While the major PPC platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook are continuously generating great results for businesses and agencies – it’s always helpful to consider other options. We’ve noticed an increase in businesses benefiting from using Pinterest to promote their products, which is why we’ve decided to talk a bit more about about this platform today.
Pinterest isn’t a new platform, but it has become a more popular digital marketing channel in recent years. As a digital marketing agency, we certainly recognise some very promising features that can generate great results when it comes to PPC. We’re talking about things like backlinks, lower competition, lower cost-per-click (CPC’s) and the ability to target a niche audience.
What is a Pinterest Board?
In case you haven’t used the platform before, we will start with the basics. When using Pinterest, you will create a ‘board’ which allows you to keep all of your content and your ‘liked’ content, in one place (like a profile page). As a business, your board focus will probably be product-based.
If you want to store another users post, then you can simply ‘pin’ it on to your own board. As suggested in the name – you ‘pin’ what you are interested in. This is a similar concept to a retweet on Twitter. The more pins you get, the better, because it means a user can easily find you again if they wish to purchase your product or visit your site (posts can include links!).
When pinning for digital marketing purposes, your board should contain high-quality content with a specific goal. Don’t worry, we will explain what we mean by this in more detail.
What goals can you meet through Pinterest ads?
The way you manage and optimise your campaign will depend on your ultimate goal. One thing we love about Pinterest is that you can set your campaign goals right from the start, as you are creating your ad.
Brand awareness and product awareness are common campaign goals for Pinterest users, which is similar to Instagram ads. If you want to put your product in front of a large audience – then, of course, your campaign is going to be focused on awareness.
If you are trying to gain a wider audience, then you’ll measure your success by reach. So, let’s say you’re paying per 1000 impressions as opposed to per click – you will be measuring the number of people viewing your content (a brand awareness campaign will aim to maximise this).
Although common, awareness isn’t the only objective to consider when using Pinterest. We’ve listed a few more goals that you can work towards below:
- Video Views: As an advertiser on Pinterest – you are able to display videos as promoted pins (to a wider audience) or as a post on your board. This is similar to brand awareness in the sense that you want to maximise the number of people viewing your video. Using keyword and audience targeting, you’ll be sharing your video with users who are likely to be interested. Pinterest offers different video formats and lengths, so you have the flexibility to tell your unique brand story. You won’t be paying for clicks – instead, you’ll pay for video views of 2 seconds or more.
- Site Traffic: If you’re aiming to drive more traffic, then you will pay per click and set your maximum cost-per-click (CPC) – as you would with your Google or Facebook ads. The primary goal of a traffic campaign on Pinterest is to drive relevant users to your site for brand or product consideration. By sharing engaging, visual sponsored content, you can generate interest and encourage more users to click through to your site and hopefully purchase.
- Conversions: Pinterest offers conversion campaigns to help reach goals such as improved leads, sales and increased sign-ups. Once you update your campaign goal, Pinterest will target based on who is most likely to complete your desired action (i.e. purchase your product). They also offer different ad formats depending on your goals (promoted pins, videos or carousels).
Speaking of sales, you can use promoted carousels which allow you to add up multiple images (up to five) within one ad – which is ideal for product promotion. You’ll be able to choose how to pay for your campaign (either per click or per impressions).
Who is your audience and how will you reach them?
Depending on things like browsing history, demographics and buying behaviour – you’ll be able to target a specific audience on Pinterest. We’ve highlighted the different ways you can use their advertising features:
- Remarketing – You can retarget customers who have shown an interest in your Pinterest board or your site. For example, you might benefit from retargeting users who have reposted with your ‘pins’.
Or, by adding a Pinterest tag to your official website – you can create an audience list based on user interaction – and reach out to them on the platform. - Actalike audience – This is a way of finding groups of new customers who are likely to be interested in your product. Pinterest will base the list on your existing customers, and find people who match the profile. Actalike is a similar concept to Facebook lookalike audiences.
- Demographics – As with most PPC campaigns, you can display your promoted pins towards a specific customer profile. You can target users based on their age, gender, location and job etc.
- Interests – You can target also target people what they’re interested in (foodies, cosmetics etc.) Users pin and save content that they want to engage with – meaning the platform’s algorithm can easily gather individuals likes and dislikes. You can then show your promoted pins to users who will be most likely to engage with your brand.
- Keyword targeting – Pinterest offers high-level and ultra-specific targeting options – for example, your keywords could be “bathroom décor” and “white marble bathroom décor”. Both options allow you to target users who are likely to convert – depending on how broad or exact you want to be. The platform can also supply the estimated search volume based on your keywords and settings (i.e. demographics, location).
- Devices – You can target users depending on the device they use. For example, it might be worth targeting mobile because the Pinterest app is widely used.
Get in touch
If you are interested in finding out more about Pinterest advertising – our London based digital marketing team will be happy to help, just get in touch.