YouTube and Pinterest tend to end up last on the list when a business thinks about social media, and Google’s Swedish search suggestions in October 2026 contained only a handful of variants for either. So we cover both in one guide. But few searches does not mean a small audience. YouTube is the platform most people in Sweden have used in the past year, and Pinterest reaches a small but unusually well-defined group. The question is whether your customers are there, and whether you can keep doing what the platform rewards.
The two work differently on almost every point. YouTube is built on video that people search for or get recommended, Pinterest on images that people save for later. What they have in common is search: on both, people look things up in their own words, and according to Pinterest a Pin can get engagement months or years after it was published.
The guide describes Sweden and is based on Svenskarna och internet 2026 from the Swedish Internet Foundation (Internetstiftelsen), the Media Barometer (Mediebarometern) from Nordicom at the University of Gothenburg, and the platforms’ own help pages. Everything reflects the situation on 24 October 2026, and sources are at the end.
YouTube in Sweden in 2026: the widest reach, but used differently
According to Svenskarna och internet 2026, 77 percent of internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over have used YouTube in the past year. That is more than any other platform. 50 percent use YouTube every week and 32 percent every day. On a daily basis Instagram and Facebook are larger, at 46 and 45 percent. The answers were collected in January 2026.
| Group | Used YouTube in the past year | Uses it every day |
|---|---|---|
| All internet users aged 8 and over | 77% | 32% |
| Men | 83% | 44% |
| Women | 72% | 18% |
| Adults aged 20 and over | 76% | 28% |
| Children and young people aged 8–19 | 84% | 48% |
| Born in the 1990s | 93% | 41% |
| Born in the 1980s | 83% | 34% |
| Born in the 1970s | 80% | 27% |
| Born in the 1960s | 73% | 22% |
| Born in the 1950s | 62% | 15% |
Source: Swedish Internet Foundation, Svenskarna och internet 2026, charts 3.2, 3.4a–b, 3.4e and 3.7a. Base: internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over.
Three things to take away:
- Almost everyone has been there, fewer are there every day. Our reading is that YouTube is somewhere people go when they want to watch something, rather than a feed they check several times a day.
- More men than women. More than twice as many men as women use YouTube daily, 44 against 18 percent. If most of your customers are men, YouTube may be a stronger channel than Instagram.
- Broad across ages, but slowly declining. Four in five people born in the 1970s have used YouTube in the past year. Even so, the Swedish Internet Foundation says use has fallen slowly since 2021, from 81 to 77 percent over the year and from 35 to 32 percent daily.
Why the Media Barometer says 52 percent
You may also come across the figure 52 percent. It comes from the Media Barometer 2025, which Nordicom at the University of Gothenburg published on 5 May 2026. According to it, 52 percent of Swedes aged 9 to 85 watched YouTube on an average day in 2025, five percentage points more than the year before. Nordicom writes that YouTube thereby overtook traditional TV in daily reach, and that the increase was fastest in the older age groups.
Neither figure is wrong. They measure different things:
| Svenskarna och internet 2026 | Media Barometer 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is included | Internet users aged 8 and over | The population aged 9–85, about 6,000 randomly selected people |
| What is measured | How often you use the platform | The share who watched on an average day |
| Refers to | January 2026, when answers were collected | The year 2025 |
| YouTube daily | 32% | 52% |
Our assessment is that much of the gap comes down to the question. Someone who watches four days a week is not a daily user in Svenskarna och internet, but counts on more than half of the days in the Media Barometer. Why one figure rose while the other stood still, we do not know. So do not compare sources directly. All platforms from the same source are in Social media in Sweden 2026: which should your business choose?
When a YouTube channel pays off for a business
A channel pays off when you can answer questions customers already ask, and keep doing it for months. In our view, a set of videos that answer what customers wonder about before they get in touch goes a long way.
What speaks for YouTube:
- Your service needs explaining or showing. How a treatment works, what happens during a bathroom renovation, how to choose the right bike.
- Customers search for answers. YouTube search considers, among other things, how well the title, description and the video itself match the query. A video named after the customer’s question has something to work with.
- You can build a library. YouTube says developing a critical mass of content is key to a loyal audience, because new viewers can then keep exploring your channel.
- Your customers are mostly men, or spread across ages. That is where YouTube is stronger than Instagram.
What speaks against it:
- You need customers this week. A channel takes time to build.
- You cannot or will not make video. There is no YouTube without video.
- Customers decide fast. Someone with a burst pipe searches Google, not YouTube.
Our advice to most local businesses is to start small: post the same vertical clips you make for Reels as Shorts, then add one longer video at a time on the most common questions.
