How Steve Madden connects with Gen Z festive shoppers on Pinterest
June 10, 2026
When the festive season hits, brands know how important it is to earn a place on shoppers’ wishlists. To secure their spot, Steve Madden (@stevemadden) wanted to reach Gen Z audiences with content that showcased their on-trend, giftable styles. Gen Z is Pinterest’s fastest-growing audience, making up more than 40% of people on the platform worldwide, so the brand knew just where to reach them.1
The goal
Steve Madden set out to find success with festive gift-givers with a full-funnel strategy that met shoppers at every stage, from inspiration to adding items to their baskets. By creating content that felt like an extension of how Gen Z plans outfits, shops and gives gifts, the brand aimed to increase discovery and saves during peak shopping moments—and encourage clicks and checkouts from people ready to tick items off their list.
The strategy
First of all, Steve Madden uploaded their full catalogue to Pinterest, turning all their top styles into actionable product Pins in one go. The brand focused on editorial-style content that mirrored the types of visuals audiences are used to seeing on Pinterest—outfit and styling inspo and casual-feeling flat lays instead of highly staged product shots—to make content feel familiar, engaging and worth saving. The Steve Madden team also added detailed descriptions that included suggested occasions, outfit pairing options and brief profiles of people and scenarios that the products were ‘ideal for’. This gave shoppers gift ideas and easily translated to key themes around which audiences could create festive boards. All of the content was highly actionable, including links to shop for the featured products.
Next, the brand collaborated with Pinterest’s Editorial team to create ‘Gifts for the fashion girly’, a gift guide full of looks that inspired everything from dream gift lists to practical party outfits. By leaning into seasonal trends, Steve Madden filled the board with content that could organically meet Gen Z audiences where searches were peaking. After launching the gift guide board, the Steve Madden team kept a close eye on performance. Reviewing initial results, they identified the best-performing Pins and included them in their end-of-year paid strategy, expanding their reach and extending their momentum both during and after the festive season.
The results
Steve Madden’s Pinterest strategy paid off during a crucial shopping moment.2 Between November and December 2025, revenue driven by organic content on Pinterest jumped 44% as the brand tapped into the platform’s strength in helping people to discover and get inspired for their next purchase. Organic checkouts surged by 58% and page views driven by organic content also increased by 36%.
The combination of paid and organic content was also powerful for Steve Madden. After organic content confirmed what resonated with audiences, paid helped to scale those proven winners, extending their shelf life. Combined paid and organic page views rose by 16% and add-to-basket events increased by 60%, driving a 16% increase in overall revenue driven by Pinterest.
The ‘Gifts for the fashion girly’ board also became Steve Madden’s top-performing board, highlighting the role that curation played in their results.
Tips to try
Get more out of your Pinterest content with these best practices.
Tap into trends when creating content that resonates
Seeing what’s trending can be a helpful starting point when you plan content, making Pins feel relevant to searches that people are already making—especially during key shopping moments.
Try combining paid and organic strategies to gain audience insights and help to amplify results
Test, learn and iterate with organic content. See which Pins take off and give them a boost by including them in paid strategies, which could extend your reach and support stronger performance. Use additional insights to guide paid campaigns or inform your next batch of content.
Curate content into collections
Boards that map to real shopping needs (think gift guides or outfit planning) can make it easier for your audience to save, shop and share. Learn more about boards.