Pinterest Trends: How to Use the Tool to Spot What People Search

If you plan content or products around the seasons, it's one of the most useful things Pinterest gives you. People plan on Pinterest early, so you can see when interest in a topic starts building, not just when it peaks.

Here's how to get in, what each section does, and the one thing about the graph that trips people up. All of it comes from Pinterest's business help centre.

What you need before you start

• A Pinterest business account. If you've only got a personal one, you can convert it.
• A browser. Pinterest says you'll need your desktop or mobile browser to use Trends.
• A region in mind, because almost everything on the page reflects the region you pick.

Opening Pinterest Trends

1. Log in to your Pinterest business account in a browser.
2. Click the hamburger icon at the top left of the page.
3. Under Analyze performance, select Pinterest Trends.
4. Click Region at the top right and choose the country or region you want data for.

The sections, and what each one tells you

Section	What it shows
Trends in the spotlight	What's trending based on Pin saves, filtered by interest
Shopping trends	Trending product categories, with history, demographics and related searches
Search trends	Popular keywords with weekly, monthly and yearly change, and whether a trend is seasonal
Moments	Seasonal and cultural events, showing how interest builds, peaks and cools
Your audience	Top trends among your engaged users and followers over the past 90 days
Editors' Picks	Trends chosen by Pinterest's editors and analysts

Wherever you see a crystal-ball icon, Pinterest has trend predictions available for that item as well.

How to look up and compare keywords

1. Type a keyword into the search bar at the top of the page.
2. Choose a window of time under Date range at the top of the graph.
3. Add more keywords to compare them. You can enter up to four at once.
4. Remove a keyword with the x next to it, or add one from Related trends.

Under the graph you'll see Demographics, with the age and gender split for each keyword, and Popular Pins at the bottom, which shows the top Pins for those searches.

Shopping trends in more detail

If you sell products, open Shopping trends from the tag-star icon on the left. You can filter by Top vertical, Age, Gender and Ranked by, then pick a product category. Pinterest shows you:

• The performance history of that category.
• Predictions for the category, where they're available.
• Your own top products in that category, where available.
• Demographics of the people who engaged with it.
• Related products, similar categories and related searches.

Related searches are the gold here. They tell you the words shoppers use, which you can work into your Pin titles and descriptions.

Reading the graph without fooling yourself

This is the catch. The graph doesn't show search counts. Pinterest normalises the data by looking at each trend's share of all searches in that time frame, then indexes every line so its own highest point is 100 and its lowest is 0.

So if you compare two keywords and both lines hit 100, that doesn't mean they're equally popular. It means each one hit its own peak. Use the graph to see timing and shape: when interest starts climbing, when it peaks and how fast it drops. Don't use it to say one term gets more searches than another.

Moments: timing your content to the calendar

Moments cover things like holidays and key shopping periods. Each one has phases, and each phase has a detail page with guidance for that point in time. Pinterest's example is Father's Day: while it's in the approaching phase, you'll see recommendations specific to that phase.

For a small business, this is the practical bit. If you can see that people start planning a holiday weeks before it arrives, that's when your Pins need to be live, not the week of. You'll find Moments under Search trends on the left of the screen.

Trends specific to your audience

Business accounts can also see the top trends among their own engaged users and followers over the past 90 days. It's updated daily and reflects your worldwide audience, even if you've picked a region. If it doesn't show up, Pinterest says your audience isn't big enough yet, so keep posting and check back.

How I'd use it

Pick three or four topics your business could cover, compare them in the graph, and note the month each one starts rising. Then plan your Pins to go live just before that. If you're still deciding whether the platform deserves the effort, I've looked at whether Pinterest is still worth it for a small business.

Once your Pins are out, the other half of the picture is your own performance. Pinterest Analytics, in the same menu, shows your impressions, saves and clicks, so you can check whether the timing worked. If you blog, my guide to using Pinterest for blogging shows how to turn trend-led Pins into readers.

My advice

Use Trends for timing, not bragging rights. The index hides the real numbers, so don't build a plan on which line looks taller. Watch when things start rising in your region, publish ahead of that, and let your audience trends tell you what your own followers care about this quarter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pinterest Trends?

It's a tool for business accounts that shows a historic view, up to the last two years, of top search, save and shopping trends across regions and countries.

How do I find Pinterest Trends?

Log in to a business account in a browser, click the hamburger icon at the top left, and under Analyze performance select Pinterest Trends.

Can I use Pinterest Trends in the app?

No. Pinterest says you'll need to use your desktop browser or mobile browser to access Pinterest Trends.

How many keywords can I compare in Pinterest Trends?

You can enter up to four keywords at a time to compare their popularity on one graph.

Does the Pinterest Trends graph show search volume?

No. Each line is indexed so its highest point is 100 and its lowest is 0, so it shows timing and shape rather than raw search numbers.