Pinterest has quickly grown to become the leader in image based social networks. With this rapid growth, however, they have done very little in regards to keeping their advertising options current and competitive. According to a recent announcement, that is about to change.
Currently advertisers have 30 general categories which they can use to target their ads, which does not allow the precise targeting that most marketers desire. When their new update rolls out, advertisers will be able to dig much deeper in their targeting. Targeting basketball fans, for example, rather than just sports enthusiasts. This is a major improvement that will help marketers to get much better results from their advertising efforts.
It seems that even with these new options, however, the targeting will still be less precise than with places like Facebook, largely due to the less detailed level of information Pinterest has immediately available. It seems likely that they will need to partner with another company that has more detailed information in order to make further improvements in this area.
For now, however, this update will be extremely helpful for attracting new advertisers and giving them the ability to get their ads in front of the right people.
Anotehr update that is coming is having animated ads that move as users scroll down the pages. This will help to keep ads in front of users longer, making them more effective. There is no set date for this update to roll out, other than that it will be in the ‘coming months’ according to the report from AdAge.