For businesses looking to sell their products and services, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the go-to social media networks. But are you missing out on a tremendous potential market by overlooking Pinterest from your campaign? The answer is YES. Let's have a look at the numbers:
- Pinterest is visited by over 431 million individuals each month, looking for ideas and inspiration for their next purchase.
- Pinterest is the fourth most popular social media platform in the United States, after YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, with 31% of Americans claiming to have used it.
- Pinterest is used monthly by one out of every two millennials in the United States.
- 86% of millennials use Pinterest to plan major and minor life events.
With these numbers in mind, failing to use Pinterest advertising is a major marketing blunder.
A Definitive Guide to Pinterest Advertising for 2022:
Pinterest in a Nutshell
Pinterest is a free visual-focused networking and shopping social media platform. It operates like a graphic search engine, guiding users (called Pinners) to ideas that fit their needs. Imagine a corkboard or a mood board but digitalized and accessible via desktop and mobile.
Source: Shutterstock/photobyphotoboy
Pinners may browse endless boards on food, recipes, fashion, celebrities, crafting, side hustles, DIYs, and more while engaging as an audience or brand. Pinners may communicate with their networks by likes and comments on their Pins (aka visuals).
While the platform's core functions are comparable to Instagram or Facebook, Pinterest offers a unique viewpoint on leveraging visual content for social media marketing and collaboration. While many companies still fail to utilize Pinterest as an advertising medium, thanks to Pinterest advertising, numerous brands and influencers are increasingly making use of the platform's marketing capabilities.
Pinterest Advertising 101
Pinterest's content is not structured in any specific sequence. It is personal rather than chronological. Your content shows up when a user searches for something to try, purchase, or do. This means visitors are actively looking for items from vendors, brands, and creators. As a result, Pinterest is an excellent platform for sharing your content, promoting your products and services, and encouraging people to try your brand.
Pinterest currently offers a high return on investment (ROI) for organic social marketers. In general, those using the platform are looking to buy an item. 84% of Pinterest users check the site before making a purchase.
Source: business.pinterest.com
Pinterest advertising capitalizes on Pinners' buying intent. Marketers can target keywords and audiences to maximize the visual marketing channel's ROI. Brands may use promoted Pins to target specific demographics based on gender, location, verticals, and keywords.
Pinterest offers easy and adaptable marketing tools:
Mobile-friendly: Organic Pins may be converted into ads in just a few steps, all from your phone.
Ads Manager: With this tool, you can easily create and modify campaigns and set up targeted delivery.
Pinterest Affiliates: With Pinterest's authorized partners, you may grow your ads and measure results.
The platform also offers targeting tools to help you put your adverts in front of your target audience:
Automated Targeting: The platform will select your audience depending on the information in your Pin.
Demographics: Use valuable data such as age, gender, location, and language to target the right market.
Interests: Connect with people based on their interests, such as cooking or crafting.
Keywords: Target specific search phrases to attract users who are ready to take action. Your ads will display in search results as well as relevant Pins.
Customer Databases: Upload your customer list to reach out to those who have already visited or interacted with your site, shop, or Pinterest content.
Pinterest Analytics analyzes which Pins work best with your target demographic and tracks the efficiency of your adverts. Pinterest's in-platform insights can be used by brands to monitor the performance of promoted Pins and improve their marketing approach.
Pinterest Advertising Formats
Pinterest ads that appear on a user's homepage resemble regular Pins (photos, videos, or collections). The adverts are tailored to reach a specific target demographic both in the home feed and in search results. You must understand the various formats of Pinterest ads before creating (and paying for) a sponsored Pin campaign.
With Pinterest ads, there is no superior format. It all comes down to your target audience and what they prefer. Try out different ad formats to see which ones get the most clicks.
Standard/Static ads
This ad style shows your items and content in a vertical format. A static ad can include a single PNG or JPEG file up to 20 MB. Pinterest recommends a 2:3 (1000 x 1500 pixels) aspect ratio to avoid photos being cropped in feeds.
Video ads
Source: business.pinterest.com
You can catch your target market's interest and tell a compelling story using Pinterest's engaging video format. The length of a Pinterest video ad can range from four seconds to fifteen minutes. The size of ads for standard width video Pins is the same as standard Pins. Pinterest's max-width video ad takes up the entire screen on mobile. This format is only available for purchase as a paid advertisement.
Carousel ads
This format is a visual merry-go-round. Carousel ads resemble organic Pins but include a collection of photos that users can swipe through. Each carousel ad can have two to five images. These ads are great for showing several angles of the same item and accessories or things that go with it. The tiny dots under the image indicate it is a carousel.
