Can Pinterest be a social media force for good global wellbeing?

United for Global Mental Health, in partnership with Pinterest, is amplifying community voices and increasing the impact of storytelling across our diverse network of partners in the Global Mental Health Action Network. The social media company is also taking an active role in removing harmful content and have directed their algorithm to promote positive and helpful wellbeing content when users search for topics such as ‘stress’ or ‘anxiety’

United for Global Mental Health has seized the opportunity to build a channel providing the helpful content that the Pinterest audience is looking for. In just a few months, impressions increased on our Pinterest channel from a total of 3,000 to 177,000 and 53 engagements to 1000 by the end of 2024.  

So how can other organisations working with vulnerable people utilise a platform that prioritises a responsible approach to mental health to reach their audience?  

We’ve been working with 100 Vision to develop our strategy and have learned that people are turning to Pinterest to understand how to look after their own wellbeing, which opens opportunities for organisations to be a supportive resource and form new connections. 

Here are some of the opportunities and risks to consider.  

Opportunities: 

  • Global reach: With 553 million active users globally, and growing steadily each year, there’s opportunity to reach a new audience on Pinterest and encourage them to visit your website for insights on mental health. Currently most ‘Pinners’ are women and around a third live in the US, followed by Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France and the UK.  
  • Pinterest trends: As well as their annual Pinterest Predicts report, Pinterest has a brilliant trends tracker that can be used to monitor what people are searching for to help refine your content strategy 
  • Evergreen content: Pinterest is primarily used as a search engine, meaning that creating evergreen content can have a much longer lifespan than other social media platforms. This can continue to drive traffic to your website long after a pin has been posted. 

Risks: 

  • Community management: As with any social media channel, you need to have the resources in place for community management, to respond to any comments with mental health concerns and create a space that encourages conversation. 
  • Aesthetic focus: Pinterest users are big on aesthetic so you will need to invest the time in creating strong visuals and a content strategy. The content on your other platforms may not be right Pinterest, but there is the opportunity to be playful with your brand or lean into user generated content. 
  • Misinformation and harmful content: Pinterest is working hard on minimizing harmful content, but there is still content that may be triggering for some people, around weight loss, for example. The wellbeing content being shared isn’t necessarily evidence-based or coming from professionals, but this creates the opportunity to provide robust, trusted resources. 

Here’s some examples of what is working on United for Global Mental Health Channels: 

  • Content that connects to the individual: We’ve found that messaging resonates the most when it’s speaking directly to a person, giving guidance on how to look after their own mental health. 
  • Bite-size mental health guidance: We share  simple and easy-to-read  wellbeing tips, using Pinterest trends for guidance on keywords, we stand out from the wellbeing content from less trusted sources.  
  • Pinterest ads: After taking advantage of a free call with a Pinterest ad expert, we were able to achieve huge reach and engagement with a small budget. A small budget can go a long way in gaining a huge reach.  Our ad campaigns in the lead up to Mental Health awareness days helped to give a big boost when users were searching for wellbeing guidance. 
Follow United for Global Mental Health on Pinterest