Social and digital marketing is constantly evolving. Depending on the type of business you have, Pinterest may be an overlooked resource in your tool box. Here is a list of commonly asked questions (and answers!) when it comes to understanding the relationship between Pinterest, your business, and SEO.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is an incredibly popular social media platform that allows users to create digital corkboards or vision boards. It is highly visual, categorically organized, and encourages exploration. Users can create different boards to “pin” their interests to and each board can be tailored to a specific category. These boards can then be shared with friends and family members, allowing them to explore the user‘s interests in greater detail. Pinterest has become a great way for people to express themselves and share their passions with others.

Does Google own Pinterest?

No, Google does not own Pinterest. However, for several years now, there has been speculation that Google might acquire the popular image–sharing platform due to their mutual interest in the search industry. If Google and Pinterest were to join forces, it could lead to a significant increase in search capabilities. Despite this potential partnership, it is unclear if and when Google will purchase Pinterest as its value continues to rise year after year. Additionally, even though Pinterest is not directly associated with either Google or Facebook, it has still been affected by algorithm updates from both companies.

Does Pinterest affect Google rankings?

Yes, Pinterest does have an effect on Google rankings, but not in the way you might think. While pins themselves do not count as follow links, they can still be beneficial for SEO purposes. Quality pins with good images and content that include relevant keywords will help to increase repins and likes from users. When a user repins a pin, the original source link remains attached to it, which helps to direct more traffic to your website. As more people view and interact with your pins, it increases the number of links pointing back to your website and boosts its visibility in Google‘s SERPs. Over time, this increased visibility will lead to higher rankings on Google search results pages.

Does Pinterest convert traffic?

Pinterest can and does convert visitors into customers, if you have the right mindset and set-up – especially if you follow a CPA marketing model (cost-per acquisition). You won’t have a high conversion rate if you don’t make it easy for your potential customers to access the product and buy it online. With each hoop a user jumps through, the less likely they are to become a customer because you’ve made it difficult for them to be one.

Examples of things that can negatively impact your Pinterest conversion rate:

• Links on pins are leading to the wrong product
• Links on pins are broken (i.e. lead to nothing)
• Product images on your pins don’t match up with images on your website

How do I optimize my Pinterest?

There are several ways to optimize your Pinterest account. Here are a few strategies to get you started.

Step 1: Make it helpful
People use Pinterest for many different reasons. However, most of them are trying to solve a problem in an entertaining way. For example, users are searching for the best haircuts for their face shape, or gift ideas for their grandmothers. They have a problem, inquiry, or task, and they need to find a solution. This is where your Pinterest pins come into play.

Think about the audience you are trying to reach, their problems or tasks, and how your product or business fits into that equation. By having helpful pins, i.e. helpful solutions, you’re one step closer to having a Pinterest account that boosts your business.

Step 2: Make it attractive (and keep it accurate)
Pinterest is a very visual environment. While pins have a longer shelf life compared to Facebook posts or tweets, you have a limited amount of time to catch someone’s attention. By creating visually attractive and stunning pins, you’re increasing your chances of generating likes and repins.

People want to look at their own Pinterest boards and see they’ve curated something beautiful. If your pins can add value in this way, you’ve upped your chances of converting a user into a customer. However, beware of creating inaccurate pins. Make sure your images and visuals stay accurate to your product or service, and also are consistent with your brand. Building trust with your users takes time. Inaccurate portrayals of your business can prevent you from building trust, or break the trust you’ve already built.

Step 3: Use the right words
You can (and should) include words on your pins to describe them. Because Pinterest is a search engine, a good rule of thumb is to treat your pin descriptions like they’re titles of a website. Think about your target audience or who you want to reach and research trending keywords that are relevant to this audience and to your business. Try to keep the stronger keywords towards the beginning of the description you’re writing.

Most importantly, pay attention to your alt tags. By using alt tags, you not only increase your account’s accessibility, but you’re also enhancing your overall SEO.

After you’ve created interesting, valuable, and attractive pins with useful descriptions, you can keep track of progress using Pinterest Analytics. Take a look at impressions, engagement, and the behavior of who is looking at, liking, and repinning your posts. You can use this information to edit your existing pins and/or create more successful pins moving forward.

