Complete Guide to Promoted Pins
Promoted Pins are regular pins that are paid ads on Pinterest. You can target a user's home feed, category feeds, and relevant search feeds.
Are you confused by Promoted Pins? Wondering what type of Promoted Pin campaign you should run? Let me help. Here's the complete guide to all Promoted Pins and how each one functions.
Promoted Pin Countries
Pinterest is rolling out access to Promoted Pins beyond the United States. Several countries now have access to paid ads on Pinterest. Promoted Pins are available to business accounts in the following countries:
- United States
- Canada
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Cyprus
- Malta
- Luxembourg
Types of Promoted Pin Campaigns
Pinterest gives a few ways to run ads in order to target your desired audience. There are currently six types of ad campaigns:
- Traffic
- Awareness
- App
- Video Views
- Conversion
- Shopping
Because each type of Promoted Pin prioritizes and optimizes for different results—and charges based on the actions tied to those desired results—the campaign type you choose does matter, and will determine what you’re paying for.
Let’s take a closer look at the types of Promoted Pins campaigns we can choose from.
Traffic Campaigns
Traffic campaigns, like our other types of promoted pins, are exactly what their name would suggest; these ads are designed to send traffic to your site. If you want to drive lead generation or sales immediately, this is a good campaign type to choose.
Since many users conduct research on Pinterest before making buying decisions, being able to send interested, ready-to-buy users right to your site is a huge advantage.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll be charged for every click to your website.
Awareness Campaigns
Awareness campaigns, which were released in the middle of last year, enable you to “be seen by people on the most visible parts of Pinterest.” Awareness campaigns focus on reach, showing your ad to as many people as possible, instead of focusing on actions. They’re an incredible tool for brand awareness and recognition purposes, and they really will giving you much larger visibility than other types of Promoted Pins for the same price.
Pinterest’s awareness campaigns can be purchased directly from Pinterest or through the auction, where you bid for placement. You’ll be charged per every 1,000 impressions, which can save you money you’re focusing most heavily on reach instead of clicks.
App Ads
If you have a software company that requires an app, these types of Promoted Pins are designed to help you drive installs of your app. We haven't worked with any companies that have used these types of campaigns, but you can still take away some great tips from the Pinterest creative best practices for ads.
Video Ads
Video is new to Pinterest and working its way into users hearts. It used to be that video felt a little like a speedbump to Pinterest users, but they are now growing to love them. If video is a part of your strategy for selling this is a great way to put ad dollars behind your great work.
Conversion Campaigns
These types of campaigns are ideal for those trying to drive actions on a website -- email sign ups, sales and more. These are great for taking your existing sales campaign to the next level. It does require a greater spend, but it is worth it once you unlock the conversions.
Shopping Campaign
Get sales on your products through Pinterest ads. If you want to boost sales this is a great option.
Here's a full Promoted Pins 101 walkthrough on the Simple Pin podcast. Listen to this for more inspiration.
Getting Started with Ads
There are a few steps you can take to start with Promoted Pins. The path you take depends on two different factors -- money and time. Let's figure out what works best.
Low on Money, Not Time
In this case, you probably have time to devote to learning and testing. For this route, I suggest you take one or two courses. The one I recommend comes with a great free challenge.
Join Pin Practical Ads 3-day challenge here to get a taste of how Promoted Pins will work for you.
If you're ready to dive in, join Monica Froese Pin Practical Promotions course. She's heavy into data and maximizing campaigns, as well as running multiple campaigns at once.
Low on Time, Not Money
In this case, you know what you want to promote but have zero time or motivation to learn the platform. You just want to hand it off to experts and let them run with it. We work directly with Pinterest in our campaigns to ensure you're getting the latest features and running an effective campaign that drives the conversions you're looking for. Complete the form here and our team will be in touch.
Promoted Pins: Further Reading
- Promoted Pins 101 Guide podcast
- Maximizing Promoted Pins
- Promoted Pins for Teachers Pay Teachers
- Using Promoted Pins: Tips from Pinterest
- Using Promoted Pins with Educational Products
- Promoted Pins Case Study: Amy at Mod Podge Rocks
- Surprising Results from a Promoted Pin Campaign
- How to Run a Promoted Pin Campaign
- How to Sell Products Through Pinterest Ads
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