The Ultimate Guide to Using Pinterest in 2021 and Beyond

Table Of Contents

• What are Pinterest ads and how do they work?
• What are the benefits of using Pinterest?
• Why are Pinterest ads beneficial?
• How to promote Pinterest pins?
• What are the different types of pins?
• How to set up ad campaigns on Pinterest?
• How to create a business account on Pinterest?
• How to optimize your ad campaign on Pinterest?
• How to assess the success of Pinterest ads?
• What is Pinterest dynamic retargeting?

It is tempting to think of Facebook as the go-to advertising platform with seven million advertisers. However, given the level of competition, other alternatives should be explored. Ads on Pinterest are the solution if you are a social media marketer and you want to explore other platforms.

Pinterest is a social media platform that allows users to share and discover ideas for anything from home design and style to pet accessories, recipes, and DIY projects.

Pinterest is used by over 400 million people each month, and its popularity is increasing among Millennials, Gen Z, and men.

The platform is underutilized — compared to a giant network like Facebook, Pinterest only has 1.5 million companies engaging with users every month — but they provide a huge chance to reach a larger audience. Pinterest's user base has steadily grown since its introduction, and the company continues to introduce product updates that enhance the user experience.

Pinterest Ads are a quick way to expand your reach on the platform. Pinterest is a discovery site, thus it is full of people looking to buy something.

We will cover everything you need to know about Pinterest advertisements in this comprehensive article, from developing your first ad to ensuring they stand out and help you reach your business goals.

What Are Pinterest Ads and How Do They Work?

Pinterest Ads are similar to regular Pins, with the exception that they have been sponsored to get more visibility in relevant search results.

Pinterest Business account users have the option of promoting current top-performing pins, creating a new picture or video, or even promoting a pinned picture from a website. When you create an ad in Pinterest Ads Manager, it will show up in users' Home feeds as well as related search results.

So, how does Pinterest choose which advertisements to show in a user's home feed?

This is usually determined by a user's previous activity. If a person looks for beauty or health inspiration frequently, adverts relevant to these themes are likely to appear in their feed.

Pinterest Ads may be targeted by demographics like age and location, as well as categories and hobbies, to ensure that your business reaches the correct audience. They are one of the most efficient methods for increasing traffic, conversions, and brand exposure!

What are the benefits of using Pinterest?

On Pinterest, there are billions of pins – movies, photos, and items. When users (also known as Pinners) come across a pin they like, they can pin it to their own account's board.

Pinners may also categorize their boards to keep their ideas organized and accessible. In their home page feed, they are exposed to new material, both organic and sponsored.

Home, Search, Messages, and Profile is the four primary pages of the Pinterest interface.

Home

Users may browse and scroll through pins that Pinterest recommends based on their recent search history on the Pinterest home page.

Pins from the boards and individuals they follow are also generated on the home feed.

Search

The search page is exactly what it sounds like: a search bar where users may look for specific pins or, more likely, ideas.

For example, “places to travel with kids” would be a popular search term.

Messages

Pinterest's messaging feature allows users to interact more personally. Friends and users may give and receive certain pins or boards by name, email, or phone.

If you receive a pin that you want to save, you can do it here as well. Your saved pins are kept on your profile page.

They may be preserved in two ways: on a board or with a pin. It goes to the pin area if you locate a pin and save it directly to your account. If you save a pin to a board you have made, it will be saved to that board. You can also leave a remark under the original pin on your profile. This is useful if you want to share your experience with any of your saved pins.

Social media marketing agencies in Dubai and around the world are increasing their focus towards Pinterest because of the advantages of the platform. Now that other markets are getting more and more saturated, marketers

Why Are Pinterest Ads Beneficial?

Pinterest, contrary to common opinion, is more akin to a search engine like Google than a social network site. Users typically utilize social media to communicate with one another and share information. Pinterest allows users to look for inspiration and build boards with pinned information that they can explore later.

It is simpler for customers to discover and buy the things they want since Pinterest adverts display as Promoted Pins – Pins that are sponsored by a brand.

Promoted Pins provide information about the brand that is supporting the product as well as a link to a sales page, but regular Pins do not.

