Pinterest Strategy for Equestrian Brands: SEO, Sponsorship and International Growth
Updated: March 2025
Pinterest is often misunderstood within equestrian marketing. While Instagram and TikTok dominate conversations about social media, Pinterest quietly delivers something different and uniquely powerful: It is not just a platform for inspiration, but a visual search engine that drives traffic, enhances SEO discoverability, and creates lasting sponsorship ROI. For equestrian brands, athletes, and events, Pinterest represents an underutilised channel where visual storytelling becomes a direct pathway to brand growth.
As of 2025, Pinterest has surpassed 550 million monthly active users worldwide, continuing to grow year-on-year. What makes this platform particularly interesting is that around 80% of its audience comes from outside the United States, meaning it has genuine global reach. Unlike the fast-moving feeds of Instagram or Facebook, where content disappears in hours, Pins remain discoverable for months or even years. A single well-designed Pin can continue driving referral traffic long after it was first published, giving equestrian businesses a long-term marketing asset instead of fleeting visibility.
Pinterest as a Traffic Engine and SEO Powerhouse
The connection between Pinterest and SEO discoverability is one of its greatest strengths. Every Pin contains links that push users directly to websites, and the referral value is measurable. Studies have shown that Pinterest generates significantly more referral traffic than Facebook and delivers higher average return on ad spend compared to other platforms. For equestrian businesses, where websites often serve as the hub for bookings, horse sales, merchandise, or sponsorship portfolios, this integration into the sales funnel is critical. A user might discover an image of a saddle design or a competition highlight on Pinterest, click through to the brand’s site, and then move from inspiration to purchase in a single journey.
This is why Pinterest should be considered less a social network and more a strategic entry point into a brand’s funnel. The journey does not stop at inspiration; it leads to awareness, research, consideration, and ultimately to action. An equestrian apparel company, for example, might showcase boards filled with “showjumping outfit ideas” or “dressage fashion trends.” Each Pin leads to product pages, rider profiles, or blog content that positions the brand as both expert and supplier. A competition organiser might publish Pins of event highlights or venue imagery linked to ticketing platforms, keeping the experience visually aspirational but with a clear commercial endpoint.
Pinterest also plays a distinctive role in sponsorship ROI. Unlike an Instagram story that vanishes in 24 hours, a Pin featuring a sponsor’s logo or branded content continues to circulate indefinitely. For athletes, that could mean sponsor exposure on training tips, behind-the-scenes lifestyle boards, or curated equestrian style collections. For events, it might involve showcasing competition highlights where sponsors are prominently featured. The lasting nature of Pins ensures that a brand partner’s logo is seen not just during a live event, but repeatedly by new audiences who discover equestrian content weeks or months later. This type of extended exposure is exactly what sponsors look for when calculating Media Impact Value. Pinterest therefore becomes a platform where equestrian athletes and organisers can demonstrate measurable sponsor visibility that compounds over time.
Regional Insights and International Growth
Regional dynamics add another layer of strategy. In North America, Pinterest has long been one of the leading platforms for lifestyle discovery, with around 95 to 100 million active users in the United States alone. The platform’s demographics lean strongly toward women, particularly in the 25–34 age group, making it especially powerful for equestrian apparel, tack, and lifestyle content. In Europe, Pinterest has been slower to dominate compared to Instagram and Facebook, but its growth continues steadily, particularly in Germany, France, and the UK. For equestrian businesses, this gap represents an opportunity. While competitors focus on saturated platforms, a strong Pinterest strategy allows a brand to stand out and capture audiences who use the platform specifically for research and inspiration.
Beyond these established regions, Pinterest is growing rapidly in Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Countries such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil are experiencing strong user adoption, which aligns with the rising equestrian markets in those regions. For brands looking to expand internationally, Pinterest’s visual search function bypasses the barriers of language and offers a universal mode of communication. A board titled “Dressage in Spain” or “Australian Stock Horse Lifestyle” becomes a way to speak directly to those communities without relying on translated copy alone. This visual storytelling is particularly relevant for equestrian sport, where the power of an image - a rider in competition, a horse at liberty, a carefully crafted piece of tack - conveys more than text could.
Future Trends: AI, Gen Z and Visual Storytelling
Another factor shaping Pinterest’s importance for equestrian brands is the platform’s integration with AI-driven advertising tools. Pinterest has invested heavily in AI features, from visual search improvements to campaign automation. Performance+ - its AI advertising product - helps brands scale campaigns while maintaining creative consistency. These innovations have contributed to Pinterest’s recent 17% year-on-year revenue growth, driven largely by advertisers looking to connect with Gen Z audiences. For equestrian brands, this matters because Gen Z now represents over half of Pinterest’s user base. Unlike older generations, Gen Z consumers use Pinterest not just for aspiration but for action; they are 1.4 times more likely to make purchase decisions on the platform than on competitors. This behaviour positions Pinterest as a growth channel for equestrian businesses wanting to capture a younger demographic of riders, fans, and customers.
Critically, Pinterest supports a positive environment. Research has shown that users describe Pinterest as a more uplifting, safe, and inspiration-focused platform compared to others. In fact, studies indicate that purchase intent is up to 94 percent higher when users interact in positive environments. For equestrian brands, this matters because it aligns with the sport’s aspirational qualities. Whether a brand is selling luxury saddlery, promoting grassroots riding schools, or showcasing international competition, Pinterest frames the content in an environment that encourages inspiration and action rather than hostility or distraction.
Conclusion: Pinterest as Strategic Discoverability for Equestrian Brands
Integrating Pinterest into equestrian marketing strategies is not about pinning images at random. It requires deliberate planning: High-quality visuals that reflect brand identity, keyword-rich titles and descriptions optimised for SEO, links that direct traffic to websites designed for conversion, and analytics that measure not only engagement but outcomes. Without this framework, Pins risk becoming decoration rather than strategy. Content creation alone is not marketing. Marketing begins when creative assets are placed within a structured funnel, measured for performance, and refined over time.
The role of Pinterest within equestrian marketing therefore extends beyond aesthetics. It is a channel that enhances discoverability, supports long-term sponsorship visibility, and provides access to international markets. It is also a space where SEO strategy and visual storytelling intersect. Google often indexes popular Pins, meaning equestrian brands gain a double benefit: Exposure within Pinterest and visibility in broader search results. For an athlete, this could mean their sponsor-branded profile Pin appears in Google Image searches. For a tack shop, it could mean their product Pin appears when someone searches for “dressage saddle UK.”
In 2025 and beyond, Pinterest is a platform equestrian brands can no longer afford to overlook. It is not simply a place to gather inspiration boards; it is a visual search engine that drives website traffic, enhances SEO discoverability, and builds sponsorship ROI. Its global growth, particularly in North America and emerging international markets, creates opportunities for equestrian businesses to tell their stories visually to new audiences. Its integration with AI tools and Gen Z purchasing behaviours makes it a future-focused investment. Most importantly, Pinterest turns equestrian content into evergreen marketing assets that perform long after posting, giving brands an edge in a crowded digital landscape.
For equestrian businesses and athletes aiming to grow in the coming years, Pinterest represents both a marketing advantage and a strategic necessity. A platform built on discovery, positivity, and visual storytelling is perfectly aligned with the equestrian industry’s blend of heritage, lifestyle, and performance. When leveraged with expertise, Pinterest does more than inspire - it delivers measurable results.
