Pinterest ads, also known as Promoted Pins, offer an effective way for brands to reach and engage with targeted audiences on Pinterest. Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest users are in “discovery mode” – they come to the platform to find new ideas, products, and inspiration. This makes Pinterest a prime place for brands looking to connect with potential customers.
Promoted Pins allow brands to amplify their existing Pins by boosting them in front of relevant Pinterest users. When structured and optimized effectively, Pinterest ads can help brands increase website traffic, generate leads and sales, and raise brand awareness. Pin promotions are also less expensive than other paid social ads, making them accessible for businesses of all sizes.
In this guide, we’ll explore creative strategies and best practices for setting up successful Pinterest ad campaigns. By tailoring your Promoted Pins, choosing the right targeting options, optimizing for conversions, and tracking analytics, you can develop campaigns that boost your brand and exceed your marketing goals. Pinterest’s visual nature provides a unique creative canvas for brands – let’s explore how to make the most of it with Pinterest ads.
Determine Your Goals
Pinterest ads allow you to choose from a variety of campaign objective types depending on your goals. As you begin planning your Pinterest ad strategy, clearly define what you want to achieve.
Brand Awareness Campaigns
If increasing brand visibility and reach is your primary aim, select awareness as your campaign objective. This will show your pins to the widest range of people to get your brand and products in front of more potential customers. Use compelling images and minimal text to pique interest.
Traffic Campaigns
To drive more visitors to your website or products, choose traffic as the campaign goal. Write clear call-to-action copy to encourage people to click through to your site or online store. Consider promoting blog content, offers, sales, etc. to entice clicks.
Conversion Campaigns
If your ultimate goal is conversions and sales, pick a conversion campaign. Tailor your pins and ads to get shoppers to take specific actions like adding items to cart, making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, etc. Make sure to track conversions accurately with the Pinterest tag or pixels.
No matter your objectives – brand awareness, website traffic, or conversions – defining your goals upfront will help inform your Pinterest ad strategy and set you up for success.
Target the Right Audience
When launching Pinterest ads, you’ll want to target your ads to the people most likely to engage with your brand. Pinterest offers robust targeting options to reach your ideal customers. Here are some options to consider:
Demographic Targeting
Pinterest allows you to target your ads based on age, gender, location, household income, and other demographic factors. Focus on the demographic profile of your existing customers to find more people like them on Pinterest. For example, if you sell beauty products aimed at women ages 25-40, target your ads to that demographic.
Interest Targeting
You can target ads to people who have expressed interest in certain topics, categories or keywords by searching for them or engaging with related Pins. Identify interests relevant to your products and target those. For example, if you sell baking supplies, target users who have searched for baking-related topics.
Lookalike Audiences
Pinterest lets you create lookalike audiences based on your existing customers’ onsite behavior, website visitors, CRM data or other sources. Lookalike audiences help you find new users who share similar characteristics with people already engaging with your brand. Targeting lookalikes can help expand your reach to new potential customers.
Be strategic in selecting your target audience. The more precise you can be in defining who your ads should reach, the better your results will be. Take advantage of Pinterest’s robust targeting to put your brand in front of those most likely to care.
Create Captivating Pins
Pinterest is a visual platform, so creating eye-catching pins is crucial for any Pinterest ads campaign. Follow these tips to make pins that capture attention and drive engagement:
– Use high-quality, original images that are visually appealing and on-brand. Avoid stock photos or generic images – customize photos to match your brand identity.
– Resize and optimize images for Pinterest’s recommended width of 1000px to avoid distortion or blurriness.
– Add overlays with compelling text featuring your keywords, offers, or calls-to-action. Keep overlay text brief, clear, and designed to inspire clicks.
– Make your brand name and logo prominently visible on each pin. This strengthens branding and name recognition.
– Craft every element of the pin to reinforce branding, from colors and fonts to any visual motifs. Maintain consistent branding across pins.
– Tailor pin designs and styles to different audiences and campaign objectives. Pins for an awareness campaign may differ from a conversion campaign.
– A/B test different images, layouts, text overlays, and more to determine what resonates best with your target audiences. Refine pins over time.
– Use relevant and informative pin descriptions to provide context. Include prominent keywords and calls to action.
With beautiful pins optimized for the Pinterest platform, you can cut through the noise and connect with audiences in a meaningful, memorable way. Driving engagement starts with stellar visual content.
Write Compelling Ad Copy
Your ad copy is one of the most important elements of your Pinterest ads. It’s the text that appears on your Promoted Pins that convinces users to click through to your site or product pages.
