October 8, 2021
The Ideal QA Process in Digital Advertising
What social platforms should you advertise on? This is an increasingly important question especially as you begin to think about how to best diversify your marketing portfolio and what platforms are key to have a presence on as you continue to grow your business. Pinterest is a platform that has been top of mind as a key expansion channel for B2C marketers. Like many new channels, Pinterest has key advantages coupled with challenges that you should be aware of before starting to advertise on it.
Pinterest, at its heart, is a planning platform. Users can peruse the 75 billion ideas available to find inspiration for their travels, fashion, weddings, and so on. 93% of active Pinterest users said they use the platform to plan for purchases, signifying that users are actively in the shopping mindset when browsing Pinterest.
Moreover, part of the beauty of Pinterest advertising stems from its satisfying mix of both demand generation and demand fulfillment. Think Facebook Ads and Google AdWords targeting blended into a single platform (with a little less sophistication). Meaning, you can leverage existing Social and Search data to inform a strategic launch.
So, why isn’t everyone on Pinterest? While Facebook and Google have had 10+ years to perfect their advertising product, Pinterest only opened its doors to advertisers in 2014. Being less than five years in means the platform is still in its infancy, making ad production and management fairly laborious. It also means there are some key deficiencies to the platform:
- There is no age targeting.
- Designated Market Areas (DMAs) identify geos, which can make geo targeting difficult.
- The ad pacing algorithm does not work well, meaning that your bid strategy heavily influences campaign spend and pacing.
- There is a limited number of MMP partners for App Install campaigns (AppsFyler, Apsalar, Kochava, Tune and Adjust).
- It is a closed API.
Fortunately, Pinterest continues to make large strides toward improving the Pinterest ad platform, having made a plethora of improvements to the UI and algorithm over the course of 2018.
Additionally, due to the nature of the platform, the majority of Pinterest traffic is mobile and female. Around 70% of Pinterest users are women though more men continue to sign up.
Some additional stats to keep in mind when considering Pinterest as your next marketing initiative:
- 85% of users access Pinterest via their mobile device
- 50% of Pinterest users are from the US
To sum it all up, you should consider advertising on Pinterest once you’ve already tested and scaled Facebook. If you’re marketing for a B2C company, your primary demographic is women, and your site is mobile-optimized, then Pinterest could be the right expansion opportunity for you. Contact us to learn more about Pinterest opportunities.
