The Ultimate Guide To Pinterest Ads

Are you currently struggling with your Pinterest ads?

Ok, so you have heard about the power of Pinterest advertising but are still unsure where to start?

This how-to guide will walk you through the ins and outs of advertising on Pinterest.

Whether you are a beginner with no prior experience or a seasoned marketing professional, this guide aims to provide valuable insights and step-by-step instructions to advertise on Pinterest effectively.

An Overview of Pinterest in Advertising

Before we dive in, let’s start with a quick overview of Pinterest advertising.

Pinterest is a unique social media platform that acts as a visual discovery engine.

With millions of users pinning ideas, products, and inspirations daily, it serves as an ideal ground for advertisers to showcase their brands.

Now, unlike other platforms, Pinterest influences purchase decisions, making it a crucial tool for digital marketing strategies.

Enough said.

Let’s Get Started with Advertising on Pinterest

Setting up a Pinterest Business Account

Before you can start advertising, you will need to set up a Pinterest Business account.

Let me now walk you through the setup process:

• The first thing required is to go to Pinterest for Business: Visit business.pinterest.com and click ‘Join as a Business’.
• Next, you fill in your business details: Provide your email, password, business name, and website. Select your business type from the dropdown menu.
• And finally, complete your profile setup: Add a profile picture, bio, and location. This helps in branding and making your profile relatable to users.

Now we will move on to understanding a bit more about Pinterest demographics.

Understanding Pinterest Demographics

Understanding the demographics of Pinterest can significantly impact your advertising strategy.

Here are some key pointers:

• User Base: Predominantly female, but male user base is growing.
• Age Group: Popular among 18-49 year olds.
• Interests: DIY, fashion, beauty, food, and home decor are highly popular categories.

Next, we will move on to some advertising basics.

Pinterest Advertising Basics

Types of Pinterest Ads

Did you know that Pinterest offers various ad formats to cater to different marketing goals? Let’s take a look –

• Promoted Pins: These are regular pins that you pay to get seen by more people.
• Promoted Video Pins: Similar to promoted pins but with video content.
• Carousel Ads: Multiple images in a single ad for users to swipe through.
• Shopping Ads: Allow users to purchase products directly from your pins.
• Story Pins: Multi-page pins that tell a visual story.

Understanding these formats is vital to making a start.

Creating Your First Pin

To create an effective pin, we need to go through the following steps:

• Choose the Right Image: High-quality, visually appealing images work best.
• Write a Compelling Description: Include relevant keywords and a clear call to action.
• Link It Right: Ensure the pin links to a relevant landing page or website.

Setting Up Your Campaign

Once done with your first pin, you will need to follow these steps to set up your first Pinterest ad campaign:

• Selecting a Campaign Goal: Choose a goal like brand awareness, traffic, or conversions.
• Determining Your Budget: Set a daily and total budget for your campaign.
• Targeting Your Audience: Define your audience based on interests, demographics, and behaviours.
• Choosing Your Ad Format: Select the type of ad you want to run based on your goal.
• Monitor and Adjust: Once live, monitor the ad’s performance and make adjustments as needed.

Designing Effective Pinterest Ads

Pinterest is all about visual content mixed with highly engaging descriptions.

This section will walk you through visual content as well as how to write engaging descriptions.

Best Practices for Visual Content

Visual appeal is key on Pinterest.
Here are some tips and ideas to ensure that we get this right:

• Use High-Quality Images: Clear, high-resolution images attract more engagement.
• Maintain Brand Consistency: Use colours and styles that represent your brand.
• Focus on the Product: Make your product the focal point of your pin.
• Use Lifestyle Images: Show your product being used in real-life situations.

Writing Engaging Descriptions

Moving onto the description, your pin’s description can greatly influence engagement.
Let’s dig a little bit deeper:

• Keep It Clear and Concise: Short, informative descriptions work best.
• Include Keywords: Use relevant keywords for better search visibility.
• Add a Call-to-Action: Encourage users to take the next step, like visiting your website or making a purchase.

Ok, so we have done all the hard bits, but what about strategies and targeting?
The next section will cover exactly that.

Advanced Advertising Strategies

Targeting and Segmentation

Effective targeting is crucial for the success of your Pinterest ads.

