How to Drive Sales with Pinterest Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads

Pinterest has become a major platform for ecommerce and driving sales through visual discovery. With over 400 million monthly active users, it's a highly engaged community of people looking for ideas and products. Two of Pinterest's key shopping features are Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads, which make it easy for people to purchase items they discover directly through Pinterest.

In this article, we'll explore how brands can leverage these tools to boost sales and convert Pinterest's inspirational browsing into actual transactions. Pinterest shoppers are ready to buy - Buyable Pins convert at a rate 2x higher than standard Promoted Pins. Meanwhile, Shopping Ads let you promote products to people who are already searching for something to buy.

We'll walk through tips on setting up and optimizing both Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads, so you can drive more revenue from your Pinterest marketing. Let's dive in!

What are Buyable Pins and How Do They Work?

Buyable Pins are a special type of Promoted Pin that include a “Buy It” button so people can purchase products directly on Pinterest.

When you promote Pins for products that are available for purchase, you can now add a buy button to the Pin. This turns the Pin into a Buyable Pin.

When a user clicks on the “Buy It” button, they are taken to your website checkout page to complete the purchase. The checkout happens directly on your own website, but the transaction is seamless from the user’s perspective.

Buyable Pins link to your product pages, but make the path to purchase much faster. Instead of having to browse back and forth between Pinterest and your website, users can add items to their cart or buy products instantly.

Buyable Pins help convert Pinterest’s inspirational content into actual sales. Research by Pinterest found Buyable Pins deliver a 2x higher conversion rate compared to regular Promoted Pins without a buy button.

The platform is ideal for product discovery and visual catalog browsing. Enabling 1-click buying helps capitalize on this behavior and makes it effortless for motivated shoppers to purchase.

Overall, Buyable Pins turn your product Pins into shoppable Product Pins to drive more sales directly from Pinterest. They provide a frictionless buying experience and make the path from inspiration to transaction much smoother.

Tips for Setting Up and Using Buyable Pins

• Use high-quality images and videos that showcase your product in the best light. Clear, appealing visuals attract more engagement.
• Write detailed but scannable Pin descriptions highlighting the product benefits, specifications, etc. This gives shoppers the info they need.
• Link Buyable Pins to specific product pages, not just your homepage. Send users directly to the checkout for that item.
• Make sure your website checkout is optimized for seamless mobile purchases. Buyable Pins are heavily used on mobile.
• Include your brand name and product name prominently on your Pins and destination pages. This builds brand visibility.
• Test different buy button locations to see which converts better—middle, top, bottom, etc. Monitor results.
• Segment your inventory and create specific Buyable Pins for your best-selling items. Promote those pins the most.
• Use promotions and sales pricing to incentivize purchases from your Buyable Pins.
• Analyze performance data and double down on your highest converting products and pins.
• Retarget shoppers who engaged with your Buyable Pins but didn’t purchase. Remind them to checkout.
• Ask satisfied Buyable Pin customers to share their purchases on Pinterest. User-generated content boosts trust.

Introducing Shopping Ads on Pinterest

Shopping Ads are Pinterest’s equivalent of product listing ads. They allow retailers to promote products that people are actively searching for on Pinterest.

When a user searches for product-related keywords like “black heels” or “sofa deals”, Shopping Ads appear at the top of the search results.

These ads showcase a product image, title, price, and shop name. Users can click on the ads to view the full product details and purchase the product without leaving Pinterest.

Shopping Ads differ from Buyable Pins in a few key ways:

• They only appear for targeted search queries, while Buyable Pins get broader visibility in feeds.
• Shopping Ads take users directly to the retailer’s product page, while Buyable Pins go to a checkout flow.
• Retailers bid for keywords with Shopping Ads, making it a pay-per-click model. Buyable Pins use a cost-per-impression model.

Shopping Ads are ideal for retailers looking to get their products in front of high-intent shoppers who are searching for specific product types or categories. The ads capture demand and make it easy for users to view options and transact quickly.

Like Buyable Pins, Shopping Ads help turn product discovery on Pinterest into direct sales for ecommerce brands.

Strategies to Drive Sales with Shopping Ads

1. Research popular and high-volume product searches on Pinterest using keyword tools. Target ads to those relevant searches.
2. Set specific match types like broad, phrase, or exact match to hone in on really targeted searches.
3. Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant or low-converting searches from your campaign.
4. Structure campaigns around product categories, types, or collections to keep ads ultra-relevant.
5. Analyze search trends to identify seasonality patterns and peaks in demand for products. Target keywords accordingly.
6. Start with aggressive auto-bidding strategies to gain impressions and traffic. Then optimize bids based on performance.
7. Use Analytics to identify your highest-converting keywords. Increase bids on those terms or make them exact matches.
8. Create ad variations highlighting different product features/benefits. Test different creatives against each other.
9. Add UTM tracking parameters to your Pinterest ads to track sales and revenue in your analytics platform.
10. Re-target high-funnel site visitors with Shopping Ads to capture their interest and get the sale.
11. Monitor campaign analytics to optimize targeting, bids, ad placements, etc. for better ROI.

Analyzing Performance and Optimization

To get the most out of Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads, brands need to closely monitor and optimize their performance. Use Pinterest's analytics to track conversion rates over time to see how they trend and identify opportunities for improvement. Click-through rates on ads can also provide useful signals about relevance and targeting. For Shopping Ads, analyze metrics like clicks, impressions, spend, and conversions for each keyword to guide your bid adjustments. UTMs are valuable for tracking Pinterest-generated sales in your ecommerce platform and calculating return on ad spend.

Reviewing performance at the product level helps you double down on assets and Pins that are driving conversions. Check the performance differences between mobile and desktop to optimize placement and creativity for mobile shopping. Run A/B tests with ad variations to compare the impact of different creative, calls-to-action and other elements. See how Buyable Pins for a product compare to regular Product Pins to quantify the sales lift from the buy button. Monitor analytics routinely and be ready to refine targeting, bids, and creative in order to maximize your Pinterest ad ROI.

In conclusion, Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads are powerful tools on Pinterest for converting product discovery into sales. Buyable Pins make it simple for users to purchase items directly within Pinterest, driving higher conversion rates. Shopping Ads get your products in front of people as they search for something to buy.

To recap, the key points for success are:

• Creating compelling, high-quality Pins that show off your products
• Optimizing Pin descriptions to provide all the relevant details shoppers need
• Linking Buyable Pins directly to product checkout pages for faster purchases
• Using Shopping Ads to target high-intent keywords and searches
• Structuring campaigns around specific product categories or types
• Analyzing performance data to identify opportunities to improve conversion rates
• Testing different combinations of Pin creative, promotions, and calls-to-action
• Monitoring results on an ongoing basis and optimizing for maximum ROI

By leveraging Buyable Pins and Shopping Ads together, brands can drive more sales from the inspirational and transactional sides of Pinterest. These tools make it seamless for motivated users to go from discovering to buying your products directly on Pinterest.