How to advertise on Pinterest in the sales season

Pinterest is the ultimate platform for discovery and planning. As users browse Pinterest, they continue to make decisions related to the buying process. For this reason, it is said that users transform inspiration into action on the platform, making Pinterest a full-funnel solution for digital marketers.

As advertisers, brands have the opportunity to show relevant content at all stages of the user's buying funnel.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Importance of advertising on Pinterest during the sales season

• Key elements for your e-commerce Pinterest Ads

• How to advertise on Pinterest during the sales season

• Tips to create a successful Pinterest strategy for the sales season

• Optimize your Pinterest Ads for the sales season 

Importance of advertising on Pinterest during the sales season

Advertising on Pinterest during the sales season is a good option because the platform offers a number of advantages that can be especially beneficial for companies that want to promote their products or services during discount periods. Here are some of the key reasons why advertising on Pinterest is relevant during these times:

• Shopping-focused audience: During the sales season, people are looking for deals and discounts. Pinterest is a platform where users are actively looking for inspiration and products to buy. This means your Pinterest audience is in buying mode, making it easy to convert visitors into customers.

• Highly visual platform: It's ideal for showcasing your products in an attractive way. You can create visually striking ads that show your products in action, which often results in more interaction and sales. Visuals are critical in product marketing and Pinterest provides a perfect environment to visually highlight what you have to offer.

• Inspiration and discovery: Pinterest is known for its ability to inspire users. During sales, people are looking for ideas on what to buy and how to make the most of discounts. You can use this platform to show how your products fit into people's lives and how they can make the most of them during the sale season.

• Precise targeting: Offers advanced targeting tools that allow you to reach your target audience more precisely. You can target your ads to people who are more likely to be interested in your products, which increases the efficiency of your advertising efforts and reduces wasted resources.

Advertising on Pinterest during sale times is important. If you want to make the most of sales opportunities during discount periods, consider including Pinterest in your advertising strategy.

Key elements for your e-commerce Pinterest Ads

Before we dive into how your brand should advertise on Pinterest during the sales season and how you can optimise your ads for the occasion, let's take a look at the key elements of a Pinterest Ads for e-commerce.

Pinterest tag

The tool that allows you to track user activity on your website. There is no point in setting up a flawless campaign in terms of creative, targets and budgets if the implementation of the Pinterest tag is flawed. Do you know how to install the Pinterest tag?

Pinterest's learning mode

Pinterest learning mode is the initial phase of a conversion campaign. In this first process, ads are shown to different types of people to learn who is most likely to convert. When this phase is over, we have enough data to end the learning mode and the ads are shown to those most likely to convert. Campaign performance stabilizes and the optimization process can begin.

Automatic bidding to keep your ads competitive 

On Pinterest, bidding is "the way you use your budget to pay for what different actions on your ads are worth to you". There are two types of bidding, automatic or custom.
 
With the automatic option, you let Pinterest manage and update the bidding for you on a daily basis. What is the goal of the platform? To get as many clicks on your Pins as possible, at the lowest possible cost and spend your entire budget.
 
Currently automatic bidding is only available on consideration, conversion and catalog sales campaigns.

Use audience data to reach your ideal target audience

By combining information about your customers with data about user activity on Pinterest, you can reach a specific group of people who like your brand. One of the most effective targeting options is the actalike audience, those users who behave similarly to your existing audience.
 
This targeting option will allow you to find new customers, Pinners who interact with your content on the platform or new people who may visit your website. 

Include all Pinterest sites in your strategy  

Placements are the places where your ads appear. There are three different placements on the platform: Explore (home feed and related Pins), Search (search results and related Pins) and All (both options). Pinterest recommends targeting all placements to give you a better chance of connecting with people in all the locations the platform offers.

How to advertise on Pinterest in the sales season

Advertising on Pinterest during sales periods can be an effective strategy to increase the visibility of your business and attract more customers interested in taking advantage of offers and discounts. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to advertise on the platform:

Step 1: Set up a Pinterest account for businesses

If you don't already have a Pinterest account for your business, the first thing you should do is set one up. Make sure it's a Pinterest for Business account, as this will give you access to additional tools and features for advertising.

Step 2: Prepare your promotional content

Before you launch your ads, make sure you have quality promotional content ready to be shared on Pinterest. This includes engaging images and videos of your products that clearly showcase sales season deals and discounts.

Step 3: Connect your website

To track the performance of your ads and drive traffic to your website, you need to connect your site to your Pinterest for Business account. This will allow you to measure the impact of your ads on conversion and track more effectively.