Are there any Pinterest trends I should be on the lookout for in 2023?

Customers want a seamless experience from start to finish. If your Pinterest pins aren’t lining up with the webpage you’re linking to, this can throw your potential customer off. Changes you make to one (e.g. your website), you should make to the other (e.g. your pins).

You also have to make sure your pins are fresh and intriguing. Trends are constantly changing, not only from year to year, but also from season to season. Take a look at your branding, your current color schemes, and even your website layout. If you’re noticing any inconsistencies, it’s probably time to hire an expert to help you evaluate your online presence.

How can Ventura Web Design & Marketing help me?

Whether you’re looking to incorporate social media into your marketing strategy for 2023, or you’re looking to have your current strategy updated, Ventura Web Design & Marketing is your ticket to online success. We stay updated with the latest industry trends and have decades of experience to ensure you’re getting the most from your digital agency.

From your social media accounts (including Pinterest!) to online marketing, we have the expertise and talent to take your business to the next level. Make sure to contact us today for a free consultation.

While most businesses crown Google or Instagram as King of Advertising, Snapchat is often overlooked as a powerful, effective, and relatively inexpensive way to reach the highly coveted millennial demographic. This guide is designed to show you the benefits of advertising on Snapchat and how it compares to its competitors. It will show you how to create successful Snapchat ads, and what metrics to look for after your ad is implemented.

Benefits Of Advertising On Snapchat

Here are some benefits to Snapchat advertising:

• The spending power of users
• Ability to target younger demographics
• Ease of ad creation
• Specific location targeting
• Full-screen ads
• Unique Snapchat features

Targeting your core demographic is a vital part of picking what platform to place ads. Snapchat users are primarily within the Millennial and Gen Z demographic. If your target audience aligns with these age groups Snapchat would be a favorable platform to place ads.

According to a Hootsuite article written in 2018, Snapchat captures 41% of those ages 18-34 every day. It also has the sixth-highest concentration of Millennials among all mobile apps.

Millennials and Gen Z have a $1 trillion spending ability. By neglecting Snapchat as an advertising platform you are leaving money and potential consumers behind.

In a Murphy research study, they found Snapchat users were 60% more likely to impulse buy.

Snapchat’s Ad Manager interface is extremely user friendly. It intuitively guides you through the whole process with their ‘Instant Create’ option. Comparatively, Facebook and Google have much more complex processes for creating an ad.

If you’re a seasoned ad creator, Snapchat has a more advanced ad creation option called ‘Advanced Create’. Anyone with a business Snapchat account has access to this feature. You can find the ‘Advanced Create’ portal from your desktop by logging into your Snapchat account and hovering over the ‘Create Ads’ button in the top left corner and selecting ‘Advanced Create’. Within the advanced create feature you can access a lot more customizable campaign options like:

• Split Testing
• Campaign creation instead of a single ad creation
• Access to more specific controls for who views your ad
• Access to a lifetime budget instead of just a daily budget
• Advanced bidding options (Auto-bid or Max bid)
• Tags that allow you to be able to target users that may consume products related to it
• Topsnap testing

In addition to its younger user demographic, and workable interface, Snapchat is the only platform that allows super-specific location targeting. It allows advertisers to target universities, parks, or even specific buildings. This allows you to target areas that largely contain your demographic instead of targeting a whole city, region, or country where your ad dollars would be wasted.

How Is Snapchat Different From Its Competitors?

Snapchat gives you the creative license when deciding what you want your ad to look like. You can use a GIF, video, or static image.

A ‘Snap Ad’ will run in a full-screen video format with the sound on. This differentiates itself from other platforms where the sound is turned off until the user decides to turn it on. This is a huge opportunity to make an initial impression with sound. The 100% full-screen ad is advantageous, Instagram is the only other platform to use this method of advertising. It’s only within their story feature and it doesn’t include sound.

There are three different types of Snap Ad formats displayed below:

App Installs look like this on the app:

Long-form videos are presented like this:

Last but not least, web view ads are presented like this on the app:

The full-screen ads differ from other platforms. For example, Facebook and Instagram feed ads take up about 25%-33% of the screen when scrolling through a timeline or browser this allows for the user to be distracted by other information, while on Snapchat the ad has their full attention when the advertiser uses the full-screen presentation option.

