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As the world navigates yet another new phase of partial reopenings and potential lockdowns, we’re at a crossroads. It’s natural that marketers are trying to meet the next moment. But here’s what our latest research says: if your marketing message focuses only on the changes in front of us, you’re missing an important part of the picture.

During the pandemic–as people stayed inside–they went inward. They adopted new routines and rituals. They redefined their values and reprioritized their time. In other words: people did the work. They really like who they became and they want to keep that up.

Last year millions of new users in Canada turned to Pinterest to navigate their “new normal” and to stay engaged and inspired during the lockdowns. These are the five different personas that emerged during the pandemic:

The Routine Ritualist

For them, routines were a stabilizing force this last year. Their rituals helped them feel healthier and more grounded, both physically and mentally. They don’t want to jeopardize the progress they’ve made when the world reopens. With growing search terms like “Workout routine at home” and “daily routine schedules for adults”, they’re looking for tips to keep their new habits going, even as “real life” picks up again.

What can your brand do for them?

Celebrate their positive changes and help people incorporate their new rituals into busier and more public routines.

The Prioritized Parent

One of the most moving themes from our research was how deeply people re-connected with their immediate family members this past year. Prioritized Parents are keeping these relationships top of mind. With growing search terms like “movie night at home with the kids” and “kids bento box lunch ideas”, they’re looking for ways to keep their bonds strong—especially when the pace of life picks back up and kids head back to school in-person.

What can your brand do for them?

Give parents ideas to make the daily routine more fun, more convenient and put bonding at the core of the message.

The New Nomads

Many people on Pinterest reconnected with the great outdoors this past year. Some New Nomads upgraded their home garden, while others got into camping and road tripping for the first time. With a spike in Canadians creating new boards related to ‘outdoor projects’ and ‘road trip’ on Pinterest, turns out, nature really is healing.

What can your brand do for them?

Consider how you can position your products as the gateway to outdoor adventures.

The Eco Evangelist

All that time at home this past year gave many people a better understanding of their consumption habits. In fact, 80% of Canadian Pinners took on new sustainability behaviors during the pandemic, and they’re planning to prioritize sustainability moving forward, too. With growing search terms like “sustainable lifestyle” and “beginner vegan recipes”, our Eco Evangelists are looking for tips to weave sustainable practices into their everyday lives.

What can your brand do for them?

Be authentic about your values. Make sure that customers know what you stand for.

The Emerging Entrepreneur

A year of lockdowns caused people to take a beat and reevaluate their lives—work included. Emerging Entrepreneurs realized that their careers were out of alignment with their values. With an increase in search terms like “small business plan” and “entrepreneur motivation”, the Emerging Entrepreneurs are using Pinterest to plan for their small business.

What can your brand do for them?

Help people feel covered on the essentials so they can set themselves up for success in their creative pursuits.

Marketing to this moment means helping your audience safeguard the positive habits they cultivated during this past year. As you figure out what’s next for your brand, don’t just go back to your pre-COVID playbook.

Instead of focusing on the change that’s coming on the outside as marketers, let’s start supporting the changes they’ve made on the inside.

That’s how we’ll move forward: together.

Yen Conrod Tran

Yen is an award-winning marketer with over a decade of experience in the Canadian advertising industry. She joined Pinterest in 2021 as the first business marketing lead for Canada to build awareness of Pinterest’s value as an ads and shopping platform.