Pinterest and Snapchat Creative Playbook 2023

Pinterest and Snapchat Creative Playbook 2023

July 31, 2023
Marketing Two Cents

Table of Contents (Click to show/hide)

Data Analysis Skills | DEANLONG.io
10.54%

Monthly
Active User Rate

Daily Budget
$5000

Daily
Campaign Budget

Click-through rate increase
60%

Increase
Click-through Rate

an icon shows a lightbulb that indicates being creative | DEANLONG.io
15%

Growth
Return on Investment

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#1

Customer
Segmentation

Daily Budget
#2

Prioritisation of
Limited Resources

Click-through rate increase
#3

Competitive
Responses

an icon shows a lightbulb that indicates being creative | DEANLONG.io
#4

Consumer
Change

Pinterest and Snapchat Creative Tactics


Marketing on social networking sites may be profitable to all kinds of businesses. Moreover, advertising on social media networks is critical because it provides more growth than you can receive organically nowadays. 

Whether you're new to social media advertisements and are considering investing or currently running ads online, such as on Snapchat and Pinterest and looking for the best practices - we have something for you! The best practice listed below may persuade you to expand your initiatives and add more digital platforms to your advertising network.

Pinterest Ads Formats including shopping ads, collections ad and dynamic remarketing ad feed | DEANLONG.io
Pinterest Ads Format (Partial) source: www.semetis.com
Snapchat Ads preview | DEANLONG.io
What Snapchat Ads Looks Like (100% Mobile-based)


Before we do that, It's good to review the ABCD framework from Youtube so you have a creative root to create story for Pinterest & Snapchat. You can view more details here.

Pinterest Creative Playbook

Generate Traffic to Your Pinterest Ads Using "Keywords + Creatives" Mindset


Many individuals accept Pinterest as an organic social platform; however, it is a search engine. Pinterest's ad hack algorithm isn't as comprehensive as Google's. The SEO ranking for popular keywords on Google is faster and simpler. While we can apply some keyword strategies on Pinterest, what can we do for the creatives?


How to Design Compelling Pins?


Pinterest users browse quickly, which indicates you have a few moments to grab their attention. So how do you think of doing that? Well, the answer is a striking and captivating Pin.


Here are some TL;DR versions I made:

The fundamental elements of creating a Pins that everyone remember using Love To Dream - a Baby Bodysuit Ecommerce Brand as an example | DEANLONG.io

The fundamental elements of creating a Pins that everyone remember using T-Shirt Ventures - a disability technology provider as an example | DEANLONG.io

Now let's break it down:


Begin With a Best Size Canvas


In contrast, the taller the image, the more likely it is to be re-pinned. This is because all photos on Pinterest are styled with the same width. Therefore, taller pictures will benefit from taking up more "physical domain" on Pinterest — in other words, more excellent net space. 

Pinterest Ad specs
Pin Type Recommended Ratio Note
Standard Pins 2:3 1000×1500
Square Pins 1:1 Title: At most 100 characters but with only the first 40 characters appearing in people’s feeds. Description: Up to 500 characters.
Long Pins 1:2.1
Infographic Pins 1:3
Carousel Pins 2:3 or 1:1
Collections Pins 2:3 for the first image, 1:1 for additional
Shopping Pins 2:3
Story Pins 9:16
Promoted Pins Ad 2:3 Pins that exceed a 2:4.2 width-height ratio will be truncated in people's feeds


Make the Product the Focal Point


Users will benefit from Focal Points. A focal point is a spot on the display where people's eyes will instantly focus when they first glance at it. A key emphasis is a hotspot that serves as the focal point of a merchandising design when paired with stylised mannequins.


Incorporate Subtle Branding


You must employ labelled photos and incorporate brands on Pinterest through best practices in the top two-thirds of the Pin. It will improve your traffic, re-pins, and potentially your audience's impression of your brand.


Create a Text Overlay


Designers and editors use text overlay on videos to boost the number of viewers who consume their material. 


If required, use text overlays that do not take up more than 20% of the space. Images and movies with minimal to no text perform 20% better. The text should be no more than 20 characters long.


Some examples on text overlay: simple, overlay and without any text
Some examples on text overlay

Provide a Call to Action (CTA)


CTAs (calls to action) are as significant on Pinterest ad hack as on any other site. Including CTAs in your pin description may persuade viewers to perform the required action. Repin, Learn More, Enter Our Sweepstakes, and Buy Now are famous examples of CTAs that frequently function successfully.


