Pinterest
is a growing advertising platform that can boost any company’s reach and sales,
especially for e-commerce brands.
This
guide will walk you through setting up your Pinterest for Business account,
creating Pins, and launching ads. It will also help you start to create a
budding Pinterest strategy that will drive conversions and loyalty from your
targeted audience.
Why
Pinterest?
You
may understand the Pinterest appeal from a user standpoint – but sometimes
businesses have trouble realizing why Pinterest could be a big platform for
them.
Pinterest
is a unique social platform because it is all about intent. Users come to
Pinterest prepared to take action and many use Pinterest as a shopping guide.
According
to Pinterest, 83% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase based on Pins they saw
from brands.
Pinterest
is also an underutilized platform. Consider that there are seven million
advertisers on Facebook, and yet Pinterest only has 1.5 million brands
advertising to users. Additionally, according to the 2019 Hanapin Marketing State of Paid Social,
only 13% of marketers are investing in Pinterest while 91% are advertising on
Facebook.
Since
there are fewer players, there is significantly more opportunity to get in
front of people on the Pinterest platform.
Who
is on Pinterest?
More
than 300 million people use Pinterest every month. Ninety-eight percent of
those users have tried something new they found on Pinterest and 77 percent
have found a new brand or product.
Pinterest
reaches 83 percent of women aged 25-54, according to Pew Research Center. If that fits your target
demographic, you absolutely need to be on the platform.
However,
in 2018, 50 percent of new sign-ups were men, so you may still be able to get
in front of the right audience.
Additionally,
users on Pinterest have more disposable income. In fact, 35% of Pinterest users
make more than $75,000 per year.
Obviously
Pinterest is great for any business with a strong female demographic. Further,
it is suited well for any e-commerce brand. We also think it is essential for travel brands – see why.
Regardless
of your industry, if you’re looking for a way to expand your reach without
increasing your budget, Pinterest is a platform to consider.
Getting
Started with Pinterest for Business
The
first step to advertising on Pinterest is to create a free business account.
You can sign up for a new account or convert your existing personal account.
Once you have a business account, you can start running ads.
Next,
you’ll want to set up your profile. Choose a profile photo and add other
helpful information to help your potential customers get to know you better.
Then,
you’ll start creating Pins. Your Pins can be saved and shared by Pinterest
users organically, or you can use Ads Manager to promote your Pins and they
will be served in the feeds of a targeted audience.
Creating
Pins
As
a business, you’ll want to create pins regularly. Pinterest recommends creating
new Pins that link to your website or other claimed accounts at least once per
week. This will encourage users to engage, save and share your content. If
you’re stuck on trying to figure out what to make pins for, consider
showcasing:
•
Tutorials for your products
• New products
• New site content
• New products
• New site content
To
create a pin, you need 3 basic elements: a featured image or video, the copy,
and the link you want users to visit when they interact with your pin.
Featured
image or video
One
of the most daunting things about Pinterest for businesses is how visual it is.
Your visual component will be key to making your ads stand out in the platform.
You’ll
want to make sure you use high-quality, compelling images and videos. Pinterest
recommends using PNGs or JPEGs at a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1000 x 1500 pixels, to
avoid having them cut off. The max file size for images is 32MB.
For
videos, keep in mind that most of your users will see the video with the sound
off. You can add a text overlay to help convey your message. Make sure your
video visual can stand alone, without the audio component.
Copy
For
pins, you’ll have a title and a description. Your title can be up to 100
characters. The title is optional – if you don’t fill it out, users will see
your Pin description instead.
The
Pin description shows up fully once people click your Pin. If you don’t include
a title, the first 50-60 characters are what will show up in users’ feeds. You
can use up to 500 characters, but it is important to prioritize the most
important information first to compel your audience to open the Pin or follow
the link.
Even
though the text may not always be shown, it is actually the most important
part, as this is how Pinterest will determine when and where to share your
content.
Once
you’ve created a Pin, you can go back later and update the link or change the
description.
Links
Like
any PPC ad, you’ll want to make sure you are sending users to content they
would expect to see from clicking on the Pin. If you showcase a certain
clothing item in your image, you should send users to the product page for that
clothing item. If you mention a sale in your video, you will want to send users
to a page that also mentions the sale.
When
someone clicks on a Pin, they want to learn more about it. Your landing page
should feel like a natural progression from the Pinterest platform to your
site.