There is no disputing that Pinterest has become a hotspot for businesses to engage directly with their audience, with over 291 million active monthly users.

Here are seven reasons why you should use Pinterest Marketing, or you risk losing out on a massive increase in client acquisition:

• The platform is still expanding. Pinterest acquired 51 million monthly users in the first few months of this year. That is a lot of progress.
• Users feel compelled to make a purchase. After seeing a Promoted Pin, 50% of consumers make a purchase.
• A broader market segment is accessible. Sixty-seven percent of consumers use Pinterest to find new companies and goods.
• Your items have the potential to reach a worldwide audience.Outside of the United States, 50% of users and 75% of new signups originate from. Brazil, India, and Turkey have the most users from outside the United States.
• Users have more cash to spend. More than a third of customers earn more than $75,000 each year.
• Active users devote a significant amount of time to pinning. The more time consumers spend on the site, the higher your chances of getting noticed and gaining new clients are. When compared to Facebook, Instagram, and even Twitter, active users spend around 34 minutes on the site.
• Pinterest is used by users as a shopping guide. Ninety-three percent of Pinterest users use the site to plan their purchases. Pinterest is also the most popular buying website among millennials.

Promoted Pins/Pinterest Ads of Various Types

Pinterest has a variety of ad options to help you achieve your campaign objectives. Before you begin a Pinterest ad campaign, it is critical to understand the benefits of each type. Each ad structure is tailored to certain marketing goals, which Pinterest divides into the following domains:

• Brand Recognition
• Views on Video
• Traffic
• Conversion Rates
• Sales of catalogs

Here are the several types of Pinterest ad formats available to you:

Standard Pins

Standard Pins are one of Pinterest's most popular ad kinds and for good reason. Giving your Pins a boost in exposure is always a good idea because over 83 % of weekly US Pinners make purchases based on Pins they see from businesses.

You may use the Standard Pin format to display items and information in the basic vertical or square image or video formats. When a user saves a Standard Pin ad to a board, the "Promoted by" label vanishes, transforming the ad into an organic Pin that may be shared throughout the Pinterest ecosystem. Additionally, as more individuals save, your business will acquire more exposure at no further expense.

When a consumer clicks on the Standard Pin ad, they will be sent to your website in a single touch. Pinterest advertising used to work on a two-tap basis, with the initial click enlarging the ad, but this procedure has now been simplified to improve conversion rates. Standard Pins provide brands an edge since Organic Rich Pins still operate with the two-tap method.

The following are the acceptable parameters for the Standard Pin ad format:

• Type of file:.PNG or.JPEG
• 2:3 is the ideal aspect ratio.
• Maximum file size: 10 MB

Carousel Ads

Carousel advertisements are identical to Standard Pins, with the exception that they allow viewers to swipe between many photos or videos (referred to as "cards") in a single Pin. Carousel ads, which are available on both desktop and mobile, allow you to add 2 to 5 cards.

There is a title, description, and link for each card. You can connect to up to five distinct websites from a single Carousel, which is ideal for increasing conversions from a single Pin. According to a Pinterest case study, REI's Carousel ad increased its click-through rate by 32%!

If you want to advertise many items or show off one product with numerous qualities, this ad style is great, with each card showcasing a distinct aspect. When it comes to where this ad style can be found, it may be found anyplace that conventional Pins can be found. The dotted swipe is the sole visible difference between these and regular pins.

The following are the recommended specifications for the Carousel format:

Images:

Per Pinterest Carousel, there should be 2-5 photos.

PNG or JPEG are the two most common file types.

Per the picture, the maximum file size would be 32 MB.

1:1 or 2:3 aspect ratio

Character count:

Up to 100 characters for the title. In people's feeds, the first 30-35 characters will appear.

Up to 500 characters for the description. The first 50-60 characters matter the most.

Video Pins Ads

Video Pins advertisements are an excellent method to deliver more powerful tales to your audience while also improving viewer engagement. As a result, giving your Video Pins a boost might be a great strategy to improve your Pinterest performance.

Although Video Pins advertisements function in the same way as Standard Pins, Pinterest claims that after watching a video, viewers are 53 percent more inclined to buy a brand/product. This ad type, which is available for desktop and mobile, is ideal for “how-tos” or presenting more engaging tales about a company or product.

