that aligns with seasonal trends and audience interests.

5. What is a good engagement rate on Pinterest?
A: Engagement rates vary by industry, but a 1-2% engagement rate is considered solid. High-performing Pins can exceed this, especially if they are optimized for search and user interaction.

6. How often should I check Pinterest Analytics?
A: Regular monitoring is key. Check your analytics weekly to track trends, adjust strategies, and refine your content plan for better performance.

7. How does PinMaker help with Pinterest Analytics and Engagement?
A: PinMaker simplifies Pinterest marketing by:

• Generating AI-powered, SEO-optimized Pin titles and descriptions.
• Providing customizable Pin templates for visually striking designs.
• Offering smart hashtag suggestions to increase visibility.
• Automate scheduling to maintain consistent engagement.
• Delivering performance insights to refine your strategy and maximize results.