Boards
Boards
are how users organize Pins, and you will use them to organize the Pins for your
business as well. Boards will also show up on your profile so users can browse
your Pins and learn more about your business. You will want to make sure your
boards are clearly labeled, so that users can find the content that will be
most relevant to them.
Claiming
“Claiming”
associates your branding with any Pin that features your content, whether you
create it yourself or another user creates it. To make sure you get credit for
all of your content, you’ll need to claim your website and any additional social
channels.
Bring
on the widgets
The
two most popular Pinterest widgets are the Save button and the Follow button.
Adding these to your website will allow users to save your content on their own
Pinterest boards (which will also share it with their followers) and follow
your content.
The
Pinterest Tag
Like
other advertising platforms, you’ll need to add The Pinterest Tag to your site
if you want to run ads. The Pinterest Tag will help you keep track of users
from Pinterest once they hit your site. You’ll be able to track whether your
Pinterest activity has contributed to visits, signups, or checkouts, depending
on your business and your goals.
Using
Pinterest Ads Manager
Once
your Pinterest for Business account is set up, you can start using Ads Manager.
You’ll use Ads Manager to create, edit and manage Pinterest campaigns. Your
campaign will be a collection of Promoted Pins. If you’re a visual learner, we also have a video that can
help you set up an ad campaign.
To
access Ads Manager, visit ads.pinterest.com.
Create
a new ad
To
start, you’ll click “Ads” and then “Create ad” in the Ads Manager interface. We
recommend always pausing your campaign as your build it. This keeps your
campaign in “draft” mode until you are ready to go live. After starting the
creation process, you’ll set a campaign goal.
Campaign
goals
Your
campaign goals include building brand awareness, driving consideration, or
growing sales. Inside each of these 3 categories, you can set a more specific
objective. For example, if you want to use these ads to build brand awareness,
you might select video views as your specific objective. If you are focused on
sales, you may select conversions as your objective.
A
couple of newer campaign goals include App installs, if your business has an
app, or Shopping catalogues. Shopping catalogs work a bit like Facebook’s
Dynamic Ads. You connect a product catalog and promote product groups to
relevant users.
Build
an Ad Group
Next,
you’ll create an Ad Group. This Ad Group will be a container for all of your
promoted Pins. You will set your budget, running dates, and audience targeting
on the Ad Group level.
Specify
Your Target Audience
Pinterest
has fairly robust options for finding your intended audience on the platform.
You can use the targeting options individually or combine multiple approaches
together for a more specific audience.
Audiences
Through
audiences, you can reach people who have bought from your site already, people
who have visited your site, or who recently engaged with your Pinterest
content. These audiences are pulled from the Pinterest Tag, so you’ll want to
make sure that is set up and working properly if you wish to use this type of
targeting.
Demographics
Pinterest
demographic data is slightly more limited than other platforms. You can choose
to focus on specific locations, languages, devices, or genders.
Keywords
Like
on search engines, you can target your ads to users who are searching for
specific topics. If you are a clothing brand, you might target users who are
searching for “fashion.”
One
thing to note is that Pinterest keywords work a little differently than
Google’s. It isn’t recommended that you keep super tight keyword groups on this
platform. Covering all of your bases can lead to more placements, more
visibility, and more sales.
Interests
Targeting
your audience through their interests means reaching people based on the types
of boards they’ve created or the types of Pins they have interacted with. For
example, a travel company could target users who have created “dream vacation”
boards. There are a wide range of interests to choose from.
Expanded
For
expanded audiences, once you start layering in keywords and interests,
Pinterest will suggest additional interests and keywords based on the content
of your ad and who you’re trying to reach.
Placements
You’ll
also get to choose when and where your ads show up. You can opt for your ads to
show in browsing feeds or in search results, or both.
Set
the budget and schedule
After
you’ve selected your objective and audience, you’ll want to select dates for
your campaign to run. You can choose an end date or to run your campaigns
continuously. Even if you do not select an end date, you can turn off your
campaigns at any point.
Next,
you’ll set a budget. If you have a total budget in mind, set a lifetime budget.
Pinterest will use this budget evenly over the specific dates you’ve selected,
or if you did not set an end date, it will run the campaign until the budget
runs out. You can also select daily if you have an amount in mind that you’d
prefer to spend each day.
Lastly,
you can set a maximum bid. This is the most you’d be willing to pay for a click
or an engagement on Pinterest. Pinterest will give you a recommended bid
depending on your target audience and how others are bidding in the space.