Another Snapchat exclusive feature is branded tiles on the ‘Discover’ page. These are companies like Seventeen magazine that make content consistently to be featured within the ‘Discover’ page but companies can also pay to be a sponsored tile on the page.

Other Snapchat advertising options include sponsored lenses and sponsored filters.
Here’s an example of a Snapchat lens:

This is one of Snapchat’s success stories.

The last example is a Snapchat filter that was launched in Germany. It was a huge success for the brand. View their KPI’s here.

Here is a helpful link that explains what filters and lenses are and how to create one for your business. These features are unique to Snapchat, and while Instagram has tried to copy Snapchat’s lenses and filters the quality falls short.

Marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk praises Snapchat for its ability to capture the attention of its users. He said he hasn’t seen such an active user base since Twitter in 2007 and 2008. Let’s compare Snapchat stories to emails. According to Gary, on the best day, only 25% of his emails are opened this would be a very low percentage of stories viewed on Snapchat.

Industries Advertising On Snapchat

Naming all the businesses that advertise on Snapchat would be almost impossible, so instead here’s a list of industries that Snapchat has hosted ads for:

• E-commerce
• App services
• Technology
• Entertainment
• Consumer packaged goods
• Auto
• Retail
• Restaurants
• Travel
• Financial services
• Health
• Telecommunications
• Insurance
• Government/Politics

How To Engage An Ad Viewer

The average Snapchat user is very engaged with the app, opening it 18-25 times a day. While the users are loyal to the app it is important when creating an ad to catch their attention as soon as possible with a clear message, USP, and call to action. Here is an example of a brand that had clear messaging, engaging visuals, and a clear call to action.

https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/inspiration/e-l-f-cosmetics-efficiently-gains-share-with-millennials-and-gen-z

Elf had eye-catching visuals to open the ad with, then by the third second of their ad they had their USP displayed on the screen, and finished with a ‘Shop Now’ call to action. They followed the formula for a successful Snapchat ad.

Engage in 1-2 seconds + Present USP in 3-4 seconds + Finish strong with a call to action

Questions To Ask Before Creating A Snapchat Ad

• Who is the target audience?
• What do you want your viewers to do?
• Gain awareness of the brand, buy a product, download an app, visit a website
• What type of ad will you run?
• How do you want the ad to look?
• Video, GIF, image
• Will there be ad copy?
• Is there music or a voice-over?
• What is the daily and lifetime budget for the ad/campaign?
• How long should the ad run?

Most Effective Snapchat Ads

Lead Generation Ads

• Best for audiences you don’t have a relationship with
• Offer something that solves a problem or provides value

The benefit:

• You receive the customer’s email that can be used to occasionally promote your business
• You can retarget those that visited your site in the future (this requires the Snap Pixel plug-in)

Doorbuster Ads

• This ad gives something away for free that gets customers into a brick and mortar location

The benefit:

• People came in for the freebie but bought additional items

Counterpart Ads

• This is an ad served to customers that are theoretically interested in the same things your current customers are.

How to do it:

1. Load up your email customer contact list into Snapchat. (located under the assets tab in the ‘Audience’ section)
2. The app then builds a list of potential new customers that will theoretically like the same things as your current customers.
3. Create an ad for this specific customer base.
4. The ad you’ve created will then be served to the people that the Snapchat algorithm deemed of value to you.

Note: You should have more than 1,000 emails to make sure the Snapchat has enough people to use in their algorithm.

How To Create Snapchat Ads

The first step to creating Snapchat ads is to download the app.