Step 4: Create an ad campaign

• Log in to Pinterest Ads Manager

• Click on "Create campaign" and select the objective of your campaign.  The platform advises you to choose the Catalog Sales objective so that users discover your products while browsing Pinterest. Do you know how to set up a catalog on Pinterest?

Step 5: Segment your audience

Pinterest allows you to segment your audience precisely. Define who are the people you want to reach during the sales. You can segment by location, age, interests and more. During this time, it's important to target people who are interested in products similar to yours and are looking for deals.

Step 6: Set your budget and calendar

Set a daily or total budget for your campaign and choose the dates you want it to run. Make sure your campaign covers the sales period you want to take advantage of.

Step 7: Create your ads

Design your ads using attractive images or videos that highlight your sale offers. Add clear and eye-catching descriptions that inform users about the offers that are available.

Step 8: Track and optimize your ads

Track the performance of your campaigns in Pinterest Ads Manager. As the sales season progresses, optimize your ads based on the data you collect. Modify your content, targeting and budget based on what's working best.

By following these steps, you'll be able to successfully advertise on Pinterest during the sales season and leverage this platform to attract more customers interested in your deals and discounts.

Tips for creating a successful Pinterest strategy for the sales season

Standing out from the competition and driving sales while keeping your followers interested and engaged is key. Here are a few key tips for creating a successful Pinterest strategy during the sales season.

• Highlight offers and discounts: During the sales season, it is essential that your pins clearly showcase available deals and discounts. Use images and descriptions that highlight the savings users can get by purchasing your products or services.

• Post at the right time: Take advantage of times when your target audience is most active on Pinterest. Use analytics data to determine the optimal times and days to post your promotional pins.

• Use buy pins: Pinterest offers the option to create buy pins that allow users to purchase directly from the platform. Take advantage of this feature to simplify the checkout process and increase conversions.

• Collaborate with influencers: Recommendations from influencers can help you reach a wider, more trusted audience.

• Maintain a consistent aesthetic: Make sure the aesthetics of your pins are consistent with your brand identity.

 These five tips will help you boost your advertising strategy on Pinterest during the sales season and maximize the impact of your ads on this platform. Remember that creativity and adaptation to current trends are also essential for the success of your campaigns.

Optimize your Pinterest Ads for the sales season

It is not only important to be present at all stages of the purchase funnel, but also to stand out in each of them so that Pinners notice your ads over those of the competition.
 
In important seasons such as sales, you should take care of your Pinterest creatives. These are three recommendations that will make your sales campaigns on the platform go a step further.

Learn from insights and moments

As we have discussed in previous articles, Pinterest is an opportunity for e-commerce to show itself to users when they are most receptive. An early impact of ads during the planning process boosts the sales of an e-commerce. 

To activate a moment strategy on Pinterest for your e-commerce, you have several options. Your brand can trigger a moment and prompt users to take action. Another option could be to appear before the rest and give way to a moment. There may even be moments with attributes closely aligned with your brand. 

According to Pinterest, creating content specific to a season or an everyday moment has a 22% increase in online sales and an 11% increase in brand awareness. 

During the sales season, try connecting your offers with users' interests and add signals related to that moment to your creatives.

Be clear in your messaging to drive action

One of the Pinterest advertising best practices is to keep your messages positive, inspiring, encouraging and engaging. Avoid using cold sales communications and connect your promotions with Pinners' ambitions and purposes. Remember that your ads should inspire purchase.

According to the platform itself, users prefer to find discounts and offers rather than free gifts or free gifts. Keep this in mind and communicate clearly the value of your offer.

Calls to action or CTAs are another element to review during the sales season. They should evoke the Pinner to click, especially in the action or conversion phase. According to Pinterest data, a clear and concise CTA, such as "buy" or "discover", can increase your CTR and even boost your sales by 6%.

Shape your creatives based on the objective

Beyond any possible definition, Pinterest is a purely visual platform. Generating engaging and visual content is a must if you want your Pinterest strategy to work. Your ads on Pinterest should be visually appealing, inspiring and readable. 

Use your branding to reinforce user recognition. 97% of searches on Pinterest are unbranded, and that's an opportunity for your brand to stand out. Make sure the logo appears in all the ads and avoid the top right corner, it is usually covered with the button to save the Pin.

Also use other graphic elements such as icons or text overlays to get the Pinner to stop on your ad and find what they are looking for, for example, an attractive offer.

Another option to stand out is movement. You can try incorporating the embedded gif format in your promoted video pins. Simple, short videos with a clear promotional message at the beginning lead to action.

Finally, the Collections and Carousel formats will allow you to showcase your products. Ads with a well-placed product have a 20% higher chance of driving sales.