Facebook Ads vs. Pinterest Ads: Which is better?
If you’re looking into social media advertising, the most popular options are to use Facebook and Pinterest. In this article, you’ll learn more about Facebook ads vs Pinterest ads and which social media platform may be the best option for your business.
Skip Ahead
- Advantages of Facebook ads
- Disadvantages of Facebook ads
- Advantage of Pinterest ads
- Disadvantage of Pinterest ads
- The costs of social media ads
- The final verdict
Why Social Media Advertising?
Imagine what advertising used to be like in the old days with billboards, televisions ads, and radio ads. Businesses would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a space on a billboard… for anyone and everyone to see.
But the problem with this is that there is no way to target consumers who are actually interested in your business.
Luckily, the internet has allowed us to connect with like-minded people and like-minded consumers.
As the saying goes, “If you can’t be found online, you don’t exist.” This saying is pretty self-explanatory in terms of a brand’s visibility on the internet.
Since the world is going digital, social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram all have global users that businesses can use to reach their respective target audiences.
Facebook/Instagram and Pinterest collect data and cookies from their monthly active users which helps them understand each individual users’ activity and interests. In other words, they track human interactions.
So when you decide to run an ad, you can tell each platform exactly who you want to see your ads based specific demographics and interests that you can plug into your campaigns.
Pros and Cons of Social Media Ads
Facebook Ads vs Pinterest Ads… let’s uncover all the pros and cons you need to decide the best ad platform for your business.
Advantages of Facebook Ads
Facebook is one of the most popular and widely used online ad platforms. In fact, it’s the third most visited website on the World Wide Web!
Due to its widespread use, it is a preferred advertising medium for small and large businesses.
Let’s discuss the pros of using Facebook ads for your business.
Huge Potential Customer Reach
Facebook has almost 2.89 billion monthly active users and is the most popular social platform for scope. The numbers and stats it produces are more than you can find in a physical store.
If you want to reach the right target audience and expand your reach worldwide to different audiences, Facebook ads are the best way to go.
And don’t forget Instagram ads… from your Facebook ads manager account, you can also create advertisements that appear on Instagram like the home feed and Instagram Stories.
Related: How to Network in Facebook Groups and Attract New Clients
Targeting Capabilities & Conversions
Facebook offers more than a feed that you scroll through. For businesses and brands, it offers Facebook Pixel that allows owners to monitor what the users do after watching their ads on different devices.
You will be able to find out who converts to a customer by watching Facebook ads. Just add Facebook Pixel to the pages of your site where the conversions appear.
Facebook Ads Manager
The Facebook Ads Manager is a great tool that provides transparency and clarity. They have many tools that allow you to analyze your campaign results and understand how your audience is interacting with your ads.
You can keep track of your Facebook ads campaigns progress to monitor your spending and what you are getting out of it.
You can also draw comparisons between the paid and organic posts through Facebook Insights stats. As a result, you can make strategic decisions for future advertisements.
Disadvantages of Facebook Ads
Must Wait for Ad Approval
Facebook has a rigorous approval process that every advertisement must pass to appear on its platform.
Some advertisements may be denied if it’s considered sensitive or triggering (unfortunately pregnancy, miscarriage, and fertility can fall under this category).
In some cases, these approvals can take up to 24 hours. So, it can be frustrating for business owners while they wait.
Strict Competition
More and more companies are now using Facebook ads to increase their visibility to a larger audience.
As a result, standing out of the crowd and catching customers’ attention can be challenging.
Today, three million businesses actively advertise on Facebook. That’s three million companies from all over the world, with more than 70% from outside of the US.
Facebook
Pay to Play is Ongoing
As far as “pay to play goes” on Facebook and Instagram, when you’re finished running a campaign, that ad will essentially disappear from all advertisement placements.
In other words, your ads will quickly lose engagement after you stop paying money.
FB Ads Are a Big Commitment
Facebook and Instagram ads really shouldn’t be left unattended for very long.
Because there are so many variables involved, it’s important to track what’s working and what’s not working in your ads.
If you don’t monitor your ads closely, they can quickly turn into a waste of time and money.
