Chasing Rabbbits

📓 Pinterest Targeting

If you run ads on Pinterest, your targeting options are:

That last one isn't targeting robots (I think), but using robots to do lots of fancy statistical analysis for targeting purposes.

I'm most interested in the first two because of how they interact. And keywords are fairly unique in the world of social ad platforms.

Interests are what you'd expect, interests users express via their on-platform behavior (and conceivably off-platform if sites have Pinterest pixels installed, etc etc). The platform may not have as many as Facebook, but the interface to select them is much better. There aren't any hidden interests and the ones they do have niche down pretty far. For example, do you want to target people interested in "Home Decor Style" or "Country Farmhouse Decor"?

Keywords function basically just like Google Ads, or other search engine ad platforms. Including match type modifiers.

There are two placements on Pinterest: Browse and Search.

Browse is the home and Related Pins feeds. Search-less scrolling, if you will.

Search is, well, search.

I oversimplify the targeting types as:

When users are browsing, Pinterest wants to show them more of what they've been interested in historically.

When they're searching, Pinterest wants to show them what they are expressing interest in in that moment.

Interest targeting can deliver in Search, but reading between the lines of a chat with my Pinterest rep makes me think you are at the back of the line waiting for your keyword competitors to filter through the auction system. You're waiting on the scraps.

There is also a checkbox in the Interest and Keyword targeting section to "Enable expanded targeting." This uses your Pin image, title, and description to add to the explicit targeting options you set. Useful to cover all your bases. But keep it in mind if you're trying to microtarget or need to reduce competitive overlap between similar brands or products.

#Pinterest #ads #playbook