Is Pinterest Ads Right For You?

by Kristin Kusiak | Feb 10, 2020 | AAA Needs Updating, Pinterest | 4 comments

We love Pinterest Ads here at Clix! There are a lot of great ad formats (pins, videos, carousels, shopping) and targeting options (browse vs search, keywords & interests) to keep you testing and your campaigns chugging for some time. However, if you haven’t tried Pinterest Ads, you might be wondering if this channel is really worth it for your brand. I’m going to outline some resources to help you evaluate if Pinterest might be a great fit.

The Nature of Pinterest

Let’s take a look at Pinterest to see if your target audience might be on this channel and looking for your products or services.

A few Pinterest Statistics

While this channel largely captures a female audience, there are a growing number of male users out there. Here are some statistics to help you see if your target audience is on Pinterest:

73% of US women 25-54 use Pinterest
52% of US Millennials use Pinterest
40% of US dads use Pinterest
One-third of users are in the US, but the rate of international growth far exceeds US growth numbers
71% of global users are female

So, regardless if you are targeting the US or globally, if you are specially targeting women, there is a good chance Pinterest could be a good fit.

Pinterest Discovery

Pinterest is a channel geared toward brainstorming and inspiration. This lends itself toward a top funnel approach of initial learning all the way through the decision making process.

Here are some examples of Pinterest journeys users take every day.

Milestones: Weddings, birthday parties, children, anniversaries, memorials
Purchases: home, appliances, renovations, etc.
Next steps: career changes, health choices
How to: cook, craft or create anything and everything!

If your product or services fit into the lives of everyday people, then Pinterest might be a good fit. While there are B2B opportunities, this is really a B2C channel at heart.

Pinterest Tools & Trends

If you are looking for tangible ways to see if Pinterest Ads are a good fit, here are a few ideas.

Organic Pin Results

If you are already on Pinterest, look at how your pins are currently doing. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Which types of pins have the most engagement?
Which pins generate the most website traffic and conversions?
Which pins have the highest website bounce rates or least time on site?

Look at the trends for these pins and you’ll get some great insights into if you should take the next step to promote them.

Research Using Pinterest Trends

Pinterest recently launched Pinterest Trends. This is an extremely helpful research tool. You can drill down by higher level or specific search terms. In this example, I used “spring fashion” and you can see that the peak time for searches for that term is coming up quickly. So, if you know you won’t be ready soon, you can use this data to plan ahead for 2021.

This tool is new, so it’s not complete yet but will give you an idea of top trends. You might find that your area of interest isn’t in the tool yet, which could help you know if Pinterest isn’t the best fit.

Pinterest Top 100

You can also review the top 100 trending searches. These are broken down by categories, such as 90s rerun, space everything, and pampered pets.

Below is what you might see if you select responsible travel. If you’re in the storage container industry, then it’s helpful to see the uptick in “zer0-waste travel essentials” and might choose to have your next promoted pin centered around that concept.

Pinterest Support

If you are part of an agency, make sure to talk to your rep about free creative support. You can get 2 pins or one video for every client. You’ll get drafts within 2-3 business days and can request one round of revisions. This can be a great way to break through a creative rut or to help a new client get started.

I’ve also received a lot of support from my Pinterest reps. They have created Opportunity Analysis decks for clients, which every client has devoured. I’ve also received s a slew of one-pagers or decks for everything from a particular campaign objective to general pin best practices. If you’re looking for more information to decide if Pinterest is right for you, talk to your rep to get more insights for your industry. If you’re part of an agency, make sure you sign up for Agency Support.