Complete Guide To Pinterest Video Ad Formats (With Examples)

Guiding you through each of Pinterest's different video ad formats, detailing their characteristics and functionality. 

The rise of video on Pinterest

Video is playing an increasingly important role on Pinterest. The amount of video content on the platform has soared dramatically year-on-year with 2019 recording 6x more video views compared to 2018. This rise hints towards a changing content dynamic where video is chipping away at the commonly held view of Pinterest as an image sharing platform.

Video content on Pinterest is only set to become more widespread, with the platform announcing the introduction of Stories Pins, which will likely cause a surge of short-form video content being produced and consumed on the platform.This emphasis on video has carried over and influenced Pinterest’s advertising solutions, with an increasing focus being placed on how video ads can be used by brands on the platform.

Ever since Pinterest first announced Promoted Video in 2016 they have been developing new video ad formats, aimed at helping brands better engage with the growing Pinterest user-base.

This article breaks down the three Pinterest video ad formats that are currently on offer to advertisers. It takes you through each format’s unique characteristics and how they can be used to effectively promote your brand. 

1. Standard Video Pin Ad

The same size as a regular pin, this format allows you to place a video ad in a user’s feed that looks and feels like the organic content surrounding it. Standard Video Ads auto-play with sound off, and users can click to view the video in a larger frame. Pinners can save the ad to their board, which removes the “promoted” label and essentially boosts your ads exposure even further as an organic pin. 

Standard video pin ads are a versatile format that can be used for objectives across all stages of the funnel. 

2. Max Width Video Ad

Exclusive to mobile and only available as a promoted format, Max Width Video Ads are an attention grabbing format that dominates the screen, spanning across both of Pinterest’s two column grid. This format follows the “Bigger Is Better” mindset, with Pinterest tests showing that the maximum size helps brands to achieve maximum results, especially when looking at Brand Awareness metrics.

Source: https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/promoted-video-with-autoplay

3. Collection Ads

Collection Ads are a new format developed in line with Pinterest’s ambition to help retailers drive e-commerce sales by offering its users a more streamlined online shopping experience.

Collections can be broken down into two parts. First you have your hero video or image, which appears in feed. Once clicked, the user is transported into the collection, a mini shop front where you can feature up to 25 products relating to the hero creative. This “shop the look” function helps you to encourage Pinners to take action, and also serves as a useful tool for the user, giving them the ability to see a wider range of products that they may be interested in.

This is a perfect format if you have an e-commerce presence, as it enables you to integrate your products into the Pinterest platform offering users an easier shopping experience.

Why adopt Pinterest video ads?  

Pinterest is a unique platform in the fact that its users are actively searching for inspiration, they seek products and services and value branded content as it helps them in their search. For brands, this means that you can integrate your ads seamlessly in amongst related pins, adding to, rather than interrupting user experience.

Pinterest in general provides an exciting opportunity for brands to garner high performance due to the active mindset that users are in when using the platform. The ability to deploy video ads enables you to boost engagement even further, communicating a richer message to viewers.

Video gives you a greater ability to better showcase the benefits of your brand, with 67% of Pinners stating that video helps inspire them to take action.

Unlock The Power Of Pinterest Video Ads With Shuttlerock

As a proud Pinterest Creative Partner, Shuttlerock are experts in creating high quality, inspiration-worthy video ads that are optimized for Pinterest. Our in-house creative team are trained in Pinterest-specific best practices, and are ready to equip you with world-class Pinterest creative that will help ensure your Pinterest advertising efforts are a winning success.