Why Pinterest's New Advertising Tool is Important to Your Brand?
Until now Pinterest has been non-revenue generating, but is testing the waters of paid advertising in the form of 'promoted pins' to cash in on all the brand awareness they are drumming up for retailers.
Pinterest Promoted Pins
Until recently, promoted Pins have only been available to select brands through priority access but this week Pinterest announced a DIY Promoted Pins tool to engage small to medium size businesses. A select number of CPG companies participated in the soft launch, including: General Mills, Kraft, Nestle and Ziploc in addition to big box retailer ' Target. All of these advertisers committed upwards of $1Mil - $2Mil for the initial partnership. The ads were priced on a CPM basis (cost per thousand impressions) and saw rates in the $30 - $40 range, signaling premium inventory.
The new tool however will be priced on a CPC (cost per click) basis enabling advertisers to pay only if a user clicks on their ad. It is likely the initial rates will fluctuate as more advertisers partake, with certain targeting groups being more competitive than others, but this model is not unlike those being used by Facebook and Google Adwords. The ads are marked with the terms 'promoted pin' and a small informational icon alerting consumers that the pin is in fact an ad. The ads are not currently displaying in a users image feed, which is the first experience upon account log-in, but are being served in onsite search results and top trending categories.
The Pinterest User
Shopper Marketers! Pinterest users have been found to exhibit high purchase intent when browsing through pins as shown by these statistics.
- % of wielding purchase power over non-pinterest users: 9%
- % of active users who bought something because they saw it on Pinterest: 38% (of which 43% were moms and 53% were daily users)
- Top Brands People Want to Follow: Walmart, Target, Crayola, L'Oreal, REI
Engaging with Shoppers on Pinterest
Pinterest as a whole offers an incredibly valuable environment to engage with consumers online, the core objective of AMP's Shopper Digital Group. As consumers become increasingly web-centric reaching them through traditional advertising is as exciting as outdated inventory ' it just won't sell. The ability to influence brand selection early in the purchase journey starts in spaces shoppers are already consuming content; limiting the modification of the existing user behavior.
73% of active users are neutral to positive about Promoted Pins but advertisers should not lose sight of providing meaningful content like recipes, contests, coupons, sweepstakes and DIY tips all of which have the potential to add value. Pinterest still has to prove its ability to effectively monetize but integrating this channel into the current ability to engage shoppers, building brand recall and drive foot traffic in-store is a key area of focus for the Shopper Digital Group. A multi-channel audience buying approach is critical, and Pinterest will become increasingly important as the platform deploys new, more granular targeting features and optimizes the overall ad format into the existing experience.
To learn more about AMP's Shopper Digital Group and Shopper Marketing Services, fill out a contact form.
