Burkhard Berger / 9 Mins Read
Updated: February 14, 2023
With Pinterest Video Pins changing the game on social media platforms, even early-adopters are finding significant benefits as a result. Know which Pinterest marketing strategies can get you your targeted audience.
Pinterest started as a simple platform for people to share inspiration and ideas on various projects and interests.
Today, it has grown into a massive visual discovery tool, and it’s now known as the go-to web and mobile app for sharing content in every category from DIY and fashion to fitness, recipes, and everything in between.
With over 320 million active users every month - from industry influencers to average users who pin content for personal use - there’s no doubt that this is a powerful platform for marketers looking to reach a wider audience and generate new leads.
Pinterest is constantly coming out with newer and better ways for marketers to share content, gain followers or subscribers, and drive higher engagement.
One such marketing tool is video pins.
In this article, we take a look at everything you need to know about how video pins are changing the game and how you can use them effectively as part of your Pinterest marketing strategy to promote your business.
Recommended: Be a Pinterest Boss: How to use Pinterest to grow traffic to your blog?
Why Are Video Pins So Important for Your Business?
If you've been using Pinterest for any length of time, then you have probably noticed that the platform really pushes video pins these days, and they’re showing up a lot more in the home feed.
Anytime a user performs a popular search on the platform, video pins show up as the top results.
Pinterest also sends a weekly email newsletter titled "Video inspiration! Here's what's trending on Pinterest this week."
In short, they want more videos on Pinterest.
For a marketer, this is good news. With more and more people consuming video content online, it means that if you can create high-quality, engaging video pins, you will be able to boost your conversions significantly.
This is particularly true for early adopters, and if you are one of the first in your niche to include video pins as part of your marketing strategy, you stand to see massive benefits as a result.
Here’s a quick summary of the benefits of using videos on Pinterest:
As you can see, if you sell products online, the benefits of using video pins for your business are immense.
And, when you consider that video views on Pinterest in 2020 grew over three times compared to 2019 - a trend that is expected to continue growing, it's easy to see why video pins are such an incredible marketing tool for your business.
9 Tips for Creating Amazing Pinterest Video Pins
Now that you understand how video pins are changing the Pinterest marketing landscape and why they are so important for your business, let's take a look at some of the best practices to help you create engaging video pins that will stop scrollers in their tracks.
Technically, you can publish a video that's up to 15 minutes long on Pinterest. However, people's attention spans are short, especially on social media.
That’s why the platform recommends short videos between 6-15 seconds long, as these typically perform best on Pinterest.
From a strategic point of view, it's always good to leave your viewers wanting for more.
If your video reveals all the information, then users have no reason to click through to learn more.
Regardless of the platform, whenever you use video, it's crucial to hook the viewer as soon as possible.
If you fail to grab their attention within the first few seconds, the likelihood of losing them goes through the roof.
If you want them to stop scrolling and pay attention to your video, make sure you kick off with a bang! Use lots of color and movement, show off interesting and popular products, or use text to create intrigue within those first few seconds.
There are tons of design resources and techniques you can employ to help you in this regard. An example of this strategy in use would be a website that sells medical alert systems.
One way to get people to stop in their tracks while scrolling through their feeds is to use a statistic such as:
“60% of Americans over the age of 65 are hospitalized each year after a fall!"
This is likely to make them stop and want to find out more about the medical alert systems on offer (if that type of thing is relevant to them, of course).
The bottom line is you need to get creative and do whatever you can to make the video intro count.
Adding text overlay to your video pins is a great way to make them stand out so you can capture and keep your viewers attention. Text overlay also adds context and helps to enhance your message overall.
To add text to your videos, upload your pin, then move the selector left or right to choose a thumbnail to use as your video cover photo. You can then include your text overlay somewhere in your video, preferably at the start of the video or at the end.
Since you have only a few words to get your message across, it helps if you have copywriting skills (or you can hire someone who does) to make sure your video pin has maximum impact.
For example, if you wanted to share short videos explaining about email invitation templates you offer, you might break it down and show each invite with its own text overlay to simplify things for viewers.
Creating video pins with text overlay doesn’t have to be a complicated process. If you have ever created slides for hosting a webinar or for sharing on social media, then you know how easy this is to accomplish.
Video pins play in users’ feeds. But, it’s important to note that some of your audience may not have their volume on when the video starts to play.
This means you have to try other tactics to ensure that viewers understand your message.
Adding captions will remove the need for audio and help make your video impactful even for Pinterest users who scroll with the audio off.
Captions also make your video more inclusive and viewable for larger audiences, including those who are hearing impaired.
You can also add text overlays, subtitles, and text intro and outro slides to make your video content easy to follow for those viewing without audio.