By following these simple rules we can make sure that we get it right:

• Audience Targeting: Reach people based on their interests, habits, and previous interactions with your pins or website.
• Keyword Targeting: Use keywords to connect with users searching for specific ideas and products.
• Demographic Targeting: Narrow your audience based on age, gender, location, and language.

Utilising Pinterest Analytics

As mentioned before, Pinterest analytics provides valuable insights into your ad campaigns and performance.

Let’s look at ways to sift out the data that we require:

• Track Pin Performance: See how your pins are performing in terms of impressions, engagements, and clicks.
• Understand Your Audience: Get demographic information and interests of your audience.
• Measure ROI: Assess the return on investment by tracking actions like website visits or purchases.

A/B Testing for Ads

Testing, Testing, Testing.

A/B testing helps refine your advertising strategy and again is vital to running a well-optimised campaign.

Let’s look at the following:

• Testing Different Elements: Try different images, descriptions, or calls to action to see what works best.
• Analysing Results: Compare the performance of different versions of your ads to determine the most effective elements.
• Applying Learnings: Use your findings to optimise future ad campaigns.

Let’s now look at some interesting case studies, proving to us that Pinterest does work.

Successful Pinterest Advertising Campaigns:

Nordstrom on Pinterest: With over 4.4 million followers across 66 boards, Nordstrom effectively used Pinterest to inspire customers and tell a visual trend story.

They integrated the ‘Pin It’ button on their product pages, allowing customers to easily save their favourite items. This strategy not only increased customer engagement but also drove significant site traffic and demand.

Sephora on Pinterest: Sephora, with 300,000 followers across 67 boards, leveraged Pinterest to enhance customer engagement.

They researched how users were creating beauty product mood boards, primarily with Sephora products, and responded by adding the ‘Pin It’ button to all their product pages.

Their ‘Sephora Colour Wash’ campaign encouraged users to pin colour treasures from their website, significantly increasing traffic and Pinterest user spending compared to Facebook.

Petplan on Pinterest: Petplan, with 28,000 followers and 73 boards, positioned itself as more than a pet insurance company.

They used Pinterest to provide informative content about health tips and specific information segmented by dog breeds.

Their ‘Breed all about it’ board, combined with the promotion of their Pinterest presence through ‘Pin It’ buttons on their website and email footers, led to Pinterest becoming their second-highest social network referral source, increasing page views and insurance quotes significantly.

These case studies demonstrate the diverse ways businesses can use Pinterest to engage with their audience, increase brand visibility, and drive sales.

Each campaign uniquely leverages Pinterest’s strengths, showing the platform’s versatility in supporting various marketing objectives.

Just before we conclude, we need to look at one more important part of any Pinterest campaign.

Measuring and Optimising

Understanding Key Metrics

To effectively measure the success of your Pinterest advertising campaigns, you will need to focus on these key metrics:

• Impressions and Reach: Measures how many people have seen your pin.
• Engagement Rate: Includes saves, closeups, and clicks. High engagement suggests content relevance and appeal.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of viewers who clicked on your pin. A high CTR indicates effective call-to-action and interest.
• Conversion Rate: Tracks how many clicks led to a desired action, like a purchase or sign-up.

Tips for Optimisation

Based on your campaign metrics, you can now optimise your ads for better performance, by following these pointers below:

• Refine Your Targeting: Adjust your audience targeting based on performance data to reach the most responsive users.
• Improve Visuals and Copy: Use A/B testing insights to refine your ad designs and copy.
• Seasonal and Trend Adjustments: Align your content with trending topics or seasonal events for increased relevance.
• Budget Management: Allocate more budget to high-performing ads and pause underperforming ones.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve covered the essentials and advanced strategies for advertising on Pinterest.

From setting up your business account and creating compelling pins to analysing campaign data and optimizing strategies, these steps are key to a successful Pinterest advertising journey.

Remember, the key to success on Pinterest lies in creative visual storytelling, understanding your audience, and continuously refining your strategies based on performance data.

For further exploration and staying updated with the latest trends and updates in Pinterest advertising, regularly visit Pinterest’s business blog and participate in relevant online communities.

You can also reach out to us for more help when it comes to setting up your first Pinterest advertising campaign.