Pinterest Ads: How to Use Them to Grow Your Business

Pinterest users are twice as likely to say that their time spent on the platform is well-spent. And of those spending their time on Pinterest, 83% have made a purchase based on Pins they saw from brands.  

Those who are scrolling through their Pinterest feeds are searching for inspiration and clicking on Pins to learn more. That’s where you, the advertiser fits in. Your brand presence helps people decide what to try next.

Why Advertise on Pinterest?

Pinterest is a catalogue of many things. To some, it’s a search engine, a social network, a virtual bulletin board, a collection of DIY activities for a rainy day. Or in my case a reminder of all the home decor and travel destinations on my wish-list.

Image of a pinterest board based on someone with an interest in home decor and travel.

People use Pinterest for all kinds of things. In fact, 250 million people come to Pinterest monthly, in search of new ideas, looking for new brands to discover. Amongst these users, Pinterest reaches both women and men and 1 in 2 US millennials are pinners.

  • 98% of users have tried something new they discovered on Pinterest
  • 84% use Pinterest when trying to decide what to buy
  • 77% have found a new brand or product on Pinterest

Choosing your objective

Pinterest initially attracted users as a discovery platform and has diversified their product offerings to help advertisers find success in full funnel opportunity. Whether your objective is to build brand awareness or extend your online shopping capabilities, Pinterest may have the right business solution for you.

Increase Awareness on Pinterest

People see more than 350 ads a day across digital platforms—breaking through the clutter is crucial for growth. Advertising to those in discovery-mode makes Pinterest an ideal platform to build awareness because it’s more likely to be an early consumer touchpoint.

To help your brand build awareness Pinterest offers Promoted Pins or Promoted Videos.

Example of Pinterest Promoted Pin
Promoted Pins support marketing goals like awareness, engagement and traffic.

Promoted Video Pins help you catch people’s attention while they’re browsing or searching on Pinterest.

Drive Consideration on Pinterest

Pinterest’s ability to reach people at the moments that influence their decisions means it is a great place for any brand looking to promote their product or services. Further enticing users to want to learn more about your brand.

Example of Promoted Carousels via Pinterest

Tell your story. With Promoted Carousels, you can add multiple images for Pinners to swipe through. A unique way to tell your story or showcase how your product works in up to five different images.

Boost your traffic. A simple way to increase traffic on or off Pinterest, where Pinners can learn more about your offerings.

Promoted App Pins. Install your mobile app directly from the platform. More than 80% of Pinterest users are pinning on their mobile, so naturally, Pinterest provides a seamless experience with an app install button.


Get Conversions on Pinterest

If you want to increase signups, get qualified leads or checkouts on your site then try Pinterest conversion campaigns. You can use multiple ad formats, such as Promoted Pins, Promoted Videos or Carousels to support conversion objectives.

Here are some tips for your next conversion campaign:

  • Clearly show your product, offer or brand benefits in your image or video.
  • Make sure your landing page is mobile-friendly, easy to navigate and offers minimal touchpoints to reduce customer drop off prior to checkout or the end goal.
  • Add the Pinterest Tag to your site to help track the actions people are taking from your Pinterest ads.

How to Reach the Right Pinners

Determining the right objectives and ad format are important in setting up Pinterest ads, but audience targeting defines the success of your campaign. Audience targeting allows brands to reach Pinterest users based on their ideal customer but also based on the data Pinterest already knows about that ideal customer.

Targeting options include:

Interests: Based on a unique understanding of people’s interests, tastes and what they’re planning.

Customer Lists: Reach (or exclude) existing customers by uploading email addresses, mobile IDs or using an approved audience partner.

Keywords:Precisely target your ads to people who are planning and searching for ideas.

Retargeting: Reach people who interacted with your Pins on Pinterest or visited your site or app.

Actalike: Prospective customers who behave like your existing customers.

Demographics: Reach people who are within a specific age range or gender.


Bring Your Brand to Life

Image of a mobile device with Pinterest creative best practice.
  1. Pick an eye-catching image Think of vertical experience. 2:3 aspect ratio will capture a scrolling user for longer.
  2. Make your brand the focal point Get right to the point and showcase your brand front and center.
  3. Give context Use an image that shows context and brings your topic to life.
  4. Include your logo Avoid the lower right corner.
  5. Add text overlay to tell a better story Keep the text concise.
  6. Seasonal Moments align your content with this calendar.

Ready to launch your next Pinterest campaign, we’d love to help get you started. Click here to chat with one of our Pinterest experts!

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