It’s common to jump straight to Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn when considering your social media strategy. But as one of the strongest growing platforms in 2018 with a user increase of almost 40% year on year, it’s time to add Pinterest to the top of your list.
So how exactly does Pinterest and the ads work? Pinterest is a highly visual platform on which users browse their feeds for inspiration on whatever interests them. They search for these topics and click on Pins to learn more. This is why Pinterest works so well in any company’s social media strategy – Pinterest users are already looking to learn more about new brands and products. A recent Pinterest study found that 83% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase based on Pins they saw from brands.
How can you utilise Pinterest in your marketing plan?
People come to Pinterest looking for ideas to discover, save, and do. Your Pins help the Pinterest audience understand what your brand represents and how it can fit into their lives. Pinterest is the ideal platform for targeting people while they decide what to buy or do next. By getting your message in front of the right audience, you can help them make decisions and reach people at the moments that most influence their decisions to encourage them to act.
Pinterest is the most popular platform for shopping and product discovery, so this makes it a great place to run sales campaigns, for both online and offline sales growth. Any business can set up campaigns to drive online sales for a website, or offline sales for physical stores. Some businesses can also run shopping campaigns, which pull directly from a product feed to create actionable ads, at a scale.
Pinterest revealed in 2018 that 72% of Pinners say the channel inspires them to shop even when they aren’t even looking for anything. And when Pinners are in the mood for shopping, it’s not Google they turn to but Pinterest itself. When looking for ideas on what to buy, 60% use Pinterest compared to 48% using search engines.
Case Study: Tesco
From these stats you can see why Pinterest would be an incredible addition to your social media strategy – but in case you needed convincing some more, here are examples from brands who made the most of Pinterest:
Tesco used Pinterest’s Promoted Pins with the goal of increasing engagement leading to higher quality traffic. Through these Promoted Pins, they managed to match the engagement rate of another leading social platform, at a 36% lower cost per click. Tesco set out to improve their metrics by engaging with their target audience on Pinterest. Food is one of the top categories on the network, making it the perfect platform. They focused on providing visually stunning content that would be suitable for their audience. Tesco identified popular content on their community page, such as recipes and crafts, and made this content work for the Pinterest audience by creating visually engaging Pins. The result was higher quality traffic to their community page than other key digital channels, at a more competitive cost. Visitors from Pinterest spent 3x longer on the site than the next best performing social channel.
Case Study: Jetsetter
Taking a look at winners and finalists of the Shorty Awards can give you fantastic creative inspiration for how Pinterest can achieve your marketing goals no matter what sector you’re in. Jetsetter, a TripAdvisor company, won the Pinterest category a few years ago. They found that their customers were drawn in to their stunning imagery. Visual storytelling was at the core of their business and marketing, making Pinterest the perfect platform. Jetsetter leverage these visuals to evoke an emotional connection during the trip planning and booking process to make them the preferred online travel company. Their Pinterest efforts resulted in approximately 2.7 billion total impressions, 1.1 million total interactions and 3,700 daily repins on average. Without a doubt, Pinterest is the perfect platform for creating a unique story experience shared between you and your audience.
Pinterest Top Tips
So now you know the perks of Pinterest, here are some tips to consider:
Focus your content on seasonal or special moments
By featuring seasonal content or special occasions and highlighting life moments, your creative feels more relevant and relatable. A Pinterest study found that Pins referencing these topics drove 10x higher aided awareness and had a 22% higher online sales lift.
Mention Unique Features
Call out things that are special and worth sharing. As an example, Pins with ‘new’ in the text overlay drive 9x higher aided awareness.
Have Actionable Text Overlay
The text overlay on your pins helps people decide whether to click on your Pins. Keep text clear, with a strong call to action. Pins with calls to action in the overlay drive 6% higher sales lift.
Use the description to add context and reinforce branding
The description field helps you provide more context and detail. It also helps to put the most important information first. Pinterest’s research found that Pins with a brand name in the first line of the description field drive 2x higher awareness. This also goes for additional information – Pins with pricing details in the description field drive 28% higher online sales.