Updated December 14, 2019

Pinterest Expert Review:

Pinterest rolls out E-learning Program Pinterest Academy

Pinterest Expert says…finally! Pinterest launches it’s first-ever elearning program, the Pinterest Academy. The company said in a blog post that the program has been requested by; marketers, agencies and brands on its platform. Thanks for listening Pinterest!

As you know I have several online courses on Pinterest marketing for businesses. From beginners level to advanced and as a Pinterest expert I even teach people on how to start their own Pinterest management business. So naturally I wanted to check it out for myself. In this post I’m going to reveal what I really think about this course and what you can expect. 

FAQ’s about the Pinterest Academy:

1. How many lessons are there?

There are currently five lessons:

• A Peek Into Pinterest
• Creative Inspiration
• Creative Strategy
• Campaign Objectives
• Targeting and Buying

 

While the next four on the way will be:

• Setting up a Pinterest Business account
• Planning and strategizing a campaign
• Building and launching a campaign
• Managing and measuring a campaign

 

2. How can I access it? 

You can sign up here. 

You can watch the lessons from anywhere, on any device, and whenever it’s convenient for you. 

It is in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, France and Germany, with a wider roll out set for Oct. 24.

3. Who should take this course?

The Academy’s nine courses help you learn how to use Pinterest for your business and your clients. 

4. How long is the course?

Each course should take around two to five minutes to complete. The entire curriculum can be finished in under an hour. 

Now that you know more about the Pinterest Academy let me show what you can expect. 

1. Pinterest Narrative

You’ll learn:

• Pinterest lingo
• How a Pinner uses Pinterest
• Where Pinners see your pins (images)
• The mindset of a Pinterest user

 

Pinterest Expert Opinion: Super basic but it’s helpful for those businesses that have no clue how Pinterest works. 

2. Campaign Objectives

You’ll learn:

• How each type of advertising works
• How each type of targeting can be used to meet your objectives:

• • • Awareness Creative
    • Driving Consideration for Higher Engagement
    • For App Install Pins
    • Get Conversions

 

Pinterest Expert Opinion: Good overview of the types of images to create based on your campaign goals. Small businesses don’t have the same budget as big brands so I recommend that if you have very limited budget that you start with conversion targeting. That means you are paying for clicks. 

3. Creative Strategy 

You will learn how to stand out on Pinner’s home feeds. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Use compelling imagery showing something from an unexpected angle

• Size matters; go vertical with a ratio of 2:3.
• Include tasteful branding for easy identification
• Play with text overlays, design elements, and typography

• Feature multiple images (in a single layout or within a carousel)
• Streamlined, intentional design performs better than cluttered text and images
• Lifestyle images are often more effective than product shots
• Pins with multiple images or a variety of products see higher engagement

• Put pins in motion. Video is great for how to’s, storytelling, and showcasing a product in use 
• Avoid:
  • • Excessive hashtag
    • Grainy or pixelated images
    • Wordy text
    • Amateur or low-quality content
    • Shameless branding

Pinterest Expert Opinion: Lots of great examples.

4. Creative Inspiration

You will learn:

• What it takes to create content on Pinterest and apply the learning to your pins. 
• To understand all pin formats, typography recommendations and other key creative elements.

 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Pins that use motion are a great way to stand out. They catch the eye and can communicate more than a static pin.
• On Pinterest, motion can come in the form of video or carousel pins. Carousel pins feature a carousel of images that rotate automatically in the feed. 
• A carousel requires 2-5 pins.
• 10-15 seconds is ideal for video content on Pinterest.
• Typography refers to the style and appearance of your text. It can be used to evoke a feeling, convey an attitude, emphasize a word or create a hierarchy within your copy.

Pinterest Expert Opinion: I would definitely use carousel pins as much as possible since you’re able to feature up to five images. 

5. Target and Buying

You will learn:

• How to articulate marketing methods and tools to promote ads on Pinterest more effectively.
• The three types of targeting options on Pinterest and how they can be used to connect with your audiences: targeting, placement, and the auction. 

 

a) Targeting

Targeting allows advertisers to be strategic in where and who sees their pins. 

There are three main types of targeting on Pinterest: 

• Interest targeting: The goal of interest targeting is to reach potential customers by appealing to their interests, which are expressed through their interactions with other content on Pinterest.
• Keyword targeting: Pins are able to show up contextually, reaching Pinners in search of a specific idea, product, or interest.
• Audience targeting: Allows you to leverage existing customers and potential customers based on people who have visited your website or interacted with your content before. There are four types of audience targets available: audience list, act-alike, visitor re-targeting, and engagement re-targeting. 

 

b) Placement

Pin placement: placement determines where your pins are shown on Pinterest; in the home feed, search results, or related pins.

c) The auction

The Pinterest auction is a second-price auction which means the winning bidder pays $.01 higher than the second highest bid. 

Pinterest Expert Opinion: Pinterest is a search engine that is keyword driven so I believe it’s prudent for small businesses to invest in “keyword targeting” first. 

6) Setting up a Pinterest Business Account

You will learn how to:

• create a new business account or convert from personal to business
• navigate the Pinterest business interface, including ads manager and analytics

 

7) Building & Launching a Campaign

You will learn:

• how to select a pin, measure performance and optimize your campaign
• how Ads Manager works and how to be successful on Pinterest

 

8) Managing & Measuring a Campaign

You will learn how to:

• set up and measure campaigns by objective
• track and analyze ad performance

 

9) Planning & Strategizing

You will learn:

• why thorough planning is crucial in order to create campaigns that effectively reach Pinners
• the different formats, objectives and KPIs you can choose when planning your campaign to drive success

 

Summary

I believe this is a great overview for businesses that are absolutely new to Pinterest. It’s plausible that Pinterest would be focused heavily on Promoted Pins because they are now a publicly traded company and have to drive revenue growth.  In fact, three out of the four next courses are more about ad campaigns. They are going to use their academy to teach you how to buy their ads.

Unfortunately, there is so much more businesses need to know about Pinterest. Pinterest didn’t even cover Pinterest SEO. As a Pinterest expert I can tell you for a fact that it is the foundation of Pinterest marketing success and the vast majority of people get this wrong from the get-go. They don’t want you to know that because then you’d buy fewer ads. 

Most businesses I’ve seen don’t Pinterest SEO right. If you fail to use the right keywords you’re basically hiding under a rock on Pinterest. That is not a good way to build a strong marketing foundation on Pinterest. 

If you’re looking for a complete course on how to master Pinterest marketing make sure you check out the best Pinterest Marketing online course for business! I also offer six months of email support so you never feel alone and you get the right answers quickly to your most important questions instead of trying to figure out which one of the 10 answers you heard in a community might be right, if any.

With my course you’ll be more successful on Pinterest faster and it will cost you less.