A call to action is an essential component of every website. Call-to-action links and buttons serve as guideposts, indicating what readers should do next. I talked a lot about how to customise your CTA to make it more actionable and engaging. Check more here

So let's recap again:

The fundamental elements of creating a Pins that everyone remember using Johnny Bigg - a fashion brand as an example | DEANLONG.io



A Brilliant Way to Design an Instructive and Engaging Pin


Pinning appears simplistic when you first join Pinterest. You post an image and a link to a board you own, and bingo! You have a pin. The zeal kicks in, and you start pinning anything you can find images, statistics, icons, and logos. It is pinned if it is a picture.


However, if you're trying to boost your business through the following steps, that technique will not work.


What are you selling? + Moment or Trend + Ad Format = Pinterest Idea

Step #01: What Specifically Are You Selling?

  • Pinterest prefers fresh stuff, so make each one distinct and valuable, highlighting your product, service, or details in a fresh perspective for a larger audience and search - prioritise quality over quantity.
  • Make your product or service the focal point of the photograph. Please don't leave it up to Pinners to figure out what a Pin is about. To create recognition and trust, put your logo as a significant element or employ discreet branding, depending on your design.
  • The purpose of maximising your Pins is to help people discover what you have to offer, so don't be hesitant to showcase your brand's or product's merits.

Step #02: Trend or Moment?

After identifying the primary items you want to sell in the picture, it is time to apply a trendy style to it. While developing new blog articles, products, and pages with amazing photographs regularly may be the unique approach to promoting your brand on Pinterest, your time is imperative - and in scarcity! Use Pinterest Trend & TikTok to understand current trends.


  • Rendering your material more valuable to a broader range of audiences is a major boon. To begin, choose a few critical demographics for your content.
  • Pinterest trends are keywords that people have regularly searched for on Pinterest during the last year. These trends are often used to create or augment your compelling content.
  • The major hack is to Examine the Hot Topics. When you first browse Pinterest Trends, you may see the day's hot themes and trending topics by category.
  • And it would be best if you incorporated trends into creative design. If Pinterest Trends start to bore you, why not try TikTok Trend too?

Let's have a look some TikTok trend inspiration:

Step #03: Pinterest Ad Specifications

Ask yourself the following questions when you make a pin:


  • Does your Pin have a 2:3 aspect ratio and a minimum resolution of 1000 x 1500 pixels?
  • Is your brand visible in the upper two-thirds of the Pin?
  • Do you use eye-catching images that emphasise your product?
  • Is the copy intelligible and large enough to read on mobile while occupying less than 30% of the image?
  • Have you tried using humorous callouts to highlight product benefits?
  • Do you use no more than three distinct type styles in the Pin?

Standard Pins

  • Do we have a clear text overlay flow: Headline, subheadline and CTA?
  • Does the CTA aligns with the objective and customise for USP?


Carousel advertisements

  • Do we have our brand name, and a strong message on the first card?
  • Do you add 5 cards with the correct title, caption and hyperlink?
  • Do we have any element to indicate "swiping" between cards?
  • Do we have a CTA at the final card?
  • Have you tried the following two methods in terms of carousel layering?
  • One lifestyle photo ---> Related product photo; One lifestyle photo ---> Related product photo...
  • Carousel cards with all variants from the same product model.

Video Pins ads

  • Include your brand in the first 3 seconds
  • Make video length between 6-15 seconds?
  • Make the video understandable without relying on sound?
  • Did you include a clear CTA if your video objective is consideration or conversion?
  • Adding keywords to the title and description copy.


Leverage Your Creatives Based on Objective

Awareness

  • When appropriate, highlight unique product characteristics (USPs). Keep it under 30 characters if you decide to use text to describe USP.
  • Pin with seasonal, social, or routine content had a 10x greater enhanced awareness. So in this funnel, the public trend is more prioritised than your brand Tone of Voice.
  • Pins with the word "new" in the text overlay generate 9x more enhanced awareness.

Offline Sales


Read Good Tips For Optimising Google Ads Performance Assets

Microsoft Best practices for audience ad images


Online Sales

  • Categorising your creative into featuring seasonal, life events, or everyday material. And test each creative based on CTR and engagement rate.
  • When possible, use the images from your landing page in your Pin. Pins that lead to landing pages with comparable graphics increase online purchases due to ad experience consistency. 
  • Include actionable CTAs in the text overlay.