Collection ads
This format blends lifestyle photos and videos to demonstrate your products. A collections ad has one central visual (picture or video) and three secondary images. When a visitor taps on your ad, you can display up to 24 accompanying images on the ad detail page.
Source: help.pinterest.com
Pinterest can create the collections ads for you automatically, including selecting relevant content from your product inventory. Collections ads need a Pinterest business account and a website that complies with Pinterest Merchant Guidelines. You must also first configure the Catalog, Pinterest's feed ingestion technology.
Collections ads are exclusively shown to mobile users. These campaigns are ideal for e-commerce businesses, particularly fashion, home décor, and beauty categories.
Shopping ads
This format improves distribution by swiftly converting all of your product Pins into ads. Shopping ads, like collections Pins, are derived from your product catalog. Conversely, shopping Pins only show one image or video.
The genius of these ads is how simple they are to create. Pinterest automatically distributes shopping ads to the most interested audience based on your product information and vertical. Brick-and-mortar shops can also benefit from Pinterest shopping ads.
App installs
These placements are designed to increase downloads for your brand's app. App Install Pins take you to your preferred Apple Store or Google Play site. When someone clicks on it, they will be able to download the app without having to leave Pinterest.
Promoted Pins
Promoted Pins consist of a single photo or video in the home feed. The only thing that distinguishes them from organic Pins is a small "promoted by" sticker. When users click on a promoted Pin, they are routed to the URL you provide.
Here are two new Pinterest formats that you can (soon) convert into promoted Pins:
Idea Pins
Idea Pins are short video segments or a collection of up to 20 visuals designed to attract Pinners with interactive educational content. These are typically quick how-to videos or demos.
Source: business.pinterest.com
Idea Pins are commonly referred to as Story Pins because they're structured similarly to Instagram Stories. They support user tagging, subject hashtags, text and graphic overlays, interactive stickers, and optional voiceovers.
This is presently an organic-only format, but Pinterest is now testing sponsored Idea Pins in the US and plans to roll out Idea Pin adverts to everyone in late 2022.
Try on Pins
With Try on product Pins, you can integrate your content with augmented reality to create a virtual “fitting room” experience. It uses the phone's camera to show users how a product would look on them.
Try on Pins aren't accessible yet, and to get started, you'll need a Pinterest business account, a Pinterest account manager, and a product catalog. This new format is expected to be available this year.
Pinterest Advertising Benefits
When you incorporate Pinterest into your marketing strategy, you gain access to a user base that values visual content and community interaction. The following are some of the other benefits of Pinterest ads:
Enhance brand recognition
Investing a few dollars in a promoted Pin boosts your brand's visibility, allowing you to be seen by as many users as possible. If you work on generating great ad content, appealing visuals for your Pin and competitive keywords, your brand will gain even more exposure.
Increase website traffic
Pinterest gets over five billion searches per month. This means you can use promoted Pins to target this activity. Adding interesting, hyper-relevant content that meets your target audience's demands always drives traffic to your landing pages. The organic component is vital for long-term traffic sustainability.
Boost conversions
If you're having difficulty turning visitors into consumers, Pinterest users have been more engaged and likely to buy than users on other social platforms. For this reason, Pinterest ads are so effective, allowing you to boost sales.
Target niche market
Source: business.pinterest.com
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has a distinct demographic. The platform is notable for attracting a big audience, primarily adults who earn a stable livelihood and is composed mainly of women. This is especially beneficial for brands in the fashion, craft, and parenting niches, where competition is increasingly tough online.
Provides in-depth insights
Pinterest Ads Manager provides detailed information on how visitors discover and interact with your Pins. Understanding the “how” of user involvement (and purchase) gives you all the information you need to create your next campaign. This data may even be used to steer your whole marketing strategy.
Pinterest Advertising Objectives
Pinterest advertising is auction-based. Before creating a promoted Pin, marketers must define their objectives. Choose a Pinterest ad objective that best fits your visual style depending on your brand's products, goals, and KPIs. Brands bid on promoted Pins shown to their key audience. Your objective influences your offer in the auction. The brand with the best offer wins.
There are several objectives from which to choose:
Brand Awareness
If you want your Pin to be seen by as many relevant Pinners as possible, this objective is ideal for your campaign. This is for getting the word out about your business or a specific product launch. Charges are imposed on brands per 1,000 impressions.
This is recommended for promoted Pins and shopping ads.
