Pinterest is much more than just do-it-yourself boards and gorgeous lifestyle layouts. Savvy social media managers also know how to tap into Pinterest for business for their clients.
Before I begin, I will hold my hands up and admit that pre-2019 I had written Pinterest off completely. It’s a site where people post wallpapers, knitting patterns, and honeymoon destinations—right? That’s what I used to think. Now, as director of Contentworks Agency, I am now working with several big brands on their Pinterest marketing, and things have changed.
Here’s a rundown of the Pinterest marketing tools you may have missed. (Editor’s note: Agorapulse does not support Pinterest just yet. It’s on our product roadmap, however. In the meantime, we want to provide tips to set up social media managers for Pinterest success.)
As a content marketer, I’m excited by Pinterest right now. It seems like finally there’s a social media site giving us what we want. Maybe even a bit more. Pinterest is supporting longer-form content, its pins are evergreen, and a ton of cool content tools are there, too.
Pinterest advertising provides marketers with the opportunity to earn from Pinterest’s 367 million users. In fact, 98% of Pinners say they’ve tried new things they found on Pinterest. That’s versus 71% on other social media platforms.
Here are some of the Pinterest advertising tools you may have missed:
Related: Pinterest 101: What Every Smart Social Media Manager Needs to Know
Insurance and finance brand Nationwide used Promoted Video Pins and targeted search terms to connect with millennials and first-time homebuyers.
Nationwide used different targeting approaches to achieve different goals. The company used Promoted Video Pins targeted to the search phrases furnishing a home” and “first-time homebuyer.”
The campaign resulted in a meaningful brand lift for the company and its products. Promoted Video Pins were the top performers, driving double-digit growth in aided brand awareness. Results also showed that the Nationwide campaign content engaged men more often than women. This insight led the company to identify a continued opportunity to engage with 18-to 44 year-olds. Especially men and millennials, around home-related services.
Erin Frum, Enterprise Media Director at Nationwide stated: “Pinterest allowed us to reach consumers during that discovery phase. In leveraging Pinterest’s ad products, we were able to develop a robust marketing strategy including various touchpoints throughout the consumer’s path to purchase.”
As of 2018, Pinterest stopped supporting the old Buyable Pins. So what replaced them and is it better? The short answer is that numerous tools replaced them, and yes, they are better.
Pinterest tools include …
Natura Makeup is Brazil’s top cosmetics manufacturer. The brand was looking for ways to increase organic traffic to its website and owned channels from social media. In Brazil, there are over 650,000 Pinterest searches for cosmetics each month. Natura Makeup wanted to reach this engaged audience with inspiring and helpful content. Every month, the Natura Makeup team added 20 more organic Pins. The Pins focused on things like palette colors, beauty tips, new products, and fashion influencers. Natura Makeup also experimented with Rich Pins, the Save button, and the Pinterest widget.
Mayara Ziroldo Digital Marketing Manager, Natura Makeup stated: “We have included Pinterest in all of our marketing and communication campaigns, and this has made a big difference in our results.”
Natura Makeup’s presence on Pinterest has created a surge in organic traffic. Within a year of setting up its profile, Natura Makeup’s Pinterest boards accounted for 40% of all Natura Makeup social traffic. Pin impressions to its website increased by over 11x. Additionally, 60% of the click-throughs came from Natura Makeup’s core audience, women ages 25-54.
Flooring retailer Floor & Decor used Shopping Ads to reach people planning home improvements. The retailer wanted to increase sales in itsstores and drive online purchases. The company chose Pinterest, understanding that many users aren’t just dreaming about “someday.” They’re often in serious planning mode, which can lead to actual purchases.
Andrea Striebel, Senior Director of Customer & Digital Marketing at Floor & Décor stated: “For Pinners, Shopping Ads make the journey from planning to purchasing much easier. Shopping Ads make it a snap to create a large volume of Pins that both inspire potential customers and directly drive conversions.”
Shopping Ads also allowed Floor & Decor to get all its flooring products onto Pinterest quickly and easily. The team uploaded its product catalog and chose to have Pins automatically created for every item. (That’s a real winner, isn’t it?) To reach their audience of people planning home improvements, Floor & Decor also use search and keyword targeting.
Floor & Decor have witnessed a sales increase of 3 x within 9 months using Pinterest marketing.
Many comparisons get made between Instagram marketing and Pinterest marketing because of their focus on visuals. But of course, both sites have their own unique appeal and a different set of tools. So, if you’re promoting your clients’ brand through images, which should you choose?
Consider these facts:
The answer may be that you don’t have to choose just one. You just need to tailor your content for the specific Pinterest or Instagram audiences. Just keep in mind that there is a great difference in who you reach and what to do on each platform.
This modern, vibrant channel with an impressive suite of marketing tools has won me over. If this is a channel that fits with your target demographic, then you should be there.
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