Multicolored images will more likely grab Pinterest users’ attention than those featuring a single hue, according to a report that social marketing analytics vendor Curalate plans to release next week.
The report found that images with multiple colors receive 3.25 times more “repins” per image than images with a single dominant color. The vendor examined 30 different visual characteristics, including colors, on more than 500,000 images on Pinterest to determine what traits lead users to “pin,” repin, and Like items on the social network.
Pinterest allows consumers to pin and share favorite products and images from around the web. Users can also repin images that other users have pinned, and endorse others’ pins by clicking a Like button. Users add their pins to boards, which are organizational tools used to group pins together around a particular theme—for example “Wedding planning.”
The report found that vertical images with an aspect ratio of between 2:3 and 4:5 receive 60% more repins than do very tall images. The report also found that images lacking a face receive 23% more repins than those with a person’s mug.
Retailers and brands can benefit from increased exposure on the platform by digging into analytics to see which images lead Pinterest users to engage, says Apu Gupta, CEO and co-founder of Curalate, which sells Pinterest analytical services. Retailers can also use Pinterest Web Analytics, a series of free tools Pinterest offers to web site owners to see how their content is being consumed on the social network.
“The rise of today’s visual social networks is forcing brands to learn to market without words,” says Gupta.