Pinterest Autoplay: What It Means For Video Marketing

One of the strongest tactics to get your brand video out to the masses is by posting on social media. If you’re looking to use your video to increase visibility and boost sales, you should consider Pinterest. With the growth of Pinterest’s content base and their introduction of the Pinterest Autoplay video, it’s proving to be one of the strongest platforms for video marketers to reach new, engaged audiences.

Though often underrated by marketers, Pinterest has become one of the strongest social media platforms, with over 150 million monthly domestic users. What was once considered a “craft” platform has boomed to become one of the top platforms to share business, science, and networking content. Studies have shown that nearly 55% of people on Pinterest are interested in shopping for products, compared to only 12% of people on other social networks. This is a huge opportunity for businesses to use aesthetically pleasing images and videos to directly sell to consumers.

Furthermore, in May, Pinterest added a new Autoplay feature that is increasing visibility, impressions, and play rate for marketers using video on Pinterest. Brands like Visa, Universal Pictures, Toyota, L’Oreal, and Adidas are already making use of Pinterest Autoplay to boost their marketing campaigns—and you can do the same!

Pinterest Autoplay

Pinterest videos used to be “click to play.” This meant that users had to click on the video for it to start playing. Oftentimes, viewers would scroll past promotional videos without clicking play, which can drastically impact view rate metrics. If people don’t click on your video, they don’t see your brand, and you don’t make an impression.

Autoplay is removing some of this concern by automatically playing videos as they appear on users’ feeds. A brand’s video will show up among other related pins—either on a person’s feed or in search results—but appear as promoted videos.

These videos start to play automatically with the sound off. If the video is interesting, the user can click on it to hear sound. This form is non-intrusive to users, as these videos play without sound and are housed in their own designated pin zone. This creates a more frictionless experience with your brand. In fact, Pinterest’s autoplay feature is making Pinterest competitive with Facebook marketing, offering a new, lucrative, and engaged source of customers.

One of the best features of Pinterest’s Autoplay video is that it shows up in search results. If someone searches “honey skincare,” your skincare brand will pop up with a promoted video. This ensures a higher relevancy to the viewers of your video. The people who see your video are already interested in associated content, which means they are more likely to watch, be engaged, and convert.

Best yet, you can still use analytic software like Nielsen to track the demographics and metrics of your viewers. Pinterest works with you to ensure that your videos and marketing are constantly optimizing. For example, Pinterest offers the capability to retarget people who have watched your videos with follow-up ads. This creates multiple impressions and brand visibility, which helps to convert at a higher rate.

Pinterest’s sponsored campaign is also billed on a per-impression basis. This means you are ensuring a high return on investment, paying only for those video views and watches of your video.

How To Use Pinterest Autoplay

Despite the Autoplay feature, users can still scroll past your video without a passing glance. The difference, though, is that you have two to three seconds to grab their attention beyond just the thumbnail. The video begins to play, and in the first few seconds, the viewer can decide whether or not they want to continue watching.

In most videos, you want to start with a catchy opener. You want the first few seconds to present some sort of problem or narrative that intrigues the viewer to watch more. However, with the Pinterest Autoplay, this becomes slightly more challenging because you don’t have sound.

So how do you gain attention and provide instant gratification?

The quality of your video. In essence, the more professional and relevant the look of the video, the more likely a viewer will continue watching. This is especially true on Pinterest, which is a highly aesthetic-based platform, where people are looking for content (even business content) that appeals to their creativity.

This means you want videos that have:

• Bright lighting

• Contrasting colors

• Unique backdrops and settings

• Emotion-driven faces and people

You can also catch their attention with a key phrase or shot at the beginning of the video that draws them in. For example, if you’re appealing to a travel-friendly crowd, show a man diving into the ocean in Bora Bora. If you’re trying to sell your honey skincare, show honey droplets falling on someone’s face. Make the first shot relevant and attractive. If there isn’t an applicable scene, use catchy and engaging embedded copy.

What not to do: Don’t start talking about your company immediately. It won’t grab their attention. Instead, begin the story visually. Then, continue to soft-sell your brand using the four building blocks of video.

“Sight, sound and motion are the tools of the trade to engage a potential consumer and share a story. Pinterest launching Promoted Video with Autoplay allows marketers to entice consumers into the story and encourages users to lean in and experience the brands.”

– Shenan Reed 
President, Digital, MEC North America

You’ll also want to format your video appropriately. Although Pinterest allows for a variety of orientations, vertical or square is best for Pinterest. This is especially true as Pinterest videos only appear on mobile devices.

Moreover, length matters in order to keep engagement. Pinterest allows for videos up to 30 minutes, but we recommend no more than 5-7 minutes long. The ideal Pinterest length is 15-45 seconds.

Additionally, Autoplay works for multiple videos in a queue as well. If someone finishes one of your videos, the next video will star to play automatically. This creates an “episodic” experience for your viewers. In this way, we often recommend promoting short bursts of video that are part of a series in order to gain the interest of your viewer without losing engagement in a longer-form video.

The Bottom Line

According to Pinterest, 61% of their users enjoy watching brand videos on Pinterest newsfeeds. These viewers are 2.7 more likely to make a purchase on Pinterest if they first see a brand video.

With the new Autoplay feature, there is room to grow visibility and impressions with video content on a platform with an underrated marketing reach. You can tap into a new audience source on Pinterest with quality, intriguing, eye-catching videos.

If you want a professional video that will grab the attention of your viewer in the first two seconds, contact True Film today for a consultation! We will help you plan your marketing strategy and generate the perfect video for your brand.