Video Views
The aim is to get your video in front of as many interested users as possible. This applies to all types of video Pins, including targeted product ads and general clips about your brand. When visitors watch your video for more than two seconds, brands pay per view.
This aim is recommended for video Pins.
Traffic
The goal is to increase the number of people who click on your Pin. While the other objectives enable marketers to send Pinners to their websites, this option is unique because it charges brands per click rather than impressions.
This is recommended for collections ads and carousel ads.
Conversions
Conversions are about encouraging Pinterest users to take action. These CTA campaigns aim to achieve a specific objective, such as a sale, event registration, or other opt-in activity.
Conversions are recommended for shopping ads, collections ads, and Idea Pins.
Shopping Catalog
E-commerce shopping ads are focused solely on a single objective, a product sale. As a result of this objective, Pinterest users will come upon your promoted Pin while browsing the site. Brands can choose from a pay-per-click or a cost per 1,000 impressions.
This is recommended for shopping Pins and collections ads.
Pinterest Advertising Costs
There isn't a flat fee for Pinterest ads that marketers can pay in advance. The cost depends on the ad type and campaign. While the price of each drive and ad format varies, Pinterest advertising in 2021 averaged $1.50 per click.
Due to Pinterest ads’ bidding system, a popular advertising and search area will certainly end up on the upper end of the spectrum. You will save money if your brand or product is more niche. If your brand or product is more niche, you will most likely spend less due to fewer competing offers.
Pinterest ads are not only significantly less expensive than Instagram and YouTube ads, but they are also incredibly effective. For your Pinterest ad campaigns, you may set a daily spending cap. Additionally, there are two options for ad group bidding:
Custom bids: You choose how much you wish to spend on each campaign action. Baseline bids vary depending on the ad style and competition, but the highest offer is entirely under your control.
Automatic bidding: Launched in 2020, automatic bidding reduces ad spending while increasing results. Pinterest adjusts your bids automatically throughout the day every day, to ensure that you receive the most bang for your buck.
Pinterest Advertising Advancements
Pinterest provides built-in tools and resources to help brands produce effortless marketing campaigns around the platform.
Using Audience Insights
Examine key user demographics, behaviors, and trends to understand audience intent better. Audience Insights also collects details on the most popular Pinterest categories and relevant audience interests.
Identifying Intent
Pinterest users seek seasonal or life milestone ideas. Marketers can take advantage of user behavior cues by planning campaign timelines and budgets accordingly. Pinterest's advertising solutions can give more efficient results across ad groups with the consideration objective.
Creating Inspiring Content
Pinterest users are constantly on the lookout for fresh ideas. High-quality branded content does not detract from their user experience.
It instead motivates them by exposing them to new products and brands. With unbranded searches accounting for 97% of top Pinterest searches, brands have the opportunity to influence and convey why they are the best fit for the user's project.
Utilizing Pinterest TV
Source: newsroom.pinterest.com
Pinterest TV includes shoppable creator content. It lets users connect with creators and learn about their favorite brands. Consumers may acquire fresh ideas from their favorite influencers and browse exclusive deals. Advertisers can purchase goods marked by creators. Hosts can use a toolset that includes a product drawer with pricing, description, brand alliances, and discount modules for live shopping.
Pinterest Advertising Best Practices
Pinterest is a visual social networking site, with each Pin featuring a striking image. To stand out, your ads should use the same approach, if not, go a step further. Pinterest has a bevy of advertising best practices, and here are a few more:
- If you are the successful bidder of an ad, ensure that your ad fits precisely to have the most impact on users. Each form of an ad has different requirements, so double-check your ad specs.
- If your Pin has a link, verify that it is active and loads quickly. The creative on your Pin tells users what to expect when they click on it. Ensure that it relates to the content and imagery of your target site.
- Use Idea Pins to showcase your content. Plan your material like a proper narrative with a beginning, middle, and end.
- Narrate your Pin, show your face, and express your individuality. Idea Pins allow people to learn more about creators.
- Motivate Pinners to act on their Pins. A clear CTA always helps increase clicks and engagement. Encourage people to download, shop, sign up, or register.
- Use seasonality and trends to your advantage. Ads relevant to the season or a current trend on Pinterest and other sites are more likely to be clicked.
- Consider using promoted Pins if you find a Pin generating a lot of organic traffic.
Final Thoughts
Whether your business is big or small, using Pinterest as a social media marketing platform is a savvy way to advertise your business, products, and services. Pinterest advertising benefits your company and showcases your brand's creative strength. Pinterest's ad offers and its tools and analytics can help you improve your marketing campaigns in 2022 and beyond.
