Pinterest has offered video pins since August 2011, but the nature of video pinning has changed recently. In April 2012, Pinterest stepped up its video integration options by partnering with Vimeo.
Colleen Taylor at Tech Crunch notes that this step makes a lot of sense for Pinterest and Vimeo. “Vimeo is known for attracting videos from a more artsy and design-conscious crowd, and its aesthetic should plug in perfectly with Pinterest’s passionately visual user base.”
This shifting playing field means that brands hoping to capitalize on video pins will need to explore ways to optimize their videos for the Pinterest user experience. Here are five tips for pinning videos on Pinterest:
Selectively Post Your Videos on Pinterest
Just by posting a video on Pinterest, brands are seeing skyrocketing engagement and click-throughs. For example, Lionsgate BeFit is a work out video brand that began posting videos on Pinterest. Stephanie Buck of Mashable reports, “Lionsgate introduced video content to its Pinterest profile, Lionsgate BeFit’s YouTube activity doubled, from 200,000 to 400,000 views…. The views not only count toward the channel’s YouTube traffic, but users are also exposed to the video’s original ads as well, which helps for future monetizing opportunities.”
Pinterest is now an essential aspect of an online video marketing strategy, but brands like Lionsgate are stepping into this new arena cautiously. They’re only posting their most popular videos on Pinterest rather than cluttering their pages with more videos than a user can easily scan. This leads to higher quality traffic for a few videos and a long tail of traffic for their other videos.
Use Vimeo or Become a YouTube Partner to Create Cover Images
Creating a unique and professional cover image for your video is a key to success on the Pinterest platform. By either using Vimeo for your videos or signing up for YouTube’s Partner program (which is free), you can control the cover images that show up on your videos.
A thumbnail image will often help determine whether Pinterest users will find your video interesting enough to view. Grant Crowell writes at Mashable, “When selecting a thumbnail, find or create an eye-catching image that properly represents your video. If it’s a company product, consider setting it against a white background. If it’s more of an idea, then find a visual that provides a unique way of showcasing your theme.”
Add Annotations in Your Videos to Drive Engagement
Annotations are a simple way to make your videos more interactive and engaging, as well as to suggest ways that viewers can take action when they’re done viewing your video—such as visiting your Pinterest profile. YouTube’s Annotation page mentions, “Video Annotations is a new way for you to add interactive commentary to your videos! Use it to: Add background information about the video, create stories with multiple possibilities (viewers click to choose the next scene), [and] link to related YouTube videos, channels, or search results from within a video.”
Debbie Hemley writes at the Social Media Examiner, “These annotations should tell the visitor to ‘pin this video to Pinterest’ or provide a link to your Pinterest profile. The annotation serves as another reminder to users to engage with you in another way in a different community.”
Keep Your Videos Short on Pinterest
There certainly are exceptions to this, but a good rule of thumb is to offer several short video options. Marketing firm Hampton Creative puts it succinctly, “Keep Your Videos Short, When Possible- Pinterest in meant for fast browsing so don’t expect users to watch a 30-minute video. Make sure your video is quick and to the point.”
Before posting a longer video on Pinterest, test it on your other marketing channels to make sure it’s interesting enough to stop Pinterest viewers in their tracks.
Customize Video Descriptions for Pinterest
The title, description, and tags of your video are going to be especially important on Pinterest since users aren’t necessarily used to clicking on videos yet. They’re far more familiar with scanning images and small bits of text. Succinctly capturing the essence of your video is that much more important on Pinterest—spelling out the viewer benefits or hinting at the narrative’s trajectory in your video.
Pinterest continues to grow, driving referrals and increasing brand awareness. As brands seek to stand out and to capture the attention of viewers, videos offer a promising way forward on Pinterest.
This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a printing company that offers a variety of smartpress options, and who also consults for an inspection company that provides a variety of services for Pre shipment inspection in china.
