Social media users love Pinterest. In late 2016, the company announced it had more than 150 million active users. The network consists primarily of a picture board that has become a home for fashion, recipes, do-it-yourself projects and interesting products that convey well through images.
In early 2017, Pinterest announced it was launching a new advertising platform, Search Ads on Pinterest. The platform had offered ads in other formats for a while. However, this rollout opened up a significant increase in impressions for advertisers: making it a more reliable marketing channel for eCommerce brands.
This visual-first advertising system shows your ads whenever someone uses Pinterest’s search function. They appear directly alongside the relevant search results.
And it offers a full suite of features. Expect keyword targeting, shopping campaigns, powerful targeting options, and an in-depth reporting suite for monitoring your efforts. Since the platform’s launch, Pinterest continues to refine and update, adding new features each month.
Pinterests’ ideas board boasts a unique opportunity for eCommerce brands. Because of its visual nature—and the fact it’s often used for sharing items and interesting ideas—product ads tend to dovetail with commonly shared content. Novel products make it relatively easy to capture attention and generate interest without being intrusive.
Work for an eCommerce brand? Pinterest advertising might well be worth a shot:
Most Users Log In to See Products
The platform was built on the back of sharing cool pictures, products, and do-it-yourself style projects. Many users actively log in to see pictures of fun and interesting products. Some of the platform’s largest accounts celebrate the latest fashion, recipes, furniture, and products from other categories.
Regarding fit, few other platforms fit eCommerce brands as well as Pinterest does. Product ads can generate real interest…and don’t seem out of place to users. In short, the ads look and feel natural, all while reaching a receptive audience.
As seen in the above image, Pinterest holds a healthy amount of influence over social media users. Not only does content shared on the platform lend itself well to product sharing, but users actively seek out products. For eCommerce brands, a blend of organic and paid advertising may be the sweet spot.
Pinterest Provides Detailed Analytics
Pinterest offers a detailed analytics dashboard. And all advertisers have access to it. First debuted in 2014, the dashboard includes all the basic metrics one might expect — impressions, clicks, repins, and likes. It also includes more advanced analytics, like trend and user information to help you craft relevant ads.
Pinterest Lends Itself Well to Specific Demographics
All types of brands should consider Pinterest. That said, the platform has proved a particular hit with certain demographics and customer profiles. For instance, 81 percent of all Pinterest users are women, whereas men only account for about 7 percent of the total image pins on the platform. For brands that sell primarily to women, or at least products skewed toward women, Pinterest offers an excellent advertising platform.
Certain product categories see a lot of interest on Instagram. If you sell products within these categories, you may find that Pinterest offers an excellent source of new customers:
- Home Decor
- Recipes and Kitchenware
- Women’s Fashion
- Health and Fitness
- Travel
- Technology
- Hair and Beauty
- DIY
Using its advanced targeting features, you can ensure your ads only display on relevant pages and searches within your product category. This not only improves exposure to the right kind of customers: it also keeps your ads from seeming intrusive to other users.
A Goldmine for Women’s Products
Pinterest offers lots of potential for eCommerce brands of all types, especially for women’s brands and products. Because of its visual nature, product ads are a natural fit on the platform. Pinterest has made sure to design an unintrusive ads program relevant to its users’ interests.
