Creating the perfect Pinterest photo just got a little easier thanks to research that revealed the must-have elements. Surprised that there’s a science to Pinterest? There just might be—and the team at Curalate is leading the discovery mission.
Curalate has spent the past year amassing what Wired magazine described as “a database of millions of images shared on the picture-collection hub, plus information on how often those images were shared, liked or commented on.”
The team, which includes a computer vision PhD and a dedicated in-house data scientist, then combed through the database to identify characteristics of ideal Pinterest images—as well as one shining example of Pinterest imagery awesomeness.
The winner? It’s Paula Deen, y’all! Well, her Aunt Peggy’s Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad, anyway. What’s so special about this photo (aside from the fact that it does, indeed, look delicious)? According to Curalate’s research, the photo includes these elements that comprise the perfect Pinterest photo:
- No human faces
- A simple (yet not stark) background
- Multiple colors
- A predominance of orange and/or red
- Moderate amounts of light and color
- Portrait-style layout
And there you have it—a recipe (pun intended) for Pinterest success. The next time you’re planning Pinterest images, it might not be a bad idea to incorporate some (or all) of the aforementioned elements, just to see what sort of response you get. In the case of Paula’s Aunt Peggy’s salad, the image has been repined 307,000 times, liked 8,000 times and commented on 300 times, according to Curalate CEO Apu Gupta.
Of course, as with any other element of social media marketing, let your own data and analytics guide your decisions, too. Maybe your Pinterest audience is made up of a bunch of rebels who prefer landscape-style photos to their portrait counterparts. That being said, a little experimentation never hurt anyone—and you might just stumble on a piece of content that particularly resonates with your followers.
What do you think of Curalate’s findings? Were you surprised by any of the results?
Image via PaulaDeen.com
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”