why you need to advertise on pinterest
Combining impressive visual discovery, influenceable users and unsaturated advertising opportunities, Pinterest has fast become an inviting channel to introduce into your marketing efforts.
Plus, with over 431 million monthly users and 46 percent of weekly Pinners discovering new brands and products on the platform, we can’t think of any reason to not be trialling Pinterest.
Read our blog to find out the ins and outs of advertising on Pinterest, what makes it different to other channels and how it can help you grow your business.
key takeaways
In this blog, we discuss:
what makes Pinterest different to other social channels
how the channel can engage customers at different stages of their shopping journey
available ad formats and upcoming new releases
what makes pinterest different?
unique by nature: Pinterest is uniquely positioned to other social media platforms. It’s there to inspire and connect with customers using visual assets while they’re in the browsing phase of their shopping journey. Before shoppers even know exactly what they’re looking for, they can find it on Pinterest.
a positive environment: As great as social media can be, it has earned a bad rep over recent years. Many accuse social platforms of being toxic environments, where users get drawn into comparative behaviour or fall victim to negative comments. Pinterest, however, isn’t one of them. Instead, it has become an inspirational hub for users to escape, find, make, do and buy. The platform even surveyed 9000 users across seven markets and nearly half said that an online place devoted to inspiration is more important now than ever.
big spenders: Shoppers on Pinterest buy and spend more than shoppers on other competitive platforms. According to Pinterest’s data, 85 percent have bigger baskets with a higher order value and they’re also more open to new brands as well as being more loyal to a brand when they find one they love.
discovery and trends are at the heart of pinterest
Discovery is what makes Pinterest the social platform it is. As Pinterest users want to discover new products and brands, the ads are designed to work with this journey so as not to interrupt the browsing experience. But why is this good for you as a business?
When people feel inspired, they’re most likely to make decisions and take action. Users might not come to Pinterest knowing exactly what they’re looking for, but they come to the platform seeking inspiration, and usually find it. Ideally placed to engage customers during the first stage of the customer journey, also known as the awareness stage. As a result, Pinterest ads earn on average a two times higher return on ad spend compared to other social media platforms.
But more than this, the platform continues to inspire as the customer moves through the customer journey and becomes more aware of your brand. At this point, staying ahead of the competition is crucial. This is when Pinterest’s trend predictions come into their own.
People come to Pinterest to plan what to do, try or buy next. As such, it was only fitting for the platform to release an annual report based on what their 400 million monthly users have been searching for featuring local spotlights, demographic data and a whole host of opportunities for advertisers to make the most of. These insights aren’t a retrospective roundup of what has been trending. It’s a predictive look into the future of what will be trending based on data, making it an extremely valuable asset for businesses.
advertising on pinterest
All Pinterest ads begin with a pin. These pins could be pictures, videos or collections that users can save or add to one of their inspirational boards. So, how do Pinterest ads work and why are they so effective?
The great thing about Pinterest ads is that they function like regular pins, blending into the user’s home feed without a glitch. The only ad format that works differently is promoted pins where the name of the brand is promoted alongside the pin.
With an array of Pinterest ad types to choose from, they can be used to target each stage of the sales funnel.
standard ads/promoted pins
These ads feature an image or video and function the same way regular pins do, allowing users to leave comments, pin them to boards or share with others. Once a user shares your ad, the promoted label is removed and any pins from that point are seen as organic pins. This means you don’t have to pay for the additional exposure. Instead, you get it for free.
carousel ads
Carousel ads look and function like organic pins but have two to five images that users can flick through while browsing. You can spot it’s a carousel ad by the small dots underneath the image and when a user saves it, the full carousel is saved to their board. These are effective for displaying different angles of the same item or for including inspiring lifestyle shots.
collection ads
Collection ads are shown to mobile users only – important considering over 85 percent of Pinterest users browse on mobile. A collection ad is one large, featured image or video alongside three supporting images. If a user then clicks on your ad, you can show up to 24 images on the detail page. These ads are great for eCommerce brands, particularly those with visual products to share.
shopping ads
Shopping ads are pulled from your product catalogue and many known platforms like Shopify are able to directly connect with the app to make the experience even more seamless. Pinterest uses the data from your product information to automatically target these ads to the most relevant audience.
app install ads
These ads are designed with the purpose to increase app downloads. When a user clicks on this type of ad, they can download the app without having to leave Pinterest so their browsing journey can be continued without interruption.
idea ads – coming soon…
Idea pins already exist on Pinterest and pull users in with engaging multi-page stories. But soon, advertisers will be able to turn these pins into ads, helping you reach inspired audiences in an open discovery mindset.Read more about the upcoming format here.
try on ads – coming soon…
Augmented reality is becoming more and more common in the digital world. Try on product pins will combine content with augmented reality to create a virtual environment that allows users to ‘try on’ products. This type of ad will be especially effective for beauty and accessories brands.
These types of pins aren’t available in all countries yet but when they are, they’ll connect to your product catalogue to pull data and imagery.
get started with pinterest ads
Pinterest holds the power to take users from inspiration to realisation. With its visually engaging feed,various ad formats designed to target shoppersat different points of their journey and a wealth of opportunities, it’s worth considering as part of your paid media strategy.
Could your brand benefit from Pinterest ads? Get in touch to talk with one of our paid social experts.