Sign-Ups (Leads)

  • Play the trust/reputation card: you can feature people who are wearing or enjoying the product or use UGC image/ consented customer image with their review.
  • Announce a particular discount for people who sign up.
  • Make sure you have the brand name in the first phrase of the description language. And don't forget, descriptions with powerful, actionable CTAs like "sign up" and "explore" influence the audience to make the next move.


The Snapchat Creative Best Practices and Approaches


Snapchat ad hack has evolved to be immensely profitable and an enjoyable experience. The paid acquisition professionals understand the critical value of securing a swipe up in six seconds or fewer. Though we all misjudged Snapchat's potential, we hopped back on board once the fast-moving social media provided advertising for SMBs through a self-serve platform.

7 Steps of Snapchat Advertising Best Practices | DEANLONG.io


Outline for Your Snapchat Marketing Goals


Snap, like other social networks, offers a variety of advertising options. Using the right objective enable you to achieve lower-tier CPM for your lower funnel conversion goal, which helps you maximise your ROI. Most ad platforms share the same or similar campaign objectives, which means the best practices are similar. Click here to check out my ultimate guide for choosing the right Facebook Ads objective. And next, let's look at some tips to improve Snapchat image & video creatives. The main point of action that snapchat advertising drives is a swipe. These live within stories and can drive users to a website, an app, a video, AR lens, or the app store.

Snapchat Advertising Primary conversion Goals including article read, app install, video view and web view | DEANLONG.io
Snapchat Advertising Main Conversion Goals


Create Snaps Within 5 Seconds or Less


The ideal spot for video length to induce action is 0.03-0.05. The first two seconds are crucial in terms of hook & brand mentioning; focus on the beginning of the ad to achieve peak performance.

Here’s how to make every second count, source: fetchfunnel.com


Have One and Only Laser-Focus Message


Maintain a clear, concise, and short ad creative with a defined main message. Ads should strive to mirror Snaps' itsy-bitsy and linear storytelling. Also, include a 'Hero' statement in the first frame. It's like writing copies for Google Text Ads - You have 30 characters in a headline to describe the USP (main message), and then you can use the 90 characters in the description to explain why you are the winner (storytelling).


In short, think about making a short story based just on one unique selling proposition.


Make Use of Purposeful Sound and Design


To bring your ad to life, use soundtracks and voice-overs. 

For example, in my humble opinion, you shouldn't use the following background music if your product is supposed to be upbeat and funky, like Linktree. (But I like this one so much it's in my fav playlist).



Experiment with Various Creative Styles


Try out several sorts of creativity, such as video, stills, gifs, and cinematography. Consider GIFs or stop animation.


Try lens in Snapchat to expand your organic reach. I made two lenses using Facebook's Spark AR and published them in the AR community. These unique reach would blow your mind.

AR Lens and Filters made by Hongxin(Dean) Long via Spark AR | DEANLONG.io
Try the AR Lens I made! Ins: deandamon12


Click here to try!

Native Design


Try to apply your TikTok skill in Snap - Create video ad content using Snapchat's platform and TikTok visual style. Ads with a UGC style and feel, Snapchat-inspired features, and speaking to the camera score considerably better in increasing view-through. Consider using an endemic creative style to extend the length.


Snapchat Advertising Formats


Snap chatters notice advertising within the app, which is a credit to their brand designers. After you've defined your Snapchat ad best practices campaign goals, think about which forms of advertising would best reach and engage your desired audience. What's the best part? Each of these formats has a plethora of uses.

