Learn more about Pinterest ads for eCommerce as well as why and how you should be using it.
Pinterest has 400 million active users. That's 400 million people that could be seeing your ads, pinning your pictures, and sharing your products.
Pinterest is an amazing platform for eCommerce businesses, for several reasons. Nevertheless, it is still an underused platform. It's time to get you started so that your eCommerce store can take advantage of what this platform offers.
Keep reading to learn more about Pinterest ads for eCommerce as well as why and how you should be using it.
In this article, we will cover:
Why Should I Use Pinterest Ads for eCommerce?
Pinterest has the perfect set-up for eCommerce businesses as people use Pinterest to plan and buy.
There is a multitude of reasons why your eCommerce store should take advantage of Pinterest. Let's run through some specific, exciting reasons to make sure that you're ready to commit to the platform:
Pinterest is the platform for coolhunting. People use Pinterest to plan and buy, which makes it the perfect platform to take the pulse of consumer trends and preferences. Take advantage of Pinterest's guides and stats, like Pinterest 100 and the follow the Pinterest Blog to stay up to date.
Pinterest can help you sell more. There are a few different ways that you can showcase your products on Pinterest. It's virality factor (pinning to boards and sharing pins) will help more people see your Pins which will help you sell more products.
According to the Pinterest Planner UK 2019:
Many Pinners plan early. Let Pinners follow your lead by saving inspiration two to three months in advance (or sooner). Take Christmas for example, people start searching and saving as early as August! But don’t forget the last minute shoppers looking for gift ideas in the week just before.
Pinterest is a great visual brand tool. Visually-captivating posts work best on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. By posting visual pictures, these kinds of visually-based platforms can help you craft a visual brand concept.
Pinterest can help you get more traffic. Pinterest allows you to link web pages to your pins. Users click on these links to find whatever they enjoyed in the picture.
If you're posting a picture of a product, you should link to the product page so that potential customers can find more information about it. Pinterest brings in a great number of product views and sales this way.
Pinterest keeps you competitive. If you haven't noticed, your competitors are already using Pinterest. Most businesses do.
By joining Pinterest you're simply joining in on the trend and showing the competition that you're actually competing.
Pinterest will give you a constant stream of potential new customers. With so many daily users and more users being added every day, Pinterest will give you a constant influx of potential new customers that you can amaze and sell to.
Pinterest can help you establish your business as an authority. Pinterest was made for people who are looking for new advice, creative techniques, and nifty products. By creating high-quality content, you can show viewers that you're an authority in your niche.
How Can I Use Pinterest for eCommerce Marketing?
Before you create your first campaign on Pinterest, it's important to have a marketing plan. Your Pinterest strategy should be aligned with your overall marketing strategy. If you need further help, check our article on How to Create a Social Media Plan.
Think about what you want to achieve with Pinterest and plan accordingly. Consistency is key! Only publish high-quality content that’s tailored to your audience’s interests and needs and add new Pins over time rather than uploading it all at once.
You need to set yourself up for success before you start taking beautiful pictures of your products. Keep reading to learn more about setting up your Pinterest marketing plan.
1. Add Pinterest to Your Website
One of the best things about Pinterest is that your content can show up there without you posting anything. By adding a Pinterest widget to the pages on your website, your customers could do all of the pinning for you.
While we don't recommend solely leaning on this element, we do recognise that it's an important part of the virality of Pinterest.
Give your customers a chance to share your products on their own Pinterest pages by adding a "Pin It" button to your products, blog posts, recipes, outfit combinations, and more.
2. Plan Your Visual Aesthetic
Just like Instagram, Pinterest is all about visually-pleasing posts. Instead of the popular Instagram square, Pinterest uses vertical images to catch its online viewers.
Keep in mind that most Pinterest users are viewing content on their mobile devices. Your pictures should be clean yet eye-popping so that users will catch sight and share your Pin.
Think about what you want your Pinterest account to look like. What boards will you have? What colours will you use?
Make the process fun. Think about what would attract your target audience and get to work on planning visually-pleasing content.
Find some inspiration in the Pinterest Creative Gallery.
3. Integrating Keywords
Yes, even Pinterest uses those infamous keywords that every SEO-master loves. Keywords are a part of Pinterest's algorithm just like every other online platform these days.