How to set up a channel for the business
Create the channel under the business name, not your own. You do this with a Brand Account, according to YouTube Help:
- Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site.
- Go to your channel list.
- Select Create a new channel. If the business already has a Brand Account, pick it from the list.
- Choose a profile picture, name and handle, ideally the same name as on your Google profile and website.
- Click Create channel.
Then give others access instead of sharing the password: in YouTube Studio under Settings, Permissions and Invite. Let the business be the Owner and give employees or an agency the Manager or Editor role. If the channel has a Brand Account, YouTube may require you to migrate to channel permissions first.
Finally, link the channel from your Google Business Profile. Under Edit profile, Contact and Social profiles you can add one link per platform, and both YouTube and Pinterest are on the list. The rest of the profile is covered in How to optimise your Google Business Profile.
What YouTube recommends: appeal, engagement and satisfaction
YouTube Help divides how a video performs in recommendations into three parts:
- Appeal: do people choose to watch, or do they ignore the video or click Not interested?
- Engagement: do they stick around once they start? The first seconds decide, for both Shorts and longer videos.
- Satisfaction: did they feel it was worth their time? YouTube asks viewers in surveys to understand satisfaction, not just watch time.
In search, YouTube weighs relevance, engagement and quality. Relevance is judged by how well the title, tags, description and content match the query, and quality by signals that the channel knows its subject. Results are personalised by the viewer’s history if it is turned on, and YouTube does not accept payment for better placement in organic search results.
Four things from YouTube’s own guidance worth knowing:
- There is no ideal length. Make the video as long as the answer needs, and check in your analytics where viewers stop watching.
- One weak video does not penalise the channel. What matters is how viewers respond to each video, but if the same viewer repeatedly stops watching, long-term channel performance can be affected.
- Tags mainly help with misspellings. Put the effort into the title and description.
- Subscribers are not your audience. YouTube recommends the Unique viewers metric to see how many people actually watch.
How the other platforms’ feeds work, and why bought followers do harm, is covered in How the algorithms work in 2026.
Shorts: up to three minutes, the same clip as Reels
A Short can be up to three minutes long, if the video is square or vertical and was uploaded on or after 15 October 2024. The formats are connected: according to YouTube, a viewer who often watches your longer videos may see your Shorts recommended, and experimenting with formats does not confuse the system.
For a business already making Reels, this means the same vertical clip can become a Short. Instagram wrote in January 2025 that reels up to three minutes can be shown to people who do not follow the account, so the length works on both. Two things to keep in mind:
- Upload the original file. Instagram makes watermarked reels less visible, so do not download a clip from one app to post it in another.
- Be careful with music. A Short longer than one minute with an active copyright claim of any type is blocked globally, according to YouTube. Your own sound, a voice-over or music you have the rights to are safer choices.
How to film, edit and adapt a video for several channels is covered in Reels for business.
Title and thumbnail: test them in YouTube Studio
The title and thumbnail decide whether anyone clicks. YouTube’s advice is to look at your own video as a new viewer would: would you click?
Custom thumbnail. You can upload your own thumbnail if your account is verified. Ordinary videos should be 16:9 and Shorts 9:16, and Shorts thumbnails can currently only be added in YouTube Studio on a computer. All the platforms’ dimensions are in Image sizes for social media 2026.
A/B test. In YouTube Studio you can test up to three titles, thumbnails or combinations on the same video:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio on a computer. Advanced features must be enabled.
- Click CREATE and Upload videos for a new video, or Content in the left menu for an existing one.
- Click A/B Testing in the Title box or under Thumbnail.
- Select Title only, Thumbnail only or Title and thumbnail, add the variants and click Done.
The winner is decided on watch time, not click-through rate, and is then shown to all viewers. A test takes up to two weeks and is not available for Shorts. Changing the title or thumbnail during the test stops it.
For a local business, it is a way to find out which words customers respond to, for example “How much does a new roof cost?” against “Roof replacement: price and timeline”.
Pinterest in Sweden in 2026: small but well targeted
18 percent of internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over have used Pinterest in the past year, 5 percent use it weekly and 2 percent daily, according to Svenskarna och internet 2026. Counted across everyone, it is a small platform. But the audience is unusually clear.
| Group | Used Pinterest in the past year | Uses it every day |
|---|---|---|
| All internet users aged 8 and over | 18% | 2% |
| Women | 29% | 3% |
| Men | 6% | 1% |
| Adults aged 20 and over | 17% | 1% |
| Children and young people aged 8–19 | 20% | 4% |
Source: Swedish Internet Foundation, Svenskarna och internet 2026, charts 3.2, 3.4e and 3.7a. Base: internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over.
