Pinterest has been quietly making some big gains when it comes to advertising revenue.
Pushing Boundaries
In a recent story that revealed a discussion between CNBC and an anonymous source familiar with Pinterest’s internal dealings, it would seem that the company is positioned to double its advertising revenue this year.
The popular image sharing social network earned $500 million in 2017, and the timing for this surge to $1 billion comes at a very convenient moment as the company aims to go public in Q2 of 2019.
Mobile Success
The insider source claimed that Pinterest’s mobile advertising program has been a major contributor to its success, with fashion and beauty brand consumers investing heavy amounts of time and spend within the platform. Rightfully so, the company has made recent additions to its advertising program to make their ads even more lucrative to those industries.
Out of the 200 million active monthly users, a whopping 80% of Pinterest’s base is currently using its mobile app and nearly 85% of Pinterest searches happen on mobile.
Facing the Opposition
Despite Pinterest’s tremendous success this year, the company still has a long way to go to catch up to the likes of Facebook and Google, which account for 57% of the $88 billion in digital ad spending. And while recent additions have been made to its advertising program, Pinterest utility upgrades haven’t been coming in nearly as quickly this year as some of the other major players. Video advertisements in particular, which contributed to $11.9 billion of ad revenue last year, are still an element the platform has no functionality to accommodate.
Holding Influence
While Pinterest certainly has a steep hill to climb to cut the distance between some of the other digital ad realms, there is still something to be said about what it brings to the table for advertisers.
For starters, those who are looking to get their ads in front of a millennial demographic would be wise to give Pinterest some consideration, with 1 out of ever 2 millennials using the platform on a monthly basis. And even though Pinterest may have a smaller userbase than Facebook or Instagram, 50% of its users have admitted to making a purchase after seeing a Promoted Pin.
Perhaps most interestingly, Pinterest is also a strong source of referral traffic, which had a nearly 30% increase in social referral traffic last year, falling behind only Facebook.
If you’re marketing lifestyle or beauty products, putting some spend into Pinterest should be a no-brainer. But even if you represent a different industry, consider the visual appeal of what you’re selling and if it could coexist nicely within Pinterest’s realm. If there’s a visual story to tell, it may be worth hopping on the Pinterest train to see where the tracks lead you!