How to Advertise on Pinterest: Make the Most of the Product Inspiration App

14 min read

Pinterest is more than a platform for DIY crafts and home decor ideas. For savvy small business owners, it represents a goldmine of potential customers eager to discover new and exciting products.

Discover the benefits Pinterest offers for business owners, explore which products perform best, get some helpful advertising tips, and learn about a nifty tool called the Pinterest tag.

Why Is Pinterest a Profitable Channel for Selling Products?

Pinterest isn’t just another social media platform; it’s a visual search engine. This distinction is crucial for businesses looking to increase their product visibility.

Pinterest Inspires Consumer Buying Decisions

Users come to Pinterest armed with intent—an intention to discover, pin, and often purchase. According to the platform, the top reason people use Pinterest is to discover new products and brands.

Content “Lasts Longer” on Pinterest

The longevity of organic Pinterest content means your pins can continue to garner traffic long after they are posted, unlike other platforms where posts quickly fade from view. This sustained engagement means ongoing sales with less effort.

Given that there are 537 million monthly active Pinterest users worldwide, your content can reach a large and diverse audience, increasing the potential for sales and brand recognition.

Monthly active Pinterest users worldwide from 2016 to 2024 (Source: Statista)

Pinterest Simplifies Shopping for Pinned Products

Apart from allowing users to pin inspiring content onto thematic boards, the platform provides direct pathways to online purchases.

Pinned products act as direct conduits to your online store, transforming casual browsers into potential buyers with a few clicks.

The numbers prove that this approach works. 85% of weekly US Pinterest users have made a purchase based on content they have seen from brands on the platform.

Pinterest Provides a Range of Ad Options

On Pinterest, you can run various types of ads tailored to different assets and goals. However, they all share a common thread: the potential for increased sales.

Here are the types of ads you can run on Pinterest:

Carousel ads let people swipe through multiple images
Shopping ads showcase one image at a time and let people buy products they discover on Pinterest
Collections ads appear as one main image with three smaller ones underneath in the mobile feed.
An Idea ad is a set of videos, images, lists, and custom text all in one Pin. You can promote an organic Pin as an Idea.

An example of an Idea ad

A Showcase ad is a multi-layered format with swipeable cards. Each card lets advertisers highlight up to three features, with links to more content, products, and more.
A Quiz ad is an ad format featuring multiple-choice questions and answers. Each quiz result can include links to content, products, and more.
Image ads feature one image.
Video ads feature either a video the same size as a regular Pin or a video that expands across people’s entire feed on mobile.

An example of a Collection ad

Understanding Pinterest Audience

Before you start pinning away, understand who you’re targeting. Pinterest’s demographics skew towards a female audience, with a high percentage of users under the age of 44.

Pinterest is most popular with women aged 25 to 34, making up 20.4% of its global audience. Additionally, over 19% of users are women aged 18 to 24.

Global Pinterest audience breakdown by age and gender (Source: Statista)

Here are some more demographic statistics from Pinterest:

The Pinterest audience is 70% women and 30% men
Pinterest reaches 40% of US households with an annual income over $150K.9
Gen Z is their fastest-growing audience, making up 42% of their global users. They’re searching, saving, and ready to shop more than other generations.

As for other age groups, in the US, Pinterest reaches:

46% of people ages 18-24
40% of people ages 25-34
39% of people ages 35-44.

The United States leads with nearly 90 million Pinterest users, the highest globally. Brazil comes next with about 39 million users, and then we’ve got Mexico, Germany, and France following along.

Countries with the highest number of Pinterest users (Source: Statista)

Pinterest’s audience is often characterized by a keen interest in lifestyle and personal development topics. They also love gearing up for seasonal events and holiday planning. Let this guide your content calendar, tapping into their interests and boosting engagement.

How to Advertise Your Products on Pinterest

Pinterest’s ad platform lets you target users based on their interests and behaviors. This way, you can reach audiences that are more likely to engage with your ad. To get started, you’ll need a Pinterest tag.

What Is a Pinterest Tag and How Does It Work?

A Pinterest tag is a piece of code that gets embedded in your website to spot visitors. It then uses that data to build audiences for advertising based on their actions in your online store.

The Pinterest tag helps you connect with eager shoppers who visited your store but didn’t make a purchase. This tactic is called “remarketing,” and it has proven more effective than traditional ads.

The Tag sees some customers’ actions, giving you the ability to shape audiences for remarketing:

Page Visit: a visitor lands on the page
View Category: a visitor browses products from a specific category
Add To Cart: a visitor adds products to their cart
Start Checkout: a user clicks the checkout button
Checkout: a customer completes their purchase
Search: a visitor uses the search box to find something in your store.

The Tag also lets you sell on Pinterest to users similar to your existing customers, known as “actalike” audiences.

But it doesn’t stop there. Your Pinterest tag also tracks what users do after clicking on your ad. Rather than count ad clicks (which doesn’t equal purchases), your Tag lets you see how much your ad has generated. That helps you see how effective your ads are.

Pinterest ads seamlessly integrate with organic content

Even if you’re not quite ready to hop over to selling on Pinterest, install the Pinterest tag now to gather audiences of almost-there customers to remarket whenever you’re ready.

