How to Advertise on Pinterest

Pinterest advertising is one of the most effective ways to reach an audience that's actively looking to discover new ideas and buy products. Unlike other social platforms where ads interrupt socializing, on Pinterest, ads often feel like part of the discovery experience. This guide will walk you through setting up your account, choosing the right ad formats, and launching a campaign that gets results.

Why Advertise on Pinterest? It's More Than a Social Network

Think of Pinterest not as just another social media app, but as a visual search and discovery engine. Users, known as Pinners, aren't there to scroll through photos of their friends, they're actively planning their future. They're looking for wedding inspiration, home renovation ideas, dinner recipes, style guides, and vacation spots. This future-focused mindset means they are ready to act and spend.

For brands, this is a golden opportunity. Your ads can provide the solution Pinners are searching for at the exact moment they're searching for it. They are in a discovery mode, which makes them highly receptive to relevant ads that help them achieve their goals. When you advertise here, you're not interrupting - you're inspiring.

Getting Started: Your Pinterest Ad Account Setup

Before you can run a single ad, you need to lay the proper groundwork. Getting these technical steps right from the start will save you headaches later and unlock powerful tracking capabilities.

1. Create or Convert to a Business Account

If you're still using a personal Pinterest profile, you'll need to switch to a free Business account. This gives you access to the Ads Manager, analytics, and other professional tools. If you don't have a profile yet, just sign up directly for a Business account.

• To create one: Go to pinterest.com/business/create.
• To convert your personal account: Log in, go to your settings, and select "Convert to a business account."

2. Claim Your Website

Claiming your website is a critical step that verifies you as the owner. This adds your logo to any Pins that originate from your site and, more importantly, gives you access to website analytics. You can claim your site by adding a meta tag to your website's HTML, uploading an HTML file, or adding a DNS TXT record.

3. Install the Pinterest Tag

The Pinterest Tag is a piece of code you install on your website, similar to the Meta Pixel. It's the engine behind effective Pinterest advertising. The tag tracks the actions visitors take on your site after seeing your ad, allowing you to measure conversions, build retargeting audiences, and optimize your campaigns based on real data.

At a minimum, you should track key events like:

• PageVisit: Who's looking at your pages.
• AddToCart: Who's adding products to their cart.
• Checkout: Who completes a purchase.

You can install the tag manually or through integrations with platforms like Shopify, Google Tag Manager, and WooCommerce.

Understanding Pinterest Ad Formats

Pinterest offers a variety of ad formats designed for different campaign goals. Choosing the right one depends on what you want to achieve and what kind of story you want to tell.

Standard Pin Ads

This is the simplest format: a single vertical image. It's the bread and butter of Pinterest and blends in seamlessly with organic content. Use a high-quality, eye-catching image with a clear (but not overpowering) logo. These are great for driving traffic and raising brand awareness.

Video Pin Ads

Video is an excellent way to capture attention and tell a more dynamic story. Standard width or vertical videos can showcase how a product works, offer a quick tutorial, or create a brand vibe. Keep them short and design for sound-off viewing with text overlays or subtitles, as many Pinners browse silently.

Carousel Ads

Carousels allow you to use up to five images or videos that Pinners can swipe through, all within a single Pin. This is perfect for showcasing multiple products, highlighting different features of a single item, or telling a step-by-step story.

Collections Ads

Ideal for e-commerce, a Collections Ad features one large, primary creative (image or video) with up to 24 smaller product images underneath. When a Pinner taps the ad, it expands into a full-screen experience where they can browse and shop your products directly. This format requires connecting a product catalog to your Pinterest account.

Shopping Ads

These are the simplest way to get your products in front of buyers. Shopping ads automatically pull images and information from your product catalog to create individual ads for each item. They appear in feeds and search results, looking just like a regular Pin but with pricing and brand information attached.

Idea Ads

Formerly Story Pins, Idea Ads are an immersive, multi-page video format. You can combine video clips, images, and text to create a rich tutorial, guide, or brand narrative. These are powerful for engagement and building a following, and they can be promoted to reach a wider audience.

Step-by-Step Guide: Launching Your First Pinterest Campaign

Ready to get started? Let's walk through the campaign creation process in the Pinterest Ads Manager. It's fairly intuitive, but understanding each option will help you make better decisions.

Step 1: Choose Your Campaign Objective

Your objective tells Pinterest what you care about most. This choice will influence your bidding options and how Pinterest optimizes ad delivery.

• Awareness: Reach a broad audience to introduce your brand or product. Billed per 1,000 impressions (CPM).
• Consideration: Drive traffic to your website. You pay when someone clicks on your ad to your landing page (CPC).
• Conversions: Drive specific actions on your website, like sign-ups or purchases. This requires the Pinterest Tag and is usually the goal for direct-response marketing.

There are other objectives too, like Video Views and Catalog Sales, which are best for their respective goals.

Step 2: Set Your Campaign Details

Here, you'll name your campaign and set its budget. You can choose a daily budget (how much you want to spend per day) or a lifetime budget (the total amount you want to spend over the campaign's duration). You can also set start and end dates for your campaign here.

Step 3: Define Your Ad Group Targeting

An ad group lives inside a campaign and lets you organize your ads around specific targeting strategies and budgets. This is where the magic happens. Pinterest's targeting is powerful because it combines user interests with search intent.

Audience Targeting

Here's where you can connect with people who already know you a little. This includes:

• Website Visitors: Retarget people who have visited your site (thanks to the Pinterest Tag).
• Engagement Audiences: Target people who have previously engaged with your Pins.
• Customer Lists: Upload a list of existing customer emails to find them or create lookalike audiences.
• Actalike Audiences: Similar to lookalikes, Pinterest finds users who behave like your best customers or visitors.

Interest Targeting

This lets you reach people based on their general interests and the topics they engage with on Pinterest. For example, if you sell kitchen gadgets, you might target interests like "food and drink," "healthy recipes," and "DIY home projects." It's great for reaching new, top-of-funnel audiences.

Keyword Targeting

This is arguably Pinterest's most powerful targeting feature. You can target people based on the exact search terms they use on the platform. If you sell hiking boots, you can show your ads to anyone searching for "women's hiking boots," "waterproof hiking gