The Pinterest API gave Visit California an easy way to provide personalized content. A fun, engaging travel quiz equipped potential travelers with customized Pins and boards.
The classic California getaway is iconic: outdoor adventures, sunbathing on beaches and backroads discoveries all just a short trip away from the state’s major cities.
Before the pandemic, these kinds of free-wheeling vacations were a top choice for travelers all year round. So Visit California, the state’s destination marketing organization, knew they had a lot to work with for their big 2021 campaign.
The team wanted to reach people looking for travel and road trip inspiration, and also highlight less-traveled regions of the state. But instead of focusing on clicks or impressions, they wanted to create a deeper level of engagement with personalized content. And given Pinterest’s focus on custom recommendations, it seemed like the perfect place to pull this off.
Pinterest presented two overlapping opportunities: a strong audience of travelers looking for tips, and the ability to give every single potential traveler a personalized list of recommendations.
Visit California used the Pinterest API to build a simple, engaging quiz. People saw a Pin offering custom California road trip tips, then took a fun multi-choice quiz to help design their dream road trip. Once they finished the quiz, they saw a custom board with Pins that linked to itinerary ideas on the Visit California site.
The team used recent insights about today’s travelers and Pinterest Travel Personas to help create the quiz and map out trips. This helped them narrow in on the best way to reach in-market travelers and drive meaningful results.
increase in global travel searches on Pinterest year over year1
increase year over year for searches related to national parks1
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The API connection and targeting allowed us to go a little bit beyond what a consumer typically sees on Pinterest and create a personalized experience so they could dive in deeper, then share their finds.”
Lynn Carpenter
VP Marketing, Visit California
Results and next steps
Since personalization is so important to travel marketing, Visit California’s customized quiz campaign is creating lasting value. After just a few months, the campaign saw significant levels of engagement and time spent with content. The team plans to develop more personalized, interactive campaigns and is already thinking about their next wave of Pinterest content.
Tips for your next campaign
Try these Pinterest best practices to get more out of your ads.
1.
Develop assets with a specific content goal or theme in mind. For example, create seasonal Pins that help people find the Sierra ski resort with the best small-town vibe.
2.
Prominently place strong and inclusive calls to action within your creative. Visit California used a bright red button on their main campaign Pin.
3.
Think long-term. The boards and Pins people received from this campaign will live on in their accounts, where they can be inspired year-round.