For each post, you should make sure that you're including 4-7 keywords in your description. This will help more people (and more relevant people) find your content.
4. Promote your Pins
To get started you need to set up a Pinterest business account, once you’re logged in on ads.pinterest.com, click “Create” and then select “Create Campaign”.
Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to set up Pinterest ads:
Choose the campaign objective that best reflects your business goal. There are several options available for Brand Awareness, Consideration and Conversion goals.
Define your targeting. Pinterest gives you several targeting options:
Create a new audience based on visitors who went to your site, a list of customers that you upload, an engagement audience that engaged with your Pins or an lookalike audience that behaves similarly to one you already have.
Add interests to reach people interested in topics related to your brand.
Add relevant keywords to increase ad impressions in search results and Related Pins. Pinterest recommends a minimum of 25 keywords.
Select your demographic preferences.
Choose your placements. By selecting browse your ads will appear as people browse their home feeds and related Pins, while with Search your ads will appear in search results and related Pins. You can also choose both options.
Select your schedule and add your budget. You'll be able to set a daily or a lifetime budget.
Create a Pin or promote an existing one.
What Kinds of Ads Can I Run on Pinterest?
Pinterest offers a variety of different ad formats. From static pictures to videos, there are so many different ways for you to show your products off.
Depending on your products, you may find that a different kind of ad is more suitable for you and what you're trying to accomplish.
Let's run through the different kinds of Pinterest ad formats and discuss which one(s) may be right for you.
Promoted Pins
Promoted Pins are like any other promoted social media post, you can create and promote Pins to share your products and ideas and link them back to your website.
Here are some specifications to keep in mind when it comes to promoted Pins:
Images must be PNG or JPEG files and no more than 32 MB.
Title up to 100 characters and description up to 500 characters.
Use high-quality, vertical images. The recommended aspect ratio is 2:3 or 1,000 x 1,500 pixels.
Make sure to make your brand the focal point of your promoted Pins, putting your product or service front and centre. Avoid using abstract images or lifestyle imagery that doesn’t showcase your brand.
Promoted Video Pins
Video Pins are exactly what they sound like. They're pins that are videos rather than pictures.
Here are some specifications to keep in mind when it comes to promoted video Pins:
Video length must be between 4 seconds and 15 minutes, although shorter videos tend to be more popular.
Videos must be MOV, MP4 or M4V files with up to 2GB.
Aspect ratio: square (1:1) or vertical (2:3, 9:16). Max-width videos can be square (1:1) or widescreen (16:9).
Don't rely on audio, most people play the videos with the sound off, use captions or text overlays.
Title up to 100 characters and description up to 500 characters.
Posting videos are great for companies who may want to showcase their story. You could show someone using your product or how to use your product or different ways to use your product.
Carousel Ads
This kind of ad combines several different pictures with different links together in one post.
Here are some specifications to keep in mind when it comes to carousel ads:
Images must be PNG or JPEG files and no more than 32 MB.
2–5 images per Carousel.
Title up to 100 characters and description up to 500 characters.
Use high-quality, vertical images. The recommended aspect ratio is 1:1 or 2:3 (1,000 x 1,500 pixels).
Carousel ads are great for showcasing a release of several products, showing off different shots of the same product or several products from the same collection. For example, you may want to sell baby travel solutions, like this example on the right from Jonh Lewis. You can use carousel ads on Pinterest to show off different solutions like Strollers and Car Seats (click the image to see the full carousel).
Promoted App Pins
Promoted App Pins use the same specs as standard Pins. You can also use a standard video to promote your app.
Look at some other Pinterest ads to get the ideas flowing.
Conclusion
Mastering Pinterest ads for eCommerce is just one way you can spread the word about your business.
Use Pinterest to get insights and consumer trends that will help you define your strategy.
Take advantage of Pinterest by adding a Pin It button to your website, so your customers can share your products and you'll increase your visibility.
Plan your visual aesthetic creating high-quality, vertical images or videos and adding the most relevant keywords to your Pin's description.
Take advantage of Pinterest ads and get your products and content in front of more people as they search, browse and discover on Pinterest.
Have you ever tried Pinterest ads for eCommerce? Share your experience with us in the comments section!