The Point: Our trend predictions came true in 2021. But Pinterest isn’t just ahead of trends. It’s also where trends grow the fastest—and stick the longest. Compared to anywhere else on the internet.
of the trends Pinterest predicted for 2021 continued to climb throughout the year1
Athflow. Skinimalism. Vibey lights. All trends that we said would go big in 2021.
And go big they did. Once again, our insights proved predictive. 80% of the trends in our annual Pinterest Predicts report continued to climb throughout the year.1
We call Pinterest Predicts a not-yet-trending report, because it’s all the topics you’re about to see take off—rather than a recap of the trends that spiked the year before. But prediction is only part of the story. To learn more, we partnered with Black Swan Data, a global leader in next generation data insights and predictive analytics for the world of consumer research. They recently completed a study that compared how trends played out on Pinterest compared to other platforms.
Turns out, Pinterest isn’t just a place to see new trends first. It’s also where trends grow faster and last longer—than anywhere else on the internet.2 And they span across multiple categories, too.
Yes… you read that right. Here are three key insights that show the power of Pinterest trends.
Trends on Pinterest take off faster
Black Swan Data looked at how trends grow over time on Pinterest, compared to their database that tracks the rest of the internet. Pinterest trends grew much faster than trends spotted elsewhere on the internet. In fact, Pinterest trends increased about 56% in their first six months—while trends spotted elsewhere only grew about 38% in that same time.2
For example, here’s our growth data for one of the food trends in “Bland is Banned,” a theme we predicted for 2021. We spotted the jalapeño pepper jelly trend last year—and you can see just how quickly it grew in its first six months.1
Indexed searches for Jalapeño pepper jelly recipes grew 30x over six months once the trend picked up momentum1
Dawn dives in
Dawn took advantage of the rising food trend Bland is banned and launched a trend package based on the spiced-up recipe spike. The result? 24% more efficient CPMs than Pinterest’s benchmark for household goods ads.3
Trends on Pinterest live longer
Black Swan’s database shows that most trends on the internet last about six months—and then fade out.2 But not on Pinterest. Here, trends sustain monthly growth more than 20% longer than trends on the rest of the Internet.2 In other words, they’re not just a flash in the pan. Which means brands and creators who feature these trends benefit from content with a longer lifespan.
For example, take a look at the chart for Forest resort, one of the trends from our Hypothetical sabbatical theme that sustained growth for 13 months.1 It didn’t just spike in December 2020 and die down—it sustained for many months to come.
Indexed searches for Forest resort sustained growth for 13 months1
Trends on Pinterest inspire across categories
When people engage with trends on Pinterest, they don’t just search for them once. They keep revisiting them, looking for different ways to apply these new ideas to all areas of their lives. They make trends their own.
Trends on Pinterest often evolve beyond their original use case. Take Movie night at home as an example. This term was trending elsewhere on the internet, as a way for people to amp up their date night during the pandemic. But on Pinterest, it evolved into a full on mood. People are bringing movie night aesthetics into other realms of their lives: Movie night pops in searches for home decor (Movie night sign), outfits (Movie night outfit comfy) and even recipes (Movie night snack board).
This type of trend behavior presents a unique opportunity. On most of the internet, you’re limited to activating on trends that exist within a specific category. But on Pinterest, there's no limit to how a trend might be interpreted—which means more ways to plug in.
Buick branches out:
Buick created a campaign around the Little moments of big love trend, based on research that people on Pinterest are celebrating even the smallest occasions. And although this trend was born from the parties and events category, that didn’t stop the Auto brand from taking advantage, tapping into the insight that people were hosting movie nights under the stars. The campaign performance exceeded benchmarks, with 74% higher Video Completion Rate (VCR) compared to auto benchmarks.3
We predicted 8 in 10 trends two years in a row.1
It makes sense that our trends predict the future—Pinterest is the platform where people go to plan theirs.
But Pinterest trends do so much more than look forward. They stick around—and make a real impact on people’s lives.
More eyeballs, more growth and more dimension: That’s the power of Pinterest trends.
Stay tuned for our 2022 trends
Next year’s Pinterest Predicts report drops on December 7! Sign up for the Pinterest Business newsletter to be the first to know when it’s live.
