Pinterest Ads: Benefits, How It Works, and Best Practices

All social media offers their own advertising platform, exploiting user data to help businesses promote themselves. Just like Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads, Pinterest is no exception with its Pinterest Ads tool.

Although the principle is similar to other platforms, Pinterest's unique functioning as a search engine offers a lot of opportunities. Here are the benefits of Pinterest Ads, the different types of ads you can use, and the process for creating an ad campaign, as well as the best practices you can adopt to succeed. Let's go!

‍

The benefits of Pinterest Ads

‍

With 80% of weekly users discovering new brands or products on Pinterest, the platform offers advertisers a double advantage: targeting users via keywords and attracting “pinners” with specific interests and demographics.

The data points to a notable return on investment, with promoted pins typically generating $2 for every dollar spent and encouraging half of users to make a purchase.

Pinterest Analytics is crucial for evaluating and adjusting advertising strategies, measuring performance and identifying the best pins being promoted. In addition, a study found that investing $100 in Pinterest advertising generates an additional $60 in profit compared to other advertising channels.

‍

‍

Pinterest Ads: should you start?

‍

Pinterest Ads is particularly effective for businesses whose offer is highly visual-oriented, combining attractive aesthetics and a relatively modest average basket. This is because of the intrinsic nature of Pinterest itself, a social network that focuses heavily on visual content and where users come looking for inspiration in decorating, fashion, cooking, and more. Companies operating in the field of decoration, for example, often find particular resonance on this platform, due to the alignment between the search and consumption behavior of users and the type of products or services offered.

‍

Pinterest Ads: the different formats

‍

‍

Sponsored pin

‍

Promotional pins on Pinterest offer a direct and simple method of advertising, by simply promoting a pre-existing pin. Differentiated from standard pins only by the mention “Sponsored by”, they blend into the main flow of users and can be easily created from images or videos already in circulation on the platform.

‍

‍

Sponsored collection

‍

Collection ads, visible only on mobile for 74% of Pinterest users, consist of one main image or video and three secondary ones, visible in news feeds or search results. A user interaction allows you to see up to 24 additional images on a descriptive page. Ideal for e-commerce brands, especially in fashion, decoration and cosmetics, they can nevertheless benefit any advertiser with a creative approach.

‍

Sponsored carousel

‍

Carousel ads are similar to traditional sponsored ads, but they consist of multiple images that users can scroll through, whether on mobile or desktop. A carousel is identifiable by the small dots located below the image, indicating the number of images available.

‍

‍

Shopping pin

‍

Shopping ads on Pinterest, generated from your product catalog and integrated via platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, differ from sponsored collections in that they use a single image or video. Quick and easy to deploy, they take advantage of Pinterest's automation, which targets ads based on product and industry information, a strategy similar to that of Google Ads with Google Shopping.

‍

‍

Story pin

‍

Story pins, also known as “Idea Pins,” consist of short videos or sets of images no larger than 20, designed to engage users with engaging educational content. They are mainly used to create how-to videos or concise demonstrations. This feature was introduced in 2021 for users in France.

In terms of format, they are similar to Instagram Stories. They offer extended features compared to traditional video pins or images, including the ability to:

• Mention users.
• Use interactive stickers and thematic hashtags.
• Add text and graphics as an overlay.
• Possibly include a voiceover.
• Include detailed descriptions, such as a list of steps or required materials.

This new, engaging format generates nine times more comments than traditional pins.

‍

“Try On” pin

‍

Introduced in 2022, “try-on” pins on Pinterest merge content and augmented reality, offering a virtual “fitting room” experience and foreshadowing the future of e-commerce. Especially effective for beauty and accessory brands, they allow users to preview products on them via their phone camera.

However, these pins are not universally available and require a Pinterest Business account and a catalog of downloaded products to be used.

‍

Pinterest Ads: how it works

‍

Here are the steps to follow to launch an advertising campaign on Pinterest:

• First, to access Pinterest's advertising tools, you need to create a business account if you haven't already done so. You may have already set it up if you have a business account.
• Then, on your dashboard, click on “Create a campaign” located in the “Active campaigns” section. You also have the option to quickly promote a pin using the “Create” tab in the site header.
• Choose the objective of your campaign from the available options, such as brand awareness, video views, engagement (traffic), conversions, or catalog sales (shopping ads). Under the chosen objective, you need to define the name of your campaign as well as its budget.

‍

‍

Then, move on to the next step, where several things are important. It starts with selecting your target audience. You have the option of retargeting or defining audiences similar to those you have already created (or even create new ones). Targeting can be based on interests, keywords (the search terms on which you want to position yourself), socio-demographic criteria, as well as on the type of device used.

‍

‍

• Just below, you'll need to specify where your campaign is location—that is, whether you want your sponsored pins to appear on the home page, in the search results, or both.
• At the bottom of the page, select the pins that will be featured during the campaign. You can choose from existing pins or opt to create an “Idea Pin” pin (a Story pin) or a classic pin.
• Once done, all you have to do is publish your campaign.

‍

Pinterest Ads: 7 best practices for success

Harmonious integration of your logo into your ads

‍

It is essential that users can easily identify the origin of an ad, especially when they are interested and eager to know more. The ideal is to integrate your logo naturally into the ad itself, or to place it discreetly in the lower right corner if there is no opportunity for smoother integration.

‍

Using text overlays with calls to action

‍

While engaging visuals capture users' attention, it's essential to guide potential consumers as to what to do after seeing the ad. Whether it's encouraging them to subscribe to your newsletter or trying out a new product, it's important to clearly communicate to your audience what you want them to do.

‍

Enrichment of ads with informative descriptions

‍

While a call to action (CTA) in an announcement is essential, it's not necessary to include all of your product details. That's where the ad description comes in! Make sure you include all the information relevant to users about your ad.

‍

Use seasonality and trends to your advantage

‍

We know that you already know everything, so don't hesitate to put your knowledge into practice. Users are more likely to engage with ads that are in line with the current season or that align with current trends on Pinterest and other platforms.

‍

Review ad sizing criteria

‍

This is an essential element to take into consideration. As an ad owner, it's crucial to make sure your ad fits perfectly to maximize its impact on users. Each listing type has its own size requirements, so be sure to review your ad specifications carefully.

‍

Orientation of visual selection based on data

‍

When creating an advertising campaign on Pinterest, the choice of visuals is essential. Engaging images and videos are at the core of the Pinterest experience and the performance of promoted pins. Pinterest, as a visual search engine, exposes users to a variety of visuals, and brands need to understand what types of images and videos captivate their target audience. Instead of testing different creations, it is recommended to analyze the performance of your organic pins to effectively select the visuals for your paid ads.

Using Dash Hudson provides access to meaningful Pinterest Insights data, helping to identify which pins appeal to your target audience, which can improve the results of your advertising campaigns and maintain visual consistency between your organic and paid content on Pinterest.

‍

The impact of pins promoted on Pinterest

‍

Pinterest is naturally geared towards conversion, and promoted pins provide advertisers with the means to capitalize on users' buying intent. Advertisers can improve the performance of their campaigns by choosing goals that are aligned with their key performance indicators (KPIs) and by targeting specific audiences.

What sets Pinterest apart from other platforms is its search engine capabilities. Users come to Pinterest with a specific intent, allowing brands to bid on keywords to exploit that intent and maximize their return on investment (ROI).

While many platforms emphasize personal popularity and peer engagement, Pinterest sets itself apart by promoting positivity, enthusiasm, and hope. It's where users look for inspiration for their lives and their purchases. Brand authenticity is at the heart of the Pinterest experience, far from simply projecting an image.

‍