It is official - videos are the most engaging forms of content for advertisers. Over the last few years, video marketing has grown exponentially across all social channels and platforms like Pinterest.

Pinterest offers businesses an opportunity to place their products in front of an audience that is there to engage and convert.

Consumers are seeking interactive content online and consumption continues to rise. In fact Pinterest videos were viewed 1 billion times per day in 2020 while video uploads increased up to 800% last year. With this video offering, marketers and business owners can now take advantage of this new medium and get their brands in front of even more potential customers.

In this blog post, you'll learn how to use video pins effectively to boost brand exposure and traffic, how to make stunning video pins, including what other tactics to use to get more sales from your Pinterest videos.

Check out these fun and creative videos on the Pinterest profile of Grey Goose.

Video Pins Are Scroll-Stopping

The majority of pins in a search result or user feed on Pinterest are static. This gives any video pins on the platform an instant advantage and the ability to draw attention. As users scroll through boards, video pins will automatically play once it's halfway up.

As a result, choosing to use static or video pins can spell the difference between your content catching your follower's eye or being overlooked.

This video pin from Jeuneora Australia stands out in the feed.

How Video Pins Drive Traffic and Sales

Pinterest has been an incredible tool to reach and inspire new audiences and interact with them in more meaningful ways than ever. Here are few ways video pins can drive more traffic and sales:

1. Add More Value

Instead of videos being seen as mere promotional content, video pins allow marketers to share more about their brands: from stories to product demonstrations that create a sense of trust with consumers.

2. Longer Life-Span

The great thing about Pinterest is that it takes your content and makes the most of every opportunity to share. Getting more engagement on videos puts you in a never-ending cycle where you can't help but surface again in search results for months—not minutes! That means all your hard work creating compelling content gets more traction over time.

3. Great for Cross-Promotion

Compared to other social media platforms that want to keep you inside their platform, Pinterest is totally fine with you driving viewers elsewhere. If you drive your audience to your YouTube channel, website, or product pages, you'll still stay in good standing with its algorithm.

Having a viewer engage with your video content also increases their chances of clicking through the Pin's link - which can result in better cross-promotion and sales.

How to Make Stunning Video Pins

In a visual-first platform like Pinterest it is vital to use original high-quality videos that convey information and make people want to learn more. These tips will help you make engaging video Pins that will keep your audiences attention.

Take for example this inspiring video by Glow Recipe.

1. To Capture Attention, Start Strong

You have less than five seconds to capture your audience's attention as they scroll through a feed so it's vital to have a compelling hook.

The hook is the very first thing your audience notices in your video that draws them in.

A strong introduction or hook can be enhanced with strong imagery that tells viewers what your video is about at a glance. This can be improved with text overlays posing a promise, solving a problem, or tempting them with a surprise.

2. Get Within the Right Video Length & Sizes

The average video on Pinterest should last between 15 seconds and one (1) minute. Likewise, the average video ad should last between six (6) to fifteen (15) seconds.

Videos can be pinned on Pinterest with a variety of sizes, including:

• 1:1: square
• 9:16, 4:5, 2:3: vertical (best option)
• 16:9: horizontal

Along with dimensions, there are other Video Pin specs to keep in mind:

• File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v
• File size: 2GB max
• Encoding: H.264 or H.265

3. Don't Rely Too Much on Sound

Do not depend on audio or dialogue since some Pinners watch videos with the sound turned off. Instead, you can tell your story by including captions or text overlays.

[#cta]

4. Optimize for Search

Remember, Pinterest is essentially a search engine so having clear titles and descriptions will help your video get discovered.

• Use up to 100 characters for your title;
• and up to 500 characters for your description (the first 50-60 characters are likely to show up in the feed)

5. Leverage Idea Pins

As with TikTok and Instagram's Reels, Idea Pins are aimed at creators and brands who want to tell stories through short vertical-style video, which has one of the highest engagement rates in social. Additionally, Idea Pins receive exponentially more comments than standard pins.

Idea pins are unique in a way that they're made of your original content. The mobile-first orientation enables you to share more candid content and take your audience behind the scenes.

Sharing Idea Pins enables you to inspire and connect with your audience the same way you would on other social platforms without leaving the app.

A multi-page canvas (which lets you use images and videos to tell your story) is available for you.

If you want to fully benefit from Idea Pins, you just need to:

• Structure your content like a story, with a proper beginning, middle, and end.
• Show your personality! Pinterest encourages you to show your face and narrate your story to get your audience to engage with you.
• Describe your idea in detail so others can put your idea into action. You can list ingredients, supplies, etc.
• Topics should be tagged so that your content reaches the right audience.

Repurposing Your Videos for Pinterest

If you've already created video content for your other social channels, the good news is you can repurpose it on Pinterest!

• For Instagram, simply go to your stories, tap the three-dot ellipsis button, and click "save" to get it saved to your camera roll and ready to upload on Pinterest.
• For YouTube, simply select "Share" from the menu tab underneath your video title and choose Pinterest. It's that easy.

How to Promote Video Pins

There are two ways to promote video pins: through ads and cross-promoting to other social platforms.

Pinterest Video Ads

Pinterest videos are compelling because they are integrated into organic pins in the feed, so they are less irritating than similar ads on other platforms.

Standard or maximum width ads are available, which are the same height as a pin but can be as wide as a double column on mobile.

Creating a business account is the first step in setting up Pinterest video ads. Business accounts work and look just like personal ones but give you access to all-important analytics and ad posting. If you'd like, you can convert your personal account into a business one.

As you create your ad, you're able to set your campaign goal, target your audience, and set budgets. Make sure to take note of these specs:

• File Type: .mov, .mp4, .m4v
• Size: max 2GB
• Length: 4 seconds to 15 minutes (6 - 15 seconds is recommended)
• Title: 100 characters max (only 50-60 characters will be displayed on feed)
• Description: 500 characters max (only 50-60 characters will be displayed on feed)
• Aspect ratio: square, 2:3, 4:5, or 9:16
• Max width aspect ratio: square, or 16:

Keep your ad short and simple, focus on how it can help your customers, and make good use of text overlays.

Cross Promoting Your Video Pins

You can generate more Pinterest traffic by cross-promoting your video pins via other social channels. Here's how:

1. Integrate video pins directly into your website or blog

On the backend of your website or WordPress, you can make a post and include a link to your video pin, paste the embed code, and add a "Pin-it" hover button.

1. Instagram: Link to video pin

On your stories, upload the video saved on your camera roll.

If you have over 10K followers and can use Instagram's swipe-up feature, use the Instagram Story link.

If you don't have it yet, use the Video Pin link in your bio instead.

1. Facebook: Send your video pins

Video pins can be sent directly to your Facebook feed once they are live.

First, at the bottom of your Pin, tap the ellipsis with three dots.

Next, select "Send" and then "Facebook".

Then, add a CTA to your Facebook post caption so that your viewers can click directly to your video Pin.

It's Time to Start Inspiring with Videos

Each day, millions of people around the world visit Pinterest to find inspiration. Their goal is to collect their favorite items into boards to find them easily in the future.

This means your business needs original visuals if you want customers or potential leads to find your product on Pinterest.

If you are in need of customised, on-brand visuals that will stop Pinners mid-scroll then you have already landed on the right website! Our team is an expert in producing branded videos for digital marketing. Book a demo to find out how we can help you make the most of this opportunity.

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