Snapchat Advertising Formats Preview | DEANLONG.io

The Fundamentals of Snap Ads Formats

Snapchat Ad specs
Ad Type Ratio Size Attachment Length Brand, headline & CTA Placement Other Note
Single Image or Video Ad 9:16 1080px x 1920px Website, app, long form video or AR Lens 3-180 seconds
  • Brand: Up to 25 characters with spaces
  • Headline: Up to 34 characters with spaces
  • Calls-to-action: Select the CTA text. Snapchat applies the visual and places the CTA on the ad
in-between Stories N/A
Collection Ads 9:16 1080px x 1920px Website, app, long form video or AR Lens 3-180 seconds
  • Brand: Up to 25 characters with spaces
  • Headline: Up to 34 characters with spaces
  • Calls-to-action: Select the CTA text. Snapchat applies the visual and places the CTA on the ad
in-between Stories Thumbnail 160*160 with an URL
Story Ads 9:16 1080px x 1920px Website, app, long form video or AR Lens 3-180 seconds
  • Brand: Up to 25 characters with spaces
  • Headline: Up to 34 characters with spaces
  • Calls-to-action: Select the CTA text. Snapchat applies the visual and places the CTA on the ad
in between Content or through a branded tile in Snapchat’s Discover section
  • Logo:
    • File type: .png
    • Resolution: 993px x 284px 
  • Image:
    • File type: .png
    • Resolution: 360px x 600px
  • Story title: Up to 55 characters with spaces
Lens AR Experiences 9:16 1080px x 1920px N/A N/A   Snapchat camera
  • Visible logo or brand name required on Face and World Lenses
  • Avoid placing the brand logo where it may be obscured by UI elements or the carousel on the bottom of the screen
  • The recommended logo placement is on the top left or top right under the UI elements
  • Snapchat adds a 'SPONSORED' slug to the creative. This appears for only 2 seconds and doesn't show in users' Snaps
  • With Lens Web Builder anyone can create an AR experience in minutes using hundreds of our free objects and animations.
Filters 9:16 1080px x 2340px     Visible brand logo or brand name apply after taking a Snap, whether it’s an image or video
  • Mandatory text, logos and legal disclaimers may not be placed within 310px of the top or bottom of the canvas
Commercial 9:16 1080px x 1920px Website, long form video, or AR Lens 6s but can be up to three minutes long   within Snapchat’s Curated Content and games  


Standard Ad requirements for almost all ad formats
  • Aspect ratio: 9:16
  • File type:.mp4,.mov,.jpg, or.png
  • 1080 x 1920-pixel resolution
  • 3-180 seconds in length
  • Attachments: Website, app, long-form film, or augmented reality lens
Branding, headlines, and CTAs
  • Up to 25 characters (including spaces) for the brand
  • Headline: Up to 34 characters (including spaces)
  • Calls-to-action: Choose the CTA wording. Snapchat uses the graphic and inserts the CTA on the advertisement.

Snapchat Story Ads

Snapchat Stories Advertisers may use Story Ads to display a brand icon in the Snapchat app's Discover tab. When users tap the tile, it exposes an array of advertising, ranging from three to twenty placements.

The best practices are:

  • Add Tile Image & Tile Copy to the tile to create a curiosity gap.
  • Consider the Story Ad to be a tiny funnel, with Attachment Placement & Overall Narrative.
  • With Auto-Advance vs. Loop, navigate to the most relevant link available.
Snapchat Advertising Story Ads Format | DEANLONG.io

Snapchat Filters

I'm confident every Snapchat advertiser desires they could have developed the dog-face filter; imagine the memes that bring massive brand recognition. Despite genuine to Snapchat, the filter is an exemplary concept for marketers to follow when developing their own. These filters should be engaging and relevant to your brand. Keep your audience in account while creating and acquiring Snapchat filters.

AR Lenses

Lenses promote a conventional Snapchat engagement. It first drove Snapchat users to the app because of its hilarious (and attractive) filters. Brands may use augmented reality to create dynamic interactions with this ad style.

Snapchat Advertising Lens Format | DEANLONG.io


Conclusion

Starting Snapchat ad best practices and Pinterest ad hack might be intimidating, but they're one of the most excellent methods to expand your network and generate purchases on the platform! 

Furthermore, consistently monitoring your data will refine and strengthen your approach with each campaign you execute. If you want to learn more about brand execution on Facebook and TikTok, read my in-depth Facebook and TikTok Creative Playbook 2022.

The End

Reference:

  • https://business.pinterest.com/en-au/creative-best-practices/
  • https://www.deanlong.io/blog/facebook-and-tiktok-creative-playbook
  • https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/resources/advertising-guides/ad-specs
  • https://ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter
  • https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/01/09/snapchat-ads
  • https://www.fetchfunnel.com/snapchat-ad-creative/
  • https://adparlor.com/blog/4-quick-tips-to-improve-advertising-on-pinterest/

Best Practices
Creative
Marketing Strategy
Paid Social
Dean Long | Expert in Growth MarketingHongxin(Dean) Long

Dean Long is a Sydney-based performance marketing and communication professional with expertise in paid search, paid social, affiliate, and digital advertising. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems and Management and is also a distinguished MBA graduate from Western Sydney University.

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