The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid with Pinterest Promoted Pins
Unlike other social networks such as Facebook for example where users go to browse rather than shop, 93% of Pinterest users plan purchases on this network. So, using Pinterest ads, also known as “Promoted Pins” becomes a no-brainer.
However, before running Pinterest ads, make sure you avoid these 5 common and costly mistakes:
Mistake 1: Not having high quality images
Since Pinterest is above all a photo sharing website, it’s important if you want your Pinterest ads to stand out and your Pinterest marketing to bring you results, to use eye-catching images. Don’t combine multiple images per promoted pin, as it will end up looking too busy. If you plan to promote multiple products on a single promoted pin, then don’t exceed four product images, and make sure the overall pin has a single theme. For example, should you be selling baby clothes and accessories, you can create a promoted pin selling an individual product such as a pair of shoes, or display multiple pairs of shoes without including other products in the pin that are irrelevant to the theme, such as pyjamas.
The size of your pin is as important as the quality of the image. Make sure your promoted pin is vertical, rather than square. The aspect ratio for example could be 2:3 and the width of your pin should be a minimum of 600 pixels. So a pin that is 600 x 900 pixels is usually a perfect size.
Mistake 2: Not designing a funnel
Another common mistake advertisers make when marketing on Pinterest, is not mapping out a funnel before launching a promoted pin. Instead, their Pinterest marketing strategy is just to send traffic directly to their website or sales page. Although this can still convert into sales, it’s trickier when dealing with cold traffic who doesn’t yet know, like or trust the brand. Instead, a good habit to adopt with promoted pins is to send traffic to a piece of content such as a video, article or blog post. Then, within the piece of content, promote a lead capture page to capture people’s email details for follow up emails for those who didn’t purchase anything yet, upsells and downsells. Then, end your funnel by sending people who have opted in to a sales page.
Mistake 3: Creating one-hit wonders
When marketing on Pinterest and setting up a promoted pin, don’t just rely on a single ad to bring you the traffic and leads you need. Instead, your Pinterest marketing strategy should be to promote multiple pins, testing the image and the description. When looking at your Pinterest marketing efforts, you’ll soon notice that some images and some descriptions perform better than others instead of relying on a single promoted pin.
Mistake 4: Not optimising your account
You’ll notice that when you launch promoted pins, your ad will also have a link back to your profile. Should people see your ad and click on your profile link, it’s important that your account doesn’t look bare. Make sure your bio is completed and it underlines how you solve a specific problem, or what you specialise in and what makes you unique from everyone else. Also ensure you have a profile picture. Your profile picture should either be the logo of your business if you are not the face of the brand like Starbucks for example, which has a logo. Or put a headshot of you if you are the face of the brand. Plus, make sure you have several boards, that have several pins. The themes for each board should be relevant to what your target audience would be looking for and not be random topics.
Mistake 5: Keyword targeting
With Pinterest promoted pins, you’ll have two choices when deciding on the targeting. You can either target people according to keywords or according to interests. When you target people according to keywords, your ad will appear when people type in one of the keywords you’re targeting in the search bar. For example, if your ad targets the keyword “weightloss” your ad will appear when people type in the keyword “weightloss”. If your ad targets people according to interests, it means it will show on the newsfeed of people who are interested in specific topics.
A good way to proceed when choosing your targeting, is starting with keyword targeting first. Then, check your audience analytics, which will show you the interests of the people who have clicked on your ads. That way the next time you run ads, you’re sure to make the right choices in terms of interests instead of guessing.
