The Benefits of a Pinterest Advertising Strategy
Pinterest is a beautiful and visually-driven social media network that is emerging as one of the most powerful advertising platforms for brands. The people who use it are often planning for their future and looking for inspiration, putting Pinterest advertisers in a prime position to be discovered.
Pinterest boasts 463 million monthly active users throughout the world. The visual discovery platform is a destination for future planning and an incubator for emerging trends.
If you haven’t thought about using it in your advertising strategy, then it might be time. People go to Pinterest when they are actively considering what to do or buy next. They often have a plan. They could be decorating their home, planning a wedding, or looking for healthy recipes. As a result, “Pinners” are often looking for, and open to new brands, products, and experiences.
The platform also supports a variety of business goals such as improving brand visibility, driving website traffic, and boosting sales.
Let’s explore three Pinterest advertising opportunities that you could start tapping into today:
Pinners have a positive and open mindset.
Pinterest offers high-value reach.
Pinterest influences the entire purchase journey.
Pinners have a positive and open mindset.
Pinterest is an uplifting discovery platform. The platform is designed to inspire people and encourage them to try new things, meaning it can be a safe and engaging environment for brands to participate in. Less about opinions and more about ideas, 9 in 10 Pinterest users say that it’s an online oasis and 8 in 10 say it makes them feel positive. It’s also known for taking active steps to keep its users safe, such as prohibiting weight loss language and supporting the Inspired Internet Pledge.
According to data from Hootsuite, 97% of the top searches on Pinterest are also unbranded, signalling that Pinners are open to discovering new products and ideas. 85% of Pinners also say that they use Pinterest to plan new projects, making it easier for Pinterest advertisers to leverage contextual relevance.
When we’re trying to build brands, we’re trying to build positive mental associations. Aligning your message with an inspiring context early in the purchase journey is a great way to do this.
The platform also has an emphasis on aesthetically pleasing images, infographics, and videos, making it an engaging avenue for brands to reach their audiences. Using the right combination of Pinterest advertising formats, brands can encourage Pinners to explore further, save pins, and visit their website.
Pinterest offers high-value reach.
Since Pinners are in a discovery mindset, they are open to new things but the likelihood of immediate purchases is lower. Pinterest is different to platforms like Google Ads, where customers are often actively shopping, but that doesn’t mean that the platform isn’t effective.
If advertisers expand their attribution window, they can start seeing the full impact of Pinterest within the customer journey, from viewing the brand for the first time via an ad all the way through to checkout. Up to 95% of conversions captured by the Pinterest Tag are based on views, rather than clicks. That indicates that Pinterest is effective in creating new demand. Pinners see ads, remember brands, and then proceed to make purchases later.
It also offers lower cost-per-impression than more competitive platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Nonetheless, the impressions make an impact.
Advertisers can target the right audience, given that people’s behaviours on the platform send strong signals about their aspirations. They can also create highly relevant ads with more cut-through, meaning that their budget is spent more efficiently.
Pinterest Trends also empowers advertisers to align their brands with relevant and emerging consumer trends to give their ads a boost. The aggregate insights into what Pinners are searching for on the platform (picture searches like “Barbie aesthetic”) can be filtered by time, location, interests, keywords, age, and gender. Brands can also repurpose existing content, such as blog posts, infographics, and product imagery to quickly align with trends and reach new people.
Pinterest influences the entire purchase journey.
People might turn to Pinterest to get inspired and start planning, but it also helps them to take action.
So, how does Pinterest advertising work in this context?
Advertisers are given a variety of ad formats that allow them to tailor their message to their audience’s discovery and purchase journey. From the initial spark of an idea to gathering inspirational content and refining the options, then following through to purchase, brands can meet Pinners where they are with the right message, aesthetic, and call to action.
Showcase ads help Pinners to visualise ideas, whereas quizzes can help them to plan by matching them with the right products. Video shopping ads can then also be used to inspire them to take action. The Pinterest advertising platform gives brands a huge variety of campaign objectives, formats, targeting approaches, and measurement tools to work with.
Whether you’re trying to drive brand awareness, consideration, website conversions, or sales from your shopping ads - there is a wide toolkit of tactics for Pinterest advertisers to use.
Where trends begin.
Pinterest offers engaged audiences, visual appeal, advanced targeting, and measurable performance outcomes for brands. By sharing beautiful content and engaging with their audience early in their purchase journey, Pinterest advertisers can make a lasting impact.