Always make sure that your Video Pin adverts are optimized for quiet viewing. Because many people watch films without sound, utilizing text overlays is a terrific way to keep everyone interested!

Video Pin advertisements are available in two sizes on Pinterest: max-width and standard width.

Standard-width videos are the same size as regular Pins, but max-width films stretch over the feed, reducing distracting Pins. Because minimum bids start higher, maximum video exposure is usually more expensive.

Use the following specifications for Video Pin ads:

• Type of file:.mp4,.mov, or.m4v
• 264 or H.265 encoding
• Maximum file size: 2GB
• Video length: 4 seconds minimum, 15 minutes maximum
• Aspect ratio: less than 1:2 (width:height), more than 1.91:1 (height:width).

Pinterest suggests shooting your films in a square (1:1) or vertical format (2:3, 9:16).

Character count:

No more than 100 characters for the title. In people's feeds, the first 30-35 characters will appear.

Up to 500 characters for the description. Because the first 50-60 characters are most likely to appear in people's feeds, make sure to provide the most critical information first. Video Pins advertising can display in users' home feeds, search results, and under a Pin Closeup in the "more like this" section.

Shopping Pins

This format is ideal for, you guessed it, everything related to shopping!

Shopping Pins on Pinterest allow you to add goods from your catalog and transform them into Pins that help consumers decide what to buy. They are used by brands to market anything from the latest spring fashion to living room design to exercise equipment.

Conversions are the goal of this campaign, which is available on both desktop and mobile (i.e. driving sales). Shopping Pins can also be found in the same locations as standard pins, such as a user's home feed.

Shopping Pins are especially helpful to marketers because they can be filled with product information. They are labeled with signs that users can press to learn more about the product.

If you want to highlight the unique selling characteristics of your items, this is the way to go. Pinterest recommends tagging 4-6 dots in an image and attaching each dot to the actual product's homepage as a best practice.

App Install Pins are action-oriented advertising that can be used to promote app downloads. These Pins connect to any Apple Store or Google Play app URL, allowing users to download the app without ever leaving Pinterest. Program Pins offer a simple install button, but you can also use the description to advertise certain aspects of your app.

With 80 percent of Pinners use Pinterest on their mobile devices, this format might be an effective approach to increase your company's app downloads.

Collections Ads

There is one major "lifestyle" image in these advertisements, with three smaller product pictures under it. You must first set up Pinterest's feed ingestion technology, the Catalog before you can run Collections Ads.

You must have the following:

• A Pinterest business account.
• A website that claims to follow Pinterest's Merchant Guidelines.
• A data source or file containing your goods' attributes.
• Data source hosting or another method of hosting and storing product data that may be sent to Pinterest regularly is available.
• On your website, a Pinterest tag (Javascript code). To ensure that your product IDs are passed back on product detail pages, utilize the Tag Helper Chrome Extension.

Pinterest accounts may analyze up to 20 million goods and ingests data once every 24 hours. Before you get started with Pinterest Ads on this scale, make sure you study this resource on Catalogs.

Setting Up Ad Campaigns on Pinterest

This approach will get you started if you are running any of the other sorts of promoted Pins except Collections Ads.

Create a Business Account

Begin by opening a new business account, converting your personal account to a business account, or linking your personal account to your business account (which allows you to switch between the two with the same login information).

Determine the Goal of Your Campaign

After logging in, you will be asked to select a campaign goal (brand awareness, website visits, purchases, etc.).

Set Your Campaign Budget

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to select your campaign budget. The ad will stop running after your budget is spent, much as other ad platforms.

Create an Ad Group

You may use ad groups to group together and monitor a few comparable advertisements within the same campaign. These advertisements can be customized based on your target audience, interests, ad locations, and other factors.

For example, you might design a campaign called "loves nature" and include multiple ad groups like "male age 35+" and "female age 35+" to observe which works better.

If you simply want to target women, you might create a campaign called "women age 35+" with ad groupings like "those who enjoy nature" and "those who love animals."