To write compelling ad copy, focus on the benefits of your offer rather than just describing the product or service. Highlight what problems your brand solves or how it improves people’s lives. Use an emotional appeal and explain why viewers need to act now.
Some tips for effective ad copy:
– Lead with a catchy headline that grabs attention. Ask a provocative question or use keywords people search for.
– Describe the key benefits clearly and succinctly. List 2-3 major advantages.
– Use power words that compel action – “Get,” “Buy,” “Start,” “Apply” etc.
– Add urgency with time-limited offers or scarcity messages like “Only 5 left!”
– Use you/your language to speak directly to the reader.
– Keep it short – 1-2 concise sentences or *50* characters.
– Test different headlines and descriptions to see what works.
– Make your CTA obvious. Say “Shop now” or “Learn more.”
– Be enthusiastic and conversational without hype.
With compelling ad copy, you can turn Pinterest viewers into customers and boost your brand. Focus on what makes your offer worthwhile and use urgency to motivate immediate action. Test different approaches to find what resonates most.
Structure a Promoted Pin Campaign
Promoted Pin campaigns allow you to define exactly who sees your Pins and when. A deliberate structure and planning will lead to better campaign results. Here are some tips for structuring an effective Promoted Pin campaign:
Campaign Setup
When setting up your campaign, give it a clear descriptive name that you can easily identify later. Define the campaign objective – are you aiming for traffic, conversions, or something else? Choose the placement type based on your goals and target audience.
Budget and Bidding
Allocate a reasonable budget based on your means and objectives. Start low to test and optimize before increasing. For the bid, choose CPC bidding to get the most exposure for your budget. Use automatic bidding to start and then switch to manual bids once you have enough conversion data.
Scheduling
Schedule your Pins to be promoted at optimal high-traffic times when your audience is most active on Pinterest. You can schedule ads for different times, days, or durations to control the timing. Consider your product, industry, and buyer seasons. Schedule a campaign calendar upfront.
Location Targeting
Target your ads geographically to serve them only to your ideal locations. This allows concentrated targeting and helps ensure relevance.
Carefully structuring your campaign with strategic choices for setup, budget, bidding, scheduling, and targeting will allow your Promoted Pins to achieve maximum effectiveness. Continuously optimize based on performance data.
Leverage Video Ads
Video is gaining more and more traction on Pinterest. Video Pins receive 2x more closeups than static Pins, keeping viewers more engaged.
Leveraging video ads can be a powerful strategy to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to your site. Here are some best practices for optimizing Pinterest video ads:
– Keep videos short, under 15 seconds is optimal. Pinterest data shows the first 5-10 seconds are most impactful.
– Use eye-catching visuals and text overlays to capture attention immediately. Creative should clearly convey your brand and messaging.
– Tailor videos for sound off viewing. Many users watch videos on silent so text and visuals must tell the full story.
– Test different thumbnail images to see which garners most clicks. Consider trying lifestyle imagery or product close-ups.
– Include a strong, succinct call-to-action overlay to drive conversions, such as “Shop Now” or “Sign Up Today.”
– Analyze performance data to optimize for cost-per-click and conversion rates. Refine targeting and creative based on results.
– Promote product videos, tutorials, testimonials or behind-the-scenes footage showcasing your brand story. Provide value and inspiration.
Strategically leveraging video ads can capture consumer attention amidst busy feeds. Compelling video creative optimized for the Pinterest platform can effectively engage your target audience and boost brand awareness.
Utilize Multi-Product Ad Groups
Promoted pins allow you to feature multiple products within a single ad group. This is an excellent strategy for maximizing the impact of your ad spend. By showing different products to users, you increase the chance that they will find something relevant and compelling.
Rather than targeting a single product to a wide audience, try narrowing your targeting but broadening the range of products you promote. For example, instead of targeting women ages 25-34 with pins for a specific handbag, target women living in New York City with pins for multiple handbags, shoes, and accessories.
The key is to keep the ad group focused but include enough product variety to appeal to multiple interests within your target audience. If you have 100 products to promote, don’t try to feature them all in one ad group. Break it up into smaller, more tightly themed groups for the best results.
Promoting a diverse selection of products to each audience segment helps increase your reach and conversions. Users get to discover more of what your brand offers instead of seeing the same pin over and over. Be sure to analyze performance data to identify your best-selling items and continuously refine your multi-product ad groups. With a balanced approach, you can achieve greater success.