Choose
Pins to promote
Once
you’ve set your budget and schedule, you will select Pins to promote based on
the ones you have already created. You can also create new Pins at this point.
You can choose to promote pins that are already doing well, or use new Pins
that align more with the campaign’s goals. You’ll also be able to edit the Pin
name and URL of existing Pins to make sure they align with the campaign.
Wait
for review
After
you finish setting up your campaign, your ads will enter a review period. Your
ads will be checked to make sure they follow the ad policies on Pinterest. If
your ad does not get approved, you’ll have the opportunity to edit it and
resubmit it.
Why
wasn’t my Pinterest ad approved?
The
most common reasons ads are rejected are because they create a false sense of
urgency, use excessive symbology or hashtags, do not include content on the
landing page, have a broken link, or use images or descriptions that include
shocking content or profanity.
You
also can’t use link shorteners in the destination URL or description, and you
can’t use third-party videos, images, or gifs.
Building
a Pinterest Strategy
Once
you’ve set up your account and are comfortable with the available tools, you’ll
want to start focusing on your strategy.
Pinterest
prioritizes high-quality content. The better your pins are, the more likely
Pinterest is to show them to users.
Focus
on your audience
Recall
that Pinterest is such a good platform for your business because of audience
intent. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What kind of ideas might your
target be searching for? How can you help them make a decision? These questions
should drive your content choices.
Scheduling
Because
Pinterest prioritizes new content from frequent posters, you’ll want to make
scheduling Pins a component of your strategy.
Pinterest
allows you to schedule Pins up to two weeks in advance through their platform.
Pinterest recommends adding new Pins over time rather than uploading a bunch at
once.
Hashtags
Also
consider using hashtags where appropriate. Thoughtfully used hashtags will help
improve your search results. Unlike hashtags on other social channels, hashtags
on Pinterest are not used for jokes, memes or commentary.
If
you aren’t sure which hashtags to use, do a search for your topic on Pinterest
and see what others are using. Pinterest will also offer autocomplete
suggestions as you write your description and title.
Analytical
tools
Pinterest
has robust analytical tools that are built into the business platform to help
you achieve success.
Insights
Pinterest
shares new seasonal, category, and audience insights on a regular basis. These
are insights drawn from Pinterest overall, but can help you shape your
business’s strategy.
For
example, Pinterest recommends sharing seasonal content about 30-45 days before
you would on other social channels. This is because users generally begin
planning for seasonal events on Pinterest before they would on other platforms.
Pinterest
Analytics
Pinterest
Analytics will deliver insights on your particular Pinterest audience, as well
as how your specific Pins are performing.
Buyable
Pins
A
newer feature for Pinterest is the option to include Buyable Pins. With these,
users can purchase a product without ever leaving the Pinterest platform. These
are especially useful for clothing retailers, but if your business could
benefit from this approach too, it may be worth testing.
Co-Promotion
or partnerships
One
way to get your content in front of a new audience is to develop a co-promotion
or partnership strategy with another brand. This would involve you pinning some
of their content to your boards, and vice versa.
Strategy
don’ts
Once
advertisers figure out how a platform works, they inevitably try to think of
ways to get ahead. However, these are 3 common strategies we have seen
businesses try to use that end up being a waste of time, and may also get a
business account shut down.
Keyword
stuffing
Just
like on other PPC platforms, keyword-stuffing your description is a no-no.
Pinterest will ding your content, or remove it, if it seems like you are just
randomly using popular search terms in your description. Pinterest values
content that is useful – so make sure your content is helpful, descriptive, and
beautiful.
Adding
hashtags to old Pins
You
can go back and add hashtags to old Pins, but it won’t help them show up higher
in search results. Pinterest prioritizes showing new content, so it isn’t
recommended to waste your time on this.
Re-pinning
the same content
While
there may be circumstances where this strategy makes sense, in general, this
practice is discouraged. Pinning the same Pin multiple times can be flagged as
spam.
Recap
We
hope this guide has made starting Pinterest Ads seem less daunting. Because
Pinterest is underutilized, it may be worth testing, even if you don’t expect
huge results.
Once
you start creating Pins, make sure you schedule content regularly. You’ll also
want to include hashtags to get your content in front of the right people.
Then, use Pinterest’s analytical tools to optimize your content. To increase
your sales and reach, you may also consider trying Buyable Pins or co-promotion
strategies.
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