How to Add a Pinterest Tag to Your Online Store

To install the Pinterest tag, you typically have to modify your site header code and add pieces of code on every page where you want to track events. However, some ecommerce platforms, such as Ecwid by Lightspeed, make it easier for you.

With Ecwid by Lightspeed, you don’t just get a robust online store—you gain access to a suite of promotional tools, including options for advertising on Pinterest. Create your online store with Ecwid to start selling on your website, social media like Pinterest, and marketplaces.

With Ecwid, your Pinterest tag requires no extra coding, meaning you can get started without special skills. The process is simplified–all you need is a single copy-and-paste in your Ecwid admin.

To start with Pinterest tag, set up a free Pinterest business account and verify your website. See the detailed step-by-step instruction in the Help Center.

Adding a Pinterest tag to your Ecwid store requires a quick copy-and-paste

How to Create Ads on Pinterest

Once your business account and Pinterest tag are set up, you can start creating ads on the platform. Here’s how to get started.

Navigating all the advertising terms can be tricky, but don’t worry! Below is a handy overview to help you better understand Pinterest Ads.

To advertise on Pinterest, you begin by running a campaign.

In any campaign, you’ll find several ad groups—think of these as chapters. This is where the action takes place! Set a bid and budget, target specific audiences, and create multiple ad groups to achieve different goals and share various parts of your business story.

Once you’ve set up your ad group, you can start promoting Pins that align with your campaign goals. These Pins will appear as users browse their home feed or search for relevant keywords.

What Products Sell Best on Pinterest?

Pinterest is all about inspiration, so it’s no surprise that products embodying an aspirational lifestyle perform well on the platform. Think dreamy vacation destinations, luxury goods, home décor items, fashion choices—you get the idea.

Pinterest users are drawn to aesthetically pleasing visual content, so products with high-quality images or videos perform best.

The most popular categories on Pinterest include:

Home Decor & DIY

Home decor remains one of the top categories on Pinterest, with ideas for interiors and garden beautification dominating searches.

DIY products, tutorials, and kits also have carved out their space on Pinterest. Offering both a product and an experience, they have an undeniable appeal among Pinterest’s active DIY community.

Pinterest is a hub of inspiring design ideas

Fashion & Beauty

Fashion and beauty products follow closely behind, with users seeking style tips and product recommendations to enhance their style. The vibrant visuals associated with apparel and cosmetics create allure and motivate people to purchase.

Users turn to Pinterest to curate outfits for every occasion

Food & Drink

Food and drink-related items also perform well on Pinterest. Whether specialty ingredients or artisanal kitchen gadgets, these categories have a dedicated following of connoisseurs eager for culinary exploration.

Recipes rank among the most popular types of content on Pinterest

Travel & Tourism

Pinterest offers a wealth of inspiration for travelers, from dream destinations to practical packing tips. Products that cater to wanderlust and make travel more convenient are highly sought after on the platform.

Pinterest is a popular platform for trip planning and finding destination inspiration

Health & Fitness

Pinterest is ideal for promoting health and fitness products. From workout gear to meal plans, users who are looking for ways to improve their wellness are constantly browsing for fresh ideas and recommendations.

A healthy lifestyle can also be an inspiration on Pinterest

More Ways to Promote Your Products on Pinterest

Beyond advertising, Pinterest offers various methods to promote your products. Here are a few strategies:

Optimize Descriptions and Include Keywords

Since Pinterest functions like a search engine, it helps to incorporate keywords within your pin descriptions. This ensures your content shows up during relevant searches, increasing your pins’ discoverability and engagement.

Act on Pinterest Insights

The Pinterest Trends tool lets you see what people are searching for on Pinterest. You can explore by demographic, region, and other handy filters to discover what your audience is excited to try next.

Understanding changing trends allows you to launch relevant ad campaigns on Pinterest before big spikes happen. Your ads show up at the right time, boosting your chances of converting viewers into customers.

Pinterest Trends shows you what content is popular and when people start searching for different trends

Submit Your Content for Shopping Spotlight

Shopping Spotlight lets you highlight your trendy, seasonal content on one of Pinterest’s busiest surfaces. Your products and ideas can appear as Pins on Pinterest’s search landing page, making it easy for users to find and engage with them.

To submit your content for Shopping Spotlight, ensure that your topic is a highly-searched term during the desired period.

Use Automated Posting

If you sell online with Ecwid by Lightspeed, you can use the Outfy app to create content showcasing your products and automatically post it on Pinterest and other social networks. You can create collages, videos, animated gifs, and sale promotions.

Start Promoting Your Business on Pinterest

With its visual and discovery-focused platform, Pinterest can help you reach new audiences and drive sales for your business.

Whether you advertise on the platform or use other promotional strategies, it’s worth investing time and effort into building a strong presence on Pinterest. So why not take advantage of this powerful marketing tool?

With Ecwid by Lightspeed, it’s easier than ever to get started and see actual results. Create your online store and install the Pinterest tag to reach new customers on Pinterest through more effective ads.

Happy pinning!

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Nov 21, 2024

About the author

Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at Ecwid. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs’ daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.