Pinterest’s new Shop the Look collections lets brands promote several items in one mobile ad

Pinterest announced on Monday it would soon be releasing Shop the Look ads in a new collections format for mobile. The ads will roll out in the U.S. over the coming months. The company is also redesigning the layout for Business Profiles on its platform and extending its Catalogs and Shopping Ads to more countries.

Shop the Look collection ads. The soon-to-be-released Shop the Look mobile collections ads for mobile will allow brands to showcase up to four products that users can then click through to purchase on the brand’s website.

“It’s the easiest way for retailers to feature multiple products in a single ad so Pinners can discover great products in the context of a Pin’s image and click to checkout on the retailer’s website,” writes Pinterest on its newsroom blog.

The company said the ad format was inspired by its organic Shop the Look pins businesses can use which allow them to tag up to 25 items in a single image.

Business Profiles: now with Shop tabs. Pinterest is also refreshing its Business Profile design, aiming to bring a brand’s “Pins and products front and center.” Businesses can now customize their profile cover with a video or image, and the platform has added a dedicated Shop tab so that users can browse products directly from Business Profile pages.

The company has also updated its Business Profile messaging features so that brands can provide, “Quick customer support and feedback.”

Catalogs and Shopping Ads available in more countries. Pinterest’s Catalogs, a feature that makes it possible for brands to upload a full catalog and automatically create Shoppable Pins from the catalog’s content, is being expanded to select advertisers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. These same countries are also getting access to Shopping Ads.

Why we should care. Pinterest has long been recognized as a valuable product discovery platform, but it’s continued focus to expand ad opportunities and ecommerce features creates real potential for brands on the platform.

A recent study conducted by Neustar, looking at social and search campaigns for five U.S. retail brands, found that even though Pinterest ads accounted for only 11% of the media spend for the five brands, the platform was responsible for 18% of their incremental sales and revenue — making Pinterest ads 2.3-times more efficient compared to other social platforms.

With the steady rollout of more ad products, Pinterest is positioning itself to win over a larger chunk of advertising dollars. How much it actually earns will depend on campaign performance — and how well Pinterest can compete with other social ad platforms.

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues is a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.