Pro Tip: Always use a tool like Copyleaks to check your captions for spelling and grammar mistakes; otherwise, it will make your brand look unprofessional if your video captions are full of errors.
If you want your videos to have maximum impact, make sure you stick to the platform’s recommended specs.
Pinterest supports a wide range of video pin dimensions, including:
Since most Pinterest users are on mobile, vertical videos are among the best options for pins.
Horizontal pins aren't as effective, and if you would rather not use vertical pins, then square pins are your next best bet.
In addition to using the right dimensions for your video pins, there are other specs you need to follow:
Keep in mind that if you don't add a title for your video pin, the description will show in the Home Feed. When crafting a description, only the first 50 to 60 characters are shown in the feed.
These are among the most important things to keep in mind to maximize the results you get from your Pinterest marketing efforts.
If you’ve ever worked to build a blog or social media identity, then you know the importance of SEO.
Whether for your website, blog, or social media, your video pins (like your images) must have clear titles and descriptions, as well as hashtags to help them be discovered by relevant users.
There are certain SEO techniques you can use to build a strong online presence for your brand and set your video pins up for success.
For instance, you can categorize your video pins with tags to make them more discoverable in search results. As an example, this owner of a rehab center in Austin might use tags such as:
This will make it easier for their target audience to find their content, which results in more views and clicks.
You can also use Pinterest's auto-suggest tagging feature to make your video pins more discoverable.
All you have to do is type in relevant keywords or phrases and then pick from the auto-suggested tags.
For instance, a website offering predictive dialing software might choose relevant keywords, such as:
… and so on.
Videos make it easy to keep your audience engaged over time. But, you can take this one step further by turning your video pins into a mini-series to keep viewers coming back for more, just as you might do on Instagram YouTube.
This is a great strategy that allows you to showcase consistent branding and get more viewers by using a strong call to action to watch the next video in the series.
You can also use your video pin mini-series to tell the story of your brand, product, or service, or to explain complex subject matters.
For instance, this website that focuses on sleep health could use this strategy to share a series of sleep studies and break down the complex information from their studies to make it easier for the audience to consume and understand.
Just make sure to save each video pin to the same board and add a descriptive title that will boost organic discoverability. This also helps keep your series of video pins neat and tidy.
As a marketer, you understand how important it is to automate as many of your marketing tasks as possible so you can structure your time, maximize resources, and boost productivity.
Luckily, there are tools you can use to schedule your video pins in advance, which can be a massive timesaver.
Even more importantly, scheduling ahead of time allows you to visually review your content before it's actually posted.
Another benefit of advanced scheduling is that it gives you a more flexible Pinterest posting schedule.
This is something busy marketers can appreciate, as it means you never again have to worry about posting when you’re on vacation again.
And, when you can win back some time from your busy schedule, it also allows you to focus on other aspects of your marketing so you can grow your business.
When it comes to scheduling your video pins on Pinterest, there are tons of marketing software you can choose from, including Later, a free Pinterest scheduler that sets up in minutes with no credit card required.
There are a ton of reasons why your business should be using Pinterest Ads right now. For instance, it will help boost the traffic you drive to your website and landing pages so you can increase brand awareness, generate more leads, and ultimately make more money.
Pinterest Ads offer amazing targeting capabilities, which means you will be able to take advantage of important keywords and hashtags in your industry to drive real results in your marketing campaigns.
For example, a sports equipment website owner could place a video ad for paddleboards targeting their ideal customers based on their buyer persona.
If you find that you aren’t very comfortable in front of the camera, there are language tutors and public speaking experts who can work with you to help you learn to speak confidently and deliver an impactful message to your virtual audience.
Video content is now a significant part of Pinterest marketing. Video pins are quickly becoming the number one creative tool for businesses, brands, and creators.
The good news is that you don't need to be a video editing pro to create stunning, professional-looking video pins.
These days, there are tons of tools and apps that you can use to add text, edit videos, and create amazing video pins that perform.
Canva, an official creative partner of Pinterest, is one such tool that allows you to create outstanding content quickly. Visme is another easy-to-use app that can be used for creating social media videos.
On Canva, you'll find hundreds of templates for Pinterest videos to choose from. There is even a built-in video maker, with a drag-and-drop editor that makes video pin creation quick and easy, even for beginners.
Use the tips outlined in this article to help you create amazing, high-converting video pins that will drive clicks and skyrocket your business growth.
Over to you. Do you have any other tips to add to this list?
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Burkhard Berger is the founder of Awesomex™. You can follow him on his journey from 0 to 100,000 monthly visitors on Awesomex. His articles include some of the best growth hacking strategies and digital scaling tactics that he has learned from his own successes and failures.
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