Create Your Audience

Select who you want to target with your advertising by scrolling down to "Targeting Details" on the same page. You must first choose a strategy (“connect with users” or “find new customers”), after which you can choose your audience, keywords and interests, demographics, and ad placement (the Pinterest “search” or “browse” area).

Create Your Ad

Select something you have previously pinned to create your actual ad. After you've chosen your pin, you can add a title, a link to where you want people who click on your ad to go, and a tracking URL to see which users interacted with your advertisements (this makes sense if you use a CRM and your customers have a long journey to conversion)

Once you have hit "Publish," you're done!

The results may then be viewed by going to Ads>Reporting in the top menu bar.

Pinterest Ads: How to Make Awesome Ads

There are decent advertisements and then there are amazing advertisements.

With that in mind, here are our three best recommendations for creating awesome Pinterest advertisements that add value to your company or brand:

Create Beautiful Images

You want your advertising to be visually appealing, compelling, and scroll-stopping. To give your Pins a competitive advantage, make sure to include high-resolution, vertical photos. To avoid having a distorted or shortened Pin, always follow Pinterest's suggested ad specs.

The good news is that there are a plethora of simple programs available for creating aesthetically stunning Pinterest adverts. You may also use a text overlay to reinforce the meaning of your ad!

Make your ads more engaging

Interactivity and personalization are common features of the most effective Pinterest adverts.

Pinterest and the fashion and beauty company collaborated to offer a personalized beauty experience on the site. Users completed a brief questionnaire about their beauty habits and were then sent a custom board that included product information, beauty suggestions, and monogrammed material.

Branding should be clear

Because Pinterest is such a visual platform, using your name or logo in your Pinterest advertising is a terrific approach to increase brand recognition and attention. Pinterest recommends displaying branding during the first five seconds of a video pin ad. Remember to place your branding in such a way that it may still be seen in Pinterest search results.

How to Assess the Success of Pinterest Ads?

You can monitor the performance of your ad in your Pinterest Ads Manager dashboard after it is up. To get there, go to "Ads" and select "Overview" and "Reporting" from the drop-down menus.

You may specify the date period and examine analytics for your current or finished advertising under "Overview," including impressions, link clicks, and saves.

Depending on the ad style you choose, you can look at how much awareness, traffic, app installations, conversions, or video views your ad received under “Reporting.”

You can make strategic tweaks to enhance and further optimize your next campaign after you observe how it is going. You can change your target audience next time, raise your budget, or experiment with new forms.

Pinterest Dynamic Retargeting

Retargeting on Pinterest works similarly to other ad platforms because it also allows you to contact individuals who have already visited your website or had things in their shopping cart.

This is an option for bigger marketers who use Pinterest Catalogs, as it is a requirement for this campaign type. To run retargeting advertising, you must also fulfill Pinterest's requirement for the number of page visits and AddToCart events in the previous 7 days.

With over 2 billion monthly searches, Pinterest is a social networking site not to be overlooked, even if Pinterest does not appear to be your ideal target demographic. Consider investing less while still experimenting to discover what works.

According to Small Business Trends, 87 percent of Pinterest users have made a purchase based on what they saw on the site, which is likely due to the fact that buyers go through the whole purchasing process while on the website. They begin by being inspired by a pin and then purchase something based on that motivation.

While it is no secret that Pinterest is mostly used by young adult women, there has been a rise in the number of Gen Z and millennial users. Different sorts of pins have shown to be more popular with this demographic on Pinterest, so it is worth experimenting with the site through advertising to see if it can work for you.

Whatever your company's size or marketing objectives for the year, Pinterest may be a good place to start.

This is it for today’s blog. I hope you liked it and that you learned a thing or two from it. Share it with your friends so that they can also benefit from this. Do write to me if you have any queries or comments.

If you have a business and you want to increase its visibility online, reach out to Prism, the best Social Media Marketing company in Dubai and let’s take your business to a new level. See you on the other side. Thank you and goodbye.

About The Author: Lovetto Nazareth

Lovetto Nazareth is a digital marketing consultant and agency owner of Prism Digital. He has been in the advertising and digital marketing business for the last 2 decades and has managed thousands of campaigns and generated millions of dollars of new leads. He is an avid adventure sports enthusiast and a singer-songwriter. Follow him on social media on @Lovetto Nazareth