Pinterest Continues to Develop Traffic-Driving Initiatives

With the launch of promoted pins in 2014 and the CPC/CPE model for promoted pins in 2015, driving site traffic has long been a focus for Pinterest as advertisers look for more efficient ways to drive incremental traffic and revenue. Taking a cue from Facebook in many aspects with audience segmentation, targeting and shoppable video, the latest beta Pinterest is testing is “one tap” ads.

As seen in the screenshot below, the new ad unit looks like a regular promoted pin, except for the diagonal arrow in the bottom, left-hand corner of the promoted pin image. Once a user clicks on the image, they are connected directly to the site, whether that is a product page, editorial content, sign-up page, etc. The close-up view of the pin is essentially removed.

This feature is expected to fully roll out in early November, just in time for the holidays. Brands should consider user experience and create “one tap” ads designed to drive users to the experience that best meets their needs. For example, if a user is causally discovering on Pinterest, should an advertiser direct them to a high-price item product page right away, or an editorial page that describes the benefits of the high price item that the advertiser is trying to sell? Bounce rates will be a telling metric with this sort of traffic and it will be interesting to see how users respond and adapt.