Use is highest among people born in the 2000s, 31 percent, and in the 1990s, 26 percent. Among those born in the 1950s to the 1980s it is 13–17 percent. According to the Swedish Internet Foundation, the gender gap is especially large among people born in the 1990s and 2000s, and Pinterest is in women’s top ten platforms but not men’s.
The foundation describes Pinterest as a place to create digital boards of images. Our reading is that people go there to collect ideas, not to pass the time. The share has been 18 percent since 2024, down from 22 percent in 2021. Globally Pinterest is growing, with 640 million monthly active users in its quarterly report of 4 August 2026, 11 percent more than a year earlier. That is Pinterest’s own figure, and it says nothing about Sweden.
What Pinterest spreads: saves, keywords and vertical images
Saves. According to Pinterest, saves are the strongest metric of how people engage with a Pin, and the more your ideas are saved and your account is followed, the more your content shows up. Make Pins worth saving: a before and after, a colour combination, a setup people can copy.
Keywords. Pinterest advises including relevant keywords in Pin titles and descriptions and in board titles and descriptions. Write the way the customer searches: “small bathroom with terrazzo tiles” says more than “Project 14”. The image, text and keywords should also match the page the Pin links to.
Vertical images. In its specs for image ads, Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1,000 × 1,500 pixels, and in our view the same vertical format suits ordinary Pins. Video can be square or vertical, at 2:3, 4:5 or 9:16. Titles can be up to 100 characters, but depending on the device only the first 40 may show in the feed.
Your own and new. Pinterest advises publishing your own Pins instead of saving other people’s, and aiming for original content weekly. Repeatedly saving the same Pins or uploading content that already exists can get you flagged as spam and temporarily blocked from creating Pins.
Real images. During 2025 Pinterest began labelling image Pins it detects may have been generated or modified with generative AI. Since October 2025 users can choose to see less AI content in categories such as architecture, art, beauty, fashion, health, home décor and sport, and food and drink was added in December 2025.
The link. Make sure the link goes to a page clearly related to the Pin, and that the page loads in under four seconds, as Pinterest recommends.
Patience. According to Pinterest there is no set engagement window. A Pin can get engagement hours, days, months or even years after it was published, and good Pins can resurface season after season. So post seasonal Pins well ahead.
Business account and claimed website
A Pinterest business account is free and gives you analytics for your Pins and the option to run ads. According to Pinterest’s help centre:
- New account: go to pinterest.com, click Sign up and choose Create a business account. Then follow the steps and describe your business.
- Converting a personal account: go to Settings and Account management, and click Convert account next to Convert to a business account. The account must be public.
Then claim your website under Settings, Link to Pinterest and Claim next to Websites, with an HTML tag, an HTML file or a DNS TXT record. Your profile picture then appears on Pins saved from your site, and you can see how often your content is shared. You need to own the domain.
Which businesses Pinterest suits
Pinterest suits businesses whose customers collect ideas before they buy and whose results can be shown in a picture. The table is our assessment, not a measurement:
| Industry | Pins customers may want to save |
|---|---|
| Interiors, furniture and upholstery | Before and after, fabric and colour combinations |
| Kitchens, bathrooms and renovation | Finished rooms, material choices, clever small-space solutions |
| Weddings and parties | Bridal bouquets, table settings, cakes |
| Hair, nails and beauty | Hairstyles, hair colours, nail designs |
| Bakeries, cafés and catering | Pastries, the seasonal menu, recipes |
| Gardens and outdoor spaces | Plantings, stone paths, patios |
| Fashion, second-hand and crafts | How to style a garment, new collections |
Several of these are among the categories where Pinterest lets users opt out of AI images, such as beauty, fashion, home décor and food and drink. There, in our view, your own photos may be an advantage.
Pinterest is a poorer fit for emergency services such as plumbers and locksmiths, for B2B, and for services whose results do not show in a picture, such as accounting. You reach those customers better on Google, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Advertising on YouTube or Pinterest?
Start organically, with something you can show, and pay for reach once the content holds up.
- YouTube: the channel Owner can link the channel to a Google Ads account, according to YouTube Help. How the ads work for a local business is on our page about YouTube advertising, in Swedish.
- Pinterest: you need a business account, and Sweden is on the list of countries where advertisers can set up ad accounts directly with Pinterest. More on our page about Pinterest advertising, in Swedish.