Advantages of Pinterest Ads
Here are the key points to consider Pinterest ads to boost your business and raise brand awareness.
With a whopping 454 million monthly active users around the globe, Pinterest is another fantastic platform to boost your brand and gain new followers.
It has a unique structure than other social media platforms as it organizes images (called pins) into different groups (known as boards).
Related: How to Increase Website Traffic Organically
Pinterest is a visual search tool so users come to this platform in search of images and videos to inspire them.
Your Ads Live After the Campaign Ends
Biggest Pinterest pro: After your paid campaign is over, that promoted pin will live on Pinterest forever.
Your promoted pins will remain on your Pinterest profile and can show up in the Pinterest feed well after your paid campaigns have ended.
Easier to Drive Traffic to External Sites
Driving traffic to its primary sources is easier through Pinterest Ads. This is because every image you place on a Pinterest board is automatically linked to its primary source.
If you want to try advertising your products, services, or landing pages, Pinterest allows you to do it easily.
As a result, this unique design of Pinterest has more referral traffic than other social platforms.
If your website has a blog, creating pinnable images for your blog post and sharing them with your business website can drive traffic.
Higher Conversion Rate
Pinterest Ads have a higher conversion rate than other social media platforms. More than 50% of pinners have purchased products displayed online on Pinterest.
Almost 90% of pinners have planned to use Pinterest for offline product purchasing.
Increase Brand Engagement
The promoted pins have an engagement rate of 2 to 5% because Pinterest users save pins for future use.
When a brand conducts promoted pin campaigns, it receives an average of 30% free engagement.
Generate More Demand
Almost 97% of Pinterest search queries don’t mention the specific brand. As a result, users stay active and in detective mode to find the particular brand, increasing its demand.
Almost 50% of Pinterest users are more likely to be introduced to new brands compared to other platforms.
Disadvantages of Pinterest Ads
Make sure you review the prohibited content guides that absolutely do not qualify for Pinterest advertising. For example, in July 2021, there were a lot of restrictions added for weight loss products and services as Pinterest is embracing body acceptance.
Pinterest May Not Be a Fit for Your Brand
Pinterest is a great option for ecommerce businesses and businesses that target affluent millennial women. So this one can be a pro or a con depending on who your business is trying to target.
The majority users of Pinterest are women between the ages of 25 and 50. These female pinners are mainly searching for recipes, DIY, fashion, beauty, travel tips, and family-friendly activities.
There are many topics that aren’t allowed on Pinterest or their distribution will be limited. For examples, pins about breastfeeding, sexual health or artwork that shows nudity are on the list of items that may have limited distribution. See their guidelines for more info.
Pin Images Must Be Your Own
Pinterest is a visual search engine so the design of Pinterest graphics are a pretty big deal.
For Pinterest ads, your pin designs need to be original photos. That means that you can’t use free stock photos. You must own the copyright for the images.
So, you will have to take the time out to design Pinterest-specific posts or invest in your own photography or graphic designer.
Facebook vs Pinterest: What are the costs?
Pinterest campaigns typically cost somewhere from $0.10 to $1.50 per engagement. Facebook’s cost per click ranges from $0.50 to $2.00.
There are a lot of factors that play a role in the cost of running ads. More businesses run ads on Facebook/Instagram so naturally, the amount of competition can drive up the price.
For most advertisers, the objective of an ad is to push traffic to their website, landing page, or product pages. So I’m going to share prices specifically for those types of ad campaigns.
The Final Verdict
The final verdict: There are certainly a lot of pros and cons to consider, but at the end of the day, Pinterest ads seem to be much more cost effective and easier to set up. While they have some setbacks, you can use promoted pins to add new leads to your sales funnels, grow your email list, and bring more traffic to your website.
Every social platform has its pros and cons. Hopefully, this guide on Facebook Ads vs Pinterest Ads has helped you decide which platform is best for your business.
At the end of the day, it depends on your preference and budget to choose a platform that perfectly aligns with your brand while generating leads and raising brand awareness. So, which will you choose to boost your marketing efforts?
