When I ask life’s big questions, like, “what should I make for dinner tonight?” or “will that shade of matte lipstick brighten my pasty complexion?” I ask them to the all-knowing Pinterest, and its unwavering insight rarely leaves me without resolve.
It’s true, Pinterest is my go-to resource for a lot of the planning I do in my life, from the way I decorate my apartment, to the outfits I (try to) rock. Now, let me tell you a secret—people like me are the perfect target for brands to serve relevant ads to and with its newest ad unit, Promoted App Pins, there are five business types that I would welcome in my feed.
Early results suggest that Pinterest-driven users have a higher lifetime value, particularly in regards to making in-app purchases, and it’s easy to understand why. What could be more helpful than discovering apps that might make your life easier, within the context of the planning you’re already doing on Pinterest? What’s more, users will be able to download their newfound app directly off of Pinterest—somebody hit the “easy” button, please!
This is a huge opportunity for advertisers who want their app to be discovered in a contextually relevant way. Here are the five types of apps I would welcome (and click on) in my Pinterest feed.
Meal Planning—Food and drink top the list for most browsed, as well as most saved categories on Pinterest. Not surprising considering how many Pinners use the app to plan their weekly meals. If you’re a meal delivery service, like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh or Plated, I think Promoted App Pins make perfect sense. Imagine you’re a Pinner stressing to find recipes that are both delicious and healthy for the week ahead. While scrolling through your search results, you see an ad to download an app that allows you to have the meals you seek delivered right to your door. That seems like a lot less work. Just saying.
Fitness— If you’re searching for exercise Pins, you probably have an interest in ways that you can become more generally fit. Cue Pins that help you achieve just that. If you’re Under Armour, your “Map My Run” Promoted App Pin would look perfect next to Pins about stretches or strength exercises for long distance runners. Or, if you’re Nike, why not promote Nike+ Training Club to appear alongside pins about exercise motivation?
Fashion— If you’re like me, Pinterest basically acts as your own personal stylist. And if I can help it, I want to find outfits where I can repurpose other things I already own. This is where I think apps that help organize and plan your closet inventory could really shine on Pinterest (we’re looking at you, Stylebook and Smart Closet!). Not to mention, scrolling through search results for “Spring Outfit Ideas” might lead me to think about how completely unequipped my closet is to handle the season ahead. Apps like Stitch Fix and Trunk Club could use this opportunity to encourage a delivery of fresh cuts for the warmer weather.
Home Décor— There’s great opportunity for brands that specialize in home improvement and décor to advertise their apps on Pinterest. Brands like Glidden already have apps that allow you to take a picture of your space and see how thousands of different colors would look. How helpful would that piece of technology be when planning the look of your new living room? Even brands like Wayfair could place an ad for its app, appearing seamlessly alongside Pins with beautiful interior design.
Financial— Pinterest is unique in the sense that its user base converts more regularly than other social platforms. In fact, 72% of Pinners use Pinterest to decide what to buy offline, while a whopping 93% use Pinterest to plan their purchases. But with great buying power comes great responsibility. We think apps like Mint or Goodbudget that help users to both track and plan their personal finances could successfully place an ad within the results of virtually any Pinterest search. On top of that, Pinterest counts more than 1.3 billion Pins about managing money, so interest in apps that could help make this easier is already there.
According to Pinterest, once Pinners install these apps, they are more likely to take in-app actions, like sign-ups and purchases.
Used correctly, this new ad unit is potentially a money machine for the right types of advertisers. Are you on the list?