Imagine being able to combine the best of search engine and social media advertising: the ability to display your ads to users actively searching for products like yours, along with the ability to promote your products to users passively browsing through their feed.
That’s essentially what you get with ads on Pinterest.
Consider the extraordinary selling power of Pinterest, and it’s easy to see why so many well-known brands regularly use the platform to run advertising campaigns.
If you’re not familiar with Pinterest ads or how to use them, don’t worry. This beginner’s guide will walk you through the process of setting up successful Pinterest advertising campaigns.
Are Pinterest Ads Worth It?
While Pinterest users are mostly women (60%), the platform has also seen a significant increase in the number of men signing up, as it quickly becomes a go-to site for finding and saving ideas and inspiration of all kinds.
Pinterest ads work best for the following businesses:
- Home Decor
- Food
- Fashion
- Beauty
- Handmade Products
But this doesn’t mean that only businesses within these verticals can run successful Pinterest ad campaigns and see great results. Instead, you might need tight targeting or a more creative angle. I’ve seen great ads from companies in the education, photography, and even marketing industries.
Are Pinterest Ads Effective?
Pinterest ads work for businesses with products and services that fit well on the platform.
However, keep in mind that even organic content on Pinterest can have a lot of sales potential: those who use the platform weekly are 2.2 times more likely to say it’s the most influential platform in their purchase journey compared to social media platforms. And 45% of people in the US with a household income over $100,000 are on Pinterest, indicating substantial buying power.
Regarding ads, Pinterest states that retail brands see a 2x higher return on ad spend compared to social media. However, your own results will vary depending on your products, target audience, and how you approach advertising.
Types of Pinterest Ads
You can use Pinterest to display a wide variety of ad formats across the platform. Here are the types currently available.
Standard Pins
Standard pin ads are exactly the same as regular pins, except they will say “Promoted by” next to your business name. Whether it’s a vertical or square static image format, they’re a great opportunity to directly showcase your brand in Pinterest’s native format.
You’ll have the chance to add your logo, a link, and a short text overlay, which is searchable. You can also add a longer description (500 characters) for the text that appears when someone clicks to expand your pin (make sure to optimize this for readability and search).
Video Pins
Video ads are a particularly eye-catching form of Pinterest advertising. They not only give you more space for creativity and attention-grabbing visuals, but you can also convey more information in them, such as a range of products instead of just one.
The recommended duration is 6 to 15 seconds per video, and you can use sound; just remember not everyone browses with sound on, so you need to prioritize the visual aspect first.
You can make a vertical standard format video pin or opt for a widescreen version. The max-width ad is four times larger, making it a square that spans two columns. Your investment in this type might be higher, but it could also be more effective.
Idea Pins
Also known as story pins, these allow you to record multiple videos, adding images, lists, and customized text to a single pin. You can swipe through your “pages” as you would in an Instagram story and they are great for “how-to” guides or product demonstrations.
Idea pins are very suitable for educational content, and Pinterest provides tons of interactive features and metadata for each one. You can select music, record voiceovers, add detail pages for specifications, recipes, or instructions, tag people, add stickers, and more.
They are one of the most creative types of pins, and you can promote them as ads just like you can with other pin types.
Carousel Pins
Carousel pin ads have the same look as standard image pins, but they can be swiped or clicked to reveal more images. You can include two to five images per pin, and people can swipe through them.
Similar to standard pin ads, your business name will appear under the “Promoted by” tag to make it clear that it’s a promoted ad, and there will be a “5/5” counter to show which part of
the carousel someone is on.
Each image on the carousel can have its title, description, and landing page. This provides a great opportunity to showcase different aspects of a product, various products within a line, or a step-by-step process for a project.
Shopping Ads
These pins take users directly to a page where they can make a purchase, cutting out any steps in between and making the journey smoother for the customer.
Shopping ads include:
- Product Pins: Automatically created from your product feed and feature the current price, title, description, and a link to the product page.
- Shopping Spotlight: Allows you to promote specific products from your catalog and give them special visibility.
When someone clicks on a shopping pin, they’ll be taken to a close-up view of the product, which can be particularly useful for products with intricate details.
Setting Up Your First Pinterest Ad
Now that you know the types of ads available, here’s a general overview of how to set up your first Pinterest ad campaign.
Step 1: Create a Pinterest Business Account
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to create a Pinterest business account. This will give you access to Pinterest Analytics and other features tailored for businesses.
Step 2: Set Up Pinterest Tag
The Pinterest tag is a piece of code you’ll need to add to your website. It allows you to track actions that people take on your site after interacting with your Pinterest ads. This could include actions like signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
Setting up the Pinterest tag correctly is crucial for tracking the effectiveness of your ads and optimizing your campaigns.
Step 3: Choose Your Campaign Goal
When you create an ad campaign on Pinterest, you’ll need to choose a campaign goal. Pinterest offers several goals, including:
- Brand awareness
- Traffic
- App installations
- Video views
- Conversions
Your campaign goal will determine how Pinterest optimizes the delivery of your ads and how you’re charged for them.
Step 4: Define Your Audience
You can narrow down your audience based on various factors, such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and keywords. Pinterest provides tools to help you define your target audience effectively.
Step 5: Set Your Budget and Schedule
You’ll need to decide how much you’re willing to spend on your Pinterest ad campaign and how long you want it to run. Pinterest allows you to set a daily or lifetime budget for your campaign.
You can also schedule your ads to run during specific times or days of the week, which can be useful if you want to reach your audience when they’re most active.
Step 6: Choose Your Ad Type
Based on your campaign goal, you can choose the most suitable ad type. For example, if your goal is to drive conversions, you might opt for a shopping ad that takes users directly to a product page where they can make a purchase.
Step 7: Create Your Ad
Depending on the ad type you choose, you’ll need to provide the necessary assets, such as images, videos, titles, descriptions, and URLs. Pinterest provides guidelines for ad dimensions and formats, so make sure to follow them to ensure your ads look great.
Step 8: Monitor and Optimize
Once your ads are live, you’ll want to keep a close eye on their performance. Pinterest provides analytics that show how your ads are performing, including metrics like impressions, clicks, click-through rates, and conversions.
Based on the data you gather, you can make informed decisions about whether to adjust your targeting, budget, ad creative, or other elements of your campaign to improve its effectiveness.
Conclusion
Pinterest offers a unique advertising platform that combines search intent with visual inspiration, making it a valuable channel for businesses looking to reach consumers at different stages of their buying journey. By creating visually appealing and relevant ads, targeting the right audience, and monitoring your campaign’s performance, you can leverage Pinterest’s advertising capabilities to drive brand awareness, traffic, conversions, and more.
Remember that while Pinterest ads can be highly effective, success often requires experimentation, optimization, and staying attuned to your audience’s preferences and behaviors. If done right, Pinterest ads can yield significant results and contribute to your overall marketing strategy.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your existing Pinterest ad campaigns, this guide should provide you with a solid foundation to get the most out of your advertising efforts on the platform.