The Latest In Social Media Marketing: Pinterest Search Ads
We recently discussed how Pinterest is an untapped resource for small business marketing, as it serves as a tool for engaging your local community on social media. Wouldn’t you know, just this week the company announced its latest feature: Search Ads. This advance toward strategic search advertising is a big move on Pinterest’s part toward opening up its platform as a legitimate and profitable social media marketing entity.
This new functionality allows businesses to run ads using keywords. This is a huge development for brands of all sizes and a testament to the power of the pin. Pinterest integrated Search Ads as a way to give businesses large and small a way to run ads that show up among relevant content. In fact, the ads will appear immediately after a user enters a query. As Pinterest is a visual entity, ads are visually based, primarily composed of an engaging image and less text than traditional advertising methods.
There is amazing upside to advertising on this platform, as
“97% of Pinterest’s search queries don’t mention a specific brand,”
which means its users are in active discovery mode. They’re open to finding new brands to explore and eventually purchase from. Pinterest users also begin their purchase research months in advance, so advertising prior to peak times, such as the holidays, summer, and back to school, can help sway their buying decisions. With so much of the search volume being unbranded, every business should jump into the Pinterest ad pool.
Beyond showing up in relevant searches, this feature update includes improved targeting and reporting options, however the details have yet to be released. Nonetheless, with better data and audience insights, brands can more successfully target their audiences with ads that represent their current wants and needs.
Pinterest created a short video to show how ads will work within its platform. See the full clip below:
Now that we know what Search Ads are, what does that mean for your small business? If your small business has a marketing and advertising budget, it’s a worthwhile investment. With over 2 billion monthly searches and 150 million monthly users, Pinterest is a fantastic space to reach your target audience with a high rate of return. Some compelling statistics and figures are below that prove the legitimacy of Pinterest as an advertising platform.
image: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/pinterest-by-the-numbers.png.png
image courtesy of Pinterest
According to an Oracle Study, “CPG brands that advertised on Pinterest saw 5x more revenue per impression.” Five times the revenue? That’s a slam dunk. Another study found “70% of the retailers’ incremental sales came from new customers, with an average 7.2x return on ad spend” Both statistics show that utilizing Pinterest for Business, either through advertising or otherwise, is a sound decision.
Given that Pinterest is a commercial social media platform, small businesses should engage immediately! Consumers are flocking to this social media site to learn about new brands, and are saving and sharing their favorite pins at incredible rates. Registering for a business account is the first step toward setting your small business up on Pinterest. Easy step-by-step instructions for doing so can be found here.
Once your business page is active and optimized, it’s time to decide how your business will invest in Search Ads. Ads are priced on a price-per-click model, just like Google ads. You choose how much your business can allocate to this kind of advertising and stay within budget, while reaping the benefits of this new advertising model. Pinterest’s Search Ads offer a means for small businesses to compete against advertising giants who are most prominent on Facebook, and slowly creeping into Instagram and Snapchat.
If your target audience is active on Pinterest, this is a necessary marketing resource. As Pinterest continues to rollout the complete Search Ads feature to the public, it will become apparent how valuable this tool is to small business marketing. The return on investment and increased brand awareness are extraordinary, and a micro business will be hard-pressed to find another competitive advertising tool that is so affordable and accessible.