As the leaves begin to change each autumn, so do outfits. Think back to school, Halloween and holiday parties. For nail brand essie, it’s the perfect season to offer just the right polish for all of these festive moments. For their 2022 seasonal campaign, essie had clear goals: increase awareness, sustain interest and ultimately drive purchases at retailers carrying their products.

The brand knew that people come to Pinterest seeking beauty inspiration for the big occasions and seasonal moments. And recognizing that people on Pinterest are planners, essie launched their campaign early—in September to be exact—to stay ahead of the competition. With this head start, essie was able to share timely nail content just when people on Pinterest were seeking inspiration. 

How to find mani new buyers 

The brand maintained an always-on presence to continually reach and inspire people. This presence also builds an audience of people who’ve already engaged with essie and could be retargeted with their seasonal campaign. 

The brand started campaign planning by identifying relevant search trends around fall, Halloween and the holidays with the Pinterest Trends tool. Then they designed ads inspired by these trending searches. For this full-funnel campaign, essie used a mix of ad formats to best engage people at different parts of the path to purchase. 

For people in the discovery phase, essie showed off seasonal colors in static ads and with aesthetic collages made with Pinterest’s Shuffles app. For people who've already engaged with essie, the brand knew Idea ads could drive this audience from making a decision on the color to purchasing at the store. With Idea ads, essie made nail design tutorials inspired by trending search terms such as “poison apple.” They also worked with creators like Steph Stone who used the ad format to show a whole new way to enjoy seasonal favorite “pumpkin spice.” You’ve tried pumpkin lattes but have you tried pumpkin spice manis? 

From helping people discover the best nail shade to match their mood or outfit—to providing nail art tutorials rooted in seasonal trends, essie's content strategy focused on being both inspiring and educational. Exactly what people come to Pinterest for. 

essie's Pinterest campaign yielded some shiny results. Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) was three times higher than NCS benchmarks.¹ What’s more, sales from new customers were two times higher than NCS benchmarks.¹ essie said the results proved they can find new customers and generate significant sales on Pinterest. 

The brand is planning their next seasonal moment on Pinterest while continuing to invest in their always-on presence, giving people the opportunity to learn about essie and nudging them into stores to buy their products.

Tips for your next campaign

Try these Pinterest best practices to help get more out of your ads. 

1. Maintain an always-on presence on the platform to continually reach, engage and inspire consumers bringing them down the funnel. 

2. Pinners are planners. Start seasonal campaigns early, especially during competitive times. This will help you make an impact ahead of the noise and capture the value of anticipatory behavior

3. Use clear CTAs to help drive shopping. Conversion is more than just clicks. A strong CTA can also nudge people in-store.