Pinterest Updated Its Ads Manager Platform and It Actually Doesn't Suck
Paid social media buyers everywhere, rejoice!
Pinterest has made major updates to the Ads Manager platform that are not only helpful but in some respects even better than Facebook (gasp!). This update comes just in time for the aesthetic obsessed season that is summer as we guide our clients or brands where to spend their social budgets. As any self-respecting buyer, my focus is on making sure that spend is properly allocated across platforms based on performance to ensure the brand is reaching its full paid social potential. However, it has taken Ph.D. knowledge of the Pinterest platform just to be able to find where they were hiding conversions so it is no shock that if Pinterest was not obviously needed then buyers would avoid it like the plague.
Well, not anymore - at least not because of the painful UI/UX (not trying to oversell it, trust me there are still problems but it's way better). If you are skeptical, can't blame you but here are the major updates so that way you know what's going on in order of importance:
- Customizable conversion settings
7-day click-through for one client, 30-day click and engagement-through for another. Having to export the Pinterest data and dig for hours just to get the right attribution numbers to report back is now a thing of the past. The ability to customize conversion events and attribution is now available.
2. Reporting views
If you couldn't care less about CPM, but always had it proudly displayed on your dashboard with no way of changing it well fear not - that's over. Similarly to Facebook Ads Manager, reporting views have default options that come pre-loaded with the typical metrics needed for reporting but also with the ability to completely customize the metrics reported. This is another huge win for all the buyers who have had to spend a wild amount of time sifting through those crazy data downloads.
3. ROAS
They have ROAS now and quite a few other calculations. This is one of the areas where Facebook got beat by Pinterest. Engagement rate, save rate, really all of those formulas that are easy enough to do but generally want to be avoided to save time can now be skipped.
4. Targeting breakdowns
This was honestly already a thing for Pinterest but now it's easier and convenient. Keep in mind this is still not a capability of Facebook ever since it got away from the best-performing audience targets back in Q4 2016. So this is a welcome update and one that bests Facebook.
5. Archiving, Graph Customization, In-line editing
A few other updates include the ability to archive campaigns that are unwanted, edit the name of pins within in-line, and customize graphs to display the metrics and reporting period that is wanted.
Whether it's been a while since you have been on the Pinterest Ads Manager platform or you were just on it yesterday, hop back in and check out the updates. Fingers crossed Pinterest continues to improve and make the necessary changes to be a platform that is enjoyable to buy on that, in turn, will benefit the platform and brands alike while making sure buyers have less of a headache as well.
Jessica McGlory is Associate Director, Paid Social Lead for Engine Media, a modern tech-enabled, data-driven, and talent-led media agency.