Pinterest Launches Native Video Ads

promoted_video_blogSocial blogging platform Pinterest has made its first move into video advertising, introducing Promoted Video ads as an evolution of its existing Cinematic Pins ad format.

The animated Cinematic Pins expand into a full auto-play video with sound, with up to six of Pinterests Buyable Pins displayed beneath to provide a clear call-to-action for consumers.

Users have been able to pin video content on Pinterest for over five years now, and in fact in the last year, there has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of videos posted on the platform. However, the company is not heavily associated with video, nor has it pushed users towards the medium in the same way that Facebook has.

That appears to be changing now, with the company saying that video will form a “core part” of the user experience going forward.

“Over 100m people around the world come to Pinterest every month to discover ideas to try,” said Mike Bidgoli, product manager at Pinterest. “One of the best tools for bringing those ideas to life is video, so its no surprise this format has been popular on Pinterest. With Promoted Video, businesses can share their ideas with the people who are looking for them and make it easy for them to give these ideas a try.”

Pinterest tested the format with a campaign by FMCG company General Mills for its Old El Paso brand. The campaign resulted in significant brand lift metrics, and videos proved four times more memorable than other ad formats.

“Weve run several campaigns with Pinterest and consider video a natural evolution on how we want to connect with our Pinterest audience,” said Meredith Schaffner, marketing manager at Old El Paso. “Our customers come to Pinterest with high intent and the ability to show a recipe and our products through video is a unique opportunity to drive higher performance.”

For the official launch, Pinterest is partnering with brands including bareMinerals, Lionsgate, Purina, Kate Spade New York and Behr Paint. Initially, the format will be available to marketers in the US and UK, with plans to roll it out internationally in the future.

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