Which holiday trends in 2019 are making waves on Pinterest?

October 10, 2019

Written by Katherine K. Ellis
Cookies and Crafts for Pinterest Holiday Trends in 2019
We’ve already established that holiday campaigns are starting earlier and earlier each year, but one platform that consistently helps customers plan ahead is Pinterest. What’s trending now for upcoming holidays? We dive into the data to find out.

The top stories for holiday trends in 2019 started as early as July this year. Halloween is a favorite, with costume planning starting in June and coverage continuing to rise the closer we get to the end of October. Christmas and Thanksgiving enter the conversation earlier than you’d expect, with pumpkin pie recipes taking center stage and Hallmark movies driving the most engagement.

Top Articles for Holiday Trends in 2019
Chart ranking the top trending stories for holidays in 2019

While web coverage of holiday trends garners significant engagement much earlier than the holiday mentioned in the article, Pinterest tends to keep attention closer to the actual date, with the season’s preparations starting about a month prior to the holiday.

2018 Engagements to Holiday Trends Content on Pinterest
Chart of engagements to holiday trends content on Pinterest in 2018

If we look to last year as an example, Halloween trends on Pinterest tend to spike in September, with Pins dropping sharply after the holiday ends. Thanksgiving ramps up in September as well, but jumps in interest throughout October. Christmas is an anomaly, spanning from the end of September until after the Holiday ends. The holiday is a goldmine for Pinterest, inspiring the sharing of crafts and ideas well before the season begins.

Top Pinned Articles in 2018
Chart ranking top pinned articles for holiday trends in 2018

In 2018, the top content for holiday trends were mostly recipes. Christmas and Thanksgiving were the most pinned holidays, with ideas for cooking beating out crafts. The most pinned article was a craft though, with Popsicle Stick Christmas Crafts racking up over 250k pins. This year, the conversation is heading in a similar direction.

2019 Engagements to Holiday Trends Content on Pinterest
Chart showing engagements to Holiday Trends content on Pinterest in 2019

As coverage stands now on Pinterest, we haven’t quite hit Christmas season yet, but Pinners are in full Thanksgiving prep mode. Halloween content has been peaking for awhile, and will no doubt receive a boost in numbers as the holiday gets closer, but for now, plans for Thanksgiving dinner are front of mind for many.

Top Pinned Articles in 2019
Chart ranking top pinned holiday content in 2019 YTD

Pinners are all about the food in 2019 so far. Nine out of ten top pinned articles are recipes and Thanksgiving preparations are in full swing. The only non-recipe featured in the top ten is an appropriate Halloween “How-to” for giant DIY spiders. The rest of Pinterest has already moved on to the next Holiday.

Total Engagements per Holiday on Pinterest
Graph of total engagements per holiday for Pinterest in last four years

Per a quick overview of Pinterest data in the last four years, Christmas has the most Pins by far. In 2017, Christmas articles alone were pinned some 10 million times. Thanksgiving is mostly recipes but it’s a shorter season for pinning as we saw in the above charts, and Halloween holds steady with at least 1 million engagements each year. There hasn’t been much engagement in 2019 by comparison, but we’re just barely into the real holiday season, so rest assured, there will be crafts and food aplenty in the weeks to come.

If you’d like to monitor holiday trends over time yourself, check out NewsWhip Analytics.

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Katherine K. Ellis

Katherine is a Content Strategist for NewsWhip working at the confluence of journalism and marketing.

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