Two Swedish rules that apply on both platforms
- Label what sells. According to Konsumentverket, the Swedish Consumer Agency, the starting point is that all posts a business publishes about its products to promote sales are covered by the requirement to identify advertising. Advertising posts on social media should be clearly labelled with the Swedish word “reklam” (advertising), and it must be clear at once that it is marketing. That also applies to a video or Pin with an offer on your own account.
- Ask the people in the picture. Under the Swedish Act on names and images in advertising (lag 1978:800 om namn och bild i reklam), a business may not use someone’s name or image in marketing without their consent. Get a yes, ideally in writing, from customers and staff who appear in your videos and Pins.
Do it yourself or get help
A channel and a business account can be set up in an afternoon. What takes time is filling them week after week. Choose a pace you can keep for a year, and spend your time on one platform that works rather than four that stand still. How to plan the material is covered in Content plan for social media, and how social media fits with the rest of your visibility in Social media for local businesses.
With us, Instagram and Facebook are part of the Plus package, and Reels, TikTok and video are part of Premium. If we make video for you, we can publish it on YouTube too, for example as Shorts. Pinterest is not included in the packages. If you want to advertise on YouTube or Pinterest, we build the campaign and give you a fixed price for our work before we start. How we work is described on our page about social media help, and what the packages include on our pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Is a YouTube channel worth it for a business?
Often, if you can answer questions your customers search for and can make video regularly. YouTube has the most users in Sweden, 77 percent of internet users aged 8 and over in the past year, but 32 percent use it daily. A channel takes time to build, and YouTube itself says that building a critical mass of content is key to a loyal audience. As of 24 October 2026.
How do I start a YouTube channel for my business?
Create the channel under the business name with a Brand Account. Sign in to YouTube, go to your channel list, select Create a new channel, choose a profile picture, name and handle, and click Create channel. Then give employees or an agency access in YouTube Studio under Settings and Permissions instead of sharing the password.
How long can YouTube Shorts be?
Up to three minutes, if the video is square or vertical and was uploaded on or after 15 October 2024. A Short longer than one minute with an active copyright claim is blocked globally, so use your own audio or music you have the rights to. As of 24 October 2026.
Does a Pinterest business account cost anything?
No. According to Pinterest the business account is free, and it gives you analytics for your Pins and the option to run ads. You can create a new business account or convert a personal one under Settings and Account management. What costs money is ads, if you choose to run them.
What image size should a Pin be?
Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1,000 × 1,500 pixels, in its specs for image ads, and the same vertical format is a good starting point for ordinary Pins. Video can be square or vertical. As of 24 October 2026.
Which businesses is Pinterest good for?
In our view, businesses whose customers collect ideas before buying and whose results show in a picture: interiors, kitchens and bathrooms, weddings, flowers, baking, gardens, fashion and beauty. In Sweden Pinterest is used mainly by women, 29 percent against 6 percent of men in the past year. Emergency services are a poor fit.
Sources
All web pages read on 24 October 2026 unless another date is given. Menus, dimensions and features reflect the situation in October 2026 and may change. The help pages show no publication date.
- Swedish Internet Foundation (Internetstiftelsen)
- Svenskarna och internet 2026, chapter on social media (in Swedish), published 28 September 2026, data collected in January 2026
- Nordicom, University of Gothenburg
- Rekordnivåer för Youtube under 2025 (in Swedish), on the Media Barometer 2025, 5 May 2026
- YouTube Help
- How YouTube recommendations work
- Understand your content performance for YouTube’s recommendation system
- Good to know about recommendations
- How YouTube search works
- Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts
- A/B test titles & thumbnails
- Add custom thumbnails
- Create a YouTube channel
- Add or remove access to your YouTube channel with channel permissions
- Pinterest
- Pin performance and distribution, Business help centre
- A beginner’s guide to Pinterest content, Pinterest Business, 21 October 2022
- Review ad specs, Business help centre
- Get a business account and Claim your website, Business help centre
- Ads overview, Business help centre
- Pinterest rolls out new tools to give users more control over GenAI content, Pinterest Newsroom, 16 October 2025, updated 12 December 2025
- Second quarter 2026 results, press release filed with the SEC, 4 August 2026
- Instagram
- Instagram Ranking Explained, Adam Mosseri, 31 May 2023
- Finding success on reels in 2025, Instagram Creators, 21 January 2025
- Google
- Manage social media links, Google Business Profile Help
- Swedish authorities and law (in Swedish)
- Konsumentverket, hidden marketing on social media, rules for businesses, reviewed 4 September 2026
- Act (1978:800) on names and images in advertising, section 1
- Our own research
- Google’s Swedish search suggestions for “youtube för företag” and “pinterest för företag”, retrieved 15 October 2026