With a user base of 291 million and growing, Pinterest is a marketing platform that is too influential to overlook. Pinterest offers huge potential for e-commerce marketing as users conduct over 2 billion searches each month. Whether users know exactly what they are looking for or are perusing the platform in their free time, Pinterest has an impact on the consumer purchase path.
Pinterest users, also referred to as Pinners, tend to start searching for products twice as early in the purchase process as they do on Google and Facebook. This means that your company has more time to place your products in front of users before they purchase. Research conducted at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Pinterest usage for shopping found that the platform had the highest sales conversion rate in comparison to larger social platforms. And, to reiterate all of the amazing return from Pinterest marketing- Promoted Pins return an average profit of $2 for every $1 spent on advertising.
Pinterest offers paid advertising in the form of Promoted Pins. These pins appear in users’ search results like a regular Pin but with an additional “Promoted” label at the bottom. Promoted Pins are set up with specific campaign goals such as brand awareness or traffic. Campaigns can be set up with custom audiences, demographic targeting, and location targeting metrics.
Promoted pins are great because they blend in seamlessly with regular content. This integration means that specific targeting tactics are even more important. Specific targeting increases the chance that a user sees your product at some point during their Pinterest shopping experience.
But, in order to create a Promoted Pin, you have to create a Pinterest profile. Your Pinterest profile is an opportunity to start optimizing your brand before you even create an advertisement. By giving your Pinterest profile a straight-to-the-point description with 2-3 keywords related to your brand, you ensure that users are directed to your profile when they type in any of the keywords of your description.
Another easy way to enhance your Pinterest account is to include several boards with pins on your profile. These pins are a great opportunity for you to reach more users at no cost. For each pin, you should also include a relevant pin description. Pin descriptions are a great place to add information about your product that could attract a potential consumer. Within the pin, you can also add a few relevant, quality keywords to the end of each description.
When creating your Promoted Pins, it is important to implement interest targeting. Interest targeting allows you to choose specific interest groups that your ads should appear in front of. This puts your products in front of users who have browsed in the past for similar products.
Pinterest now offers over 5,000 of these interest categories, called Taste Graphs. These highly specific interest categories include everything from bathroom organization products to company email newsletter designs. If you are a seller of organic cosmetic products, you could implement Taste Graphs like “all natural beauty products” or “women’s beauty products” for your Promoted Pins.
Most users utilize Pinterest as a search engine, typing their query into the Pinterest search bar instead of Google or Bing. When you are creating your Promoted Pins, you have the option to add keywords in addition to interests groups. One of the tools that Pinterest has in Promoted Pins provides you with searchable keywords and their Monthly Search volume. Here, you can conduct a basic search for keywords, see suggestions, and examine which keywords have the highest search volume. Bidding on keywords in Pinterest is just as important as bidding on keywords on traditional search platforms like Google and Bing.
To help you come up with keyword ideas, you can build out a list of potential keywords through a simple Pinterest search. For example, if you were to just type “sweaters” into the Pinterest search bar, the results page would look something like this:
Just below the initial broad search query are suggested keyword modifiers. This quick Pinterest search shows you what more specific queries people are conducting on the platform, providing you with an opportunity to target your ad toward a more niche and highly targeted group of users.
Promoted Pins put your products in front of high-intent audiences-- the users who are most likely to purchase your product. As an e-commerce company, you understand how important it is to connect products with people. Pinterest enables users to do just that, as 90% of Pinterest users say that Pinterest helps them decide what to purchase. With so many users turning to Pinterest for their shopping, Pinterest should be the next platform that you implement into your e-commerce search marketing strategy.