Creating your business’s Snapchat account:

1. Download Snapchat from the App Store
2. Open Snapchat
3. Tap ‘Sign Up’
4. Enter your name and tap ‘Sign Up & Accept’
5. Enter your date of birth
6. Create a username
7. Create a password
8. Enter your phone number and verify it *optional
9. Use your username and password to access Ads Manager within the app

Once you’ve accessed the Ads Manager follow these steps to create your ad with Instant Create:

1. Select ‘Instant Create’ option
2. Select an ad goal
3. Input website
4. Select the image, video, or GIF you want to use
5. Crop image or video if necessary
6. Enter ad copy and choose a layout template
7. Edit template as desired
8. Continue and fill ad demographic information, the location where you want the ad to appear, the duration for the campaign, and business and payment information

Follow these instructions to create an ad with ‘Advanced Create’:

Build Your Campaign

1. Choose what you want your viewers to do and convert to.
   
2. Choose a detailed name for your ad.
   The best option is to name it by the objective of the ad and the time frame in which it will run. Then choose the time frame you want the ad to run through
   
3. Choose daily and lifetime budgets
   

Ad Sets

1. It’s suggested you name your ad set by the audience, budget, goal, and schedule.
   The more detail the better considering you can run multiple ad campaigns and ad sets.
   
2. Select the ad format and ad type, then attach the file that you wish to advertise.
   Commercial ads cannot be skipped and are recommended.
   
3. Select your placement preferences, audience location, demographics, and language.
   This will vary from business to business and should all be decided in the research phase before creating an ad.
   
4. Select audiences predefined category, operating system, and connection type
   
5. Choose the status of the ad, budget, start and end date of the ad, the goal of the ad, and your bid type.
   As a newcomer, it is recommended to choose the auto-bid option. This takes the guesswork out of how much you’ll need to spend on daily ad budgets in the future. It will also allow you to figure out your cost per action or in layman’s terms how much you spend for someone to complete your desired ad goal.
   

Build Your Ad

1. Fill in your ad name, brand name, and headline then choose whether you want the ad to be sharable. Test your ad in Topsnap to make sure it meets the minimum requirements.
   
2. Select whether you want the ad to be active and fill in the tags that correspond to your ad.
   

Review and Publish

1. Review your previous ad choices, fill in your business information, and payment details.
   
2. Publish your campaign
   

How To Install Snap Pixel

Snap Pixel is an important program you will want for the purposes of retargeting and analytics. You can add it to your website by following this video tutorial.

How To Measure Success On Snapchat

KPI’s (key performance indicators) are what you will use to measure the success of your campaign. If you already have a website, your current KPIs might be conversion rate, total revenue, or time spent on your web page. Outlining metrics to measure your success in advance is helpful because it keeps you (and your team) focused on the end goal throughout the entire project and helps avoid distractions.

There are two apps needed to measure your KPI’s on Snapchat. Snaplytics and Delmondo.

Neither app measures every KPI.

Snaplytics measures open rates, story views, average screenshots per story, and completion rate.

Delmondo tracks more helpful metrics and provides a more detailed view of your audience, basic metrics, and channel comparisons to your other social media channels.

Here are some of the specific KPI’s tracked by Delmondo

Audience Insights

• Location
• Age
• Interests

Basic KPI’s

• Impressions
• Views
• Completion rates
• Screenshot rates

Channel Comparisons

• Measures how well your Snapchat is doing against your Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Other important KPI’s to measure that aren’t on Snaplytics or Delmondo

• Fall-off rate – The fall-off rate takes a little bit of grade school math to calculate. Here’s how you do it:
  • Compare the views of your first two photos on your story
  • The first has 500 views and the second has 400
  • 500 – 400 = 100
  • 100 / 500 = .2
  • .2 x 100 = 20%

  Therefore your fall-off rate is 20%.

• Number of followers – Below are the steps to locate your follower count
  • Open Snapchat
  • Click on your Bitmoji in the top left corner
  • Look under your yellow snap code and beside your username
  • The number located there is your follower count
• Geofilter analytics – Here’s how to locate your geofilter analytics
  • Log into the desktop version of your Snapchat account
  • Click on your name in the top left corner
  • Click ‘My Geofilters’
  • Select the geofilter
  • Scroll to view your metrics

Here’s a link to successful Snapchat ads and their KPI’s. The list can be sorted by region, industry, and campaign goal.

Here’s How Can We Help

If you would like to take full advantage of your advertising budget, outsource your Snapchat marketing or other digital marketing needs to experts please contact Ventura Web Design at (813) 556-7990 or fill out the online contact form.