Pinterest is making it easier for publishers and brands to buy the ads that they like with a new impression-based ad auction format. This means that those who are more interested in garnering attention rather than clicks and shares will be able to bid on CPMs rather than purchasing them on a fixed-price basis.
Pinterest has been making more of a play for marketers’ ad spend this year, and the latest move will allow users to make room for the platform in its current campaign, rather than having to build one from the ground up, solely for the image-sharing site. Engagement-based buys are more popular with some advertisers, as they can lead to more people reading and engaging with the content that they post.
“Marketers are used to being able to buy on a per impression basis and be flexible with CPM as well as set things like frequency caps,” Ben Clarke, President of digital agency The Shipyard, said. “These changes make Pinterest easier to include in current media plans as an extension of the existing strategy rather than having to create a ‘Pinterest only’ buying model.”
Drive higher results
Pinterest claims that marketers will see “more efficient rates” and higher results for the impressions that they drive for their campaigns using the new ad solution. Previously, advertisers had to use the platform’s direct sales force, which was often more expensive and cumbersome to integrate within a campaign.
The latest move by Pinterest is part of a wider trend of performance-based advertising on social media, with performance marketing agency Performics revealing that there is now a move away from social purely being a branding tool to promote awareness and boost shares of views.
Performics’ Global Chief Revenue Officer, Marco Bertozzi, added: “But over the past few years, advertisers — and social networks — have changed this thinking. Social is no longer just a branding channel, but also performance channel that can be very effective in driving clicks, leads and sales, engaging consumers at specific stages in the purchase path.”
Bertozzi concluded that advertisers can also optimise their campaigns on Pinterest further by increasing or decreasing the ad frequency depending on where customers are in the buying cycle.
