Pinterest has become one of the largest visual search engines. Its user base consists of people searching for images and looking for just about everything including fashion, food, home decor, wedding ideas and also home projects. Using Pinterest ads can be a huge boost to your lead generation.
In 2019, its user base grew 26%, making it one of the top 10 most relevant brands in the U.S., behind brands like Spotify, Disney and Apple, according to Prophet’s Brand Relevance Index.
A noteworthy fact about Pinterest is that more than 70% of the search engine’s active user base comprises women who ultimately influence buying decisions. According to Sprout Social, 85% of women in Pinterest use it to plan life moments, 43% plan on getting their ideal home within the next five years, and 58% say it helps them make shopping and purchasing decisions.
What does this mean to the decorative concrete contractor? It means you can get into prospective clients’ heads and become part of their decision-making conversations.
Investment can pay off
When people are looking for flooring ideas, you can show them your beautiful decorative concrete or epoxy floors. If people are researching countertop or sink possibilities, you can show them your concrete sinks and countertops. When people are interested in outdoor living options, you can show them your stamped concrete, concrete engraving designs or vertical concrete. The list goes on.
Imagine a family is searching for home improvement ideas on Pinterest and are on the fence about flooring. Seeing your beautiful modern decorative concrete flooring options on Pinterest can be enough to sway them to use decorative concrete for their flooring instead of another flooring option.
Already tried adding your work on Pinterest with no results? That’s where Pinterest ads come into play.
With Pinterest’s advertising platform, you can choose who you want to see your work within specific parameters such as interests, geographical location and by search intent.
The best part of advertising on this platform is that it’s not as saturated with advertisers as Facebook or Google, so you can get premium placements inexpensively. In other words, you get more bang for your buck when you use Pinterest ads.
Let’s get started
Here’s how to get started with Pinterest ads for your decorative concrete services:
- Set up a Pinterest business account. Go to business.pinterest.com and follow the setup instructions. A business account differs from a personal account in that you can get access to analytics, create an optimized profile for your business brand and also enable advertising capabilities you’ll need to run ads.
- Once you’ve created your business account, you can go to ads.pinterest.com or simply look for the plus sign on the top right to create your campaign.
- If your goal is to generate leads, the Traffic or Conversions objective will be your best option. Those two options will get you more clicks from your desired audiences.
- Define your audience. There are two ways of going about this. One is by defining “interests” and the other is by selecting “keywords.” With interests, you’ll be able to target an audience that has the propensity to invest in decorative concrete services.
With keywords, you’ll be able to pinpoint and target only those who are proactively looking for ideas around the service you offer. Pinterest will provide keyword suggestions based on your services. The key with this targeting option is to add as many keyword variations as possible to ensure your campaign is not limited by reach.
- Select your audience’s age and location. Best practice for age selection is “25-64.” For your location, you can enter ZIP codes or specific city/metro areas.
What should you allot for your budget? A good starting point is $10 a day or $300 per 30 days. You’ll see by the end of your first week if you need to add or reduce your budget. - Now comes the fun part! You get to create your ad! You can select a pin that’s performed very well for you or create a new pin that speaks to individuals while they’re searching. If you have a video of either you or your crew working on a project or giving a final walk through, you can upload it and, in most cases, it will generate more clicks. If you don’t have a video, include a clear image that’s clutter-free, compelling and showcases your best work.
After you’ve selected your video or image, then write a catchy title. Think of your title as a headline. Make it compelling, pop and connect to the end user. Your headline will make you either look like the rest or make you stand out. Great headlines either enter the conversation inside prospects’ heads or interrupt their search pattern.
Once your headline is defined, tell visitors what they should do next in very direct terms. In this case, you want them to visit your website and request a free consultation or a free quote. If they click on your website, it means they’re interested in what you have to offer.
Your destination link should be a website page dedicated to showcasing the work you’ve performed with clear calls to actions and visible web forms so prospective clients can take action.
Top 3 mistakes people make when advertising on Pinterest
- The message is too broad and not direct enough with the targeting. Best practice is to create one Pinterest ad campaign around one specific service offering. You can have as many campaigns running simultaneously, but you should always keep one service or one product type per campaign. Imagine someone looking for concrete countertops ideas and they come across a pool deck. It will be ignored and the campaign won’t get any leads either.
- Ad doesn’t showcase your best work. Videos and images of your work should be clean and clutter-free without distracting elements. Avoid having equipment or supplies in the image and be sure to pick up debris. If the image looks too perfect, it might go ignored. If it looks below average, it will be ignored. This is a perfect place to use vertical photos and videos of your work. Make it fun!
- Not having a clear call to action in the Pin ad or on the website. Every click matters. If someone clicks on your ad, it’s the ad’s job to compel the prospect to then take the next action. It’s the website’s job to compel prospects to call or submit their information. A confused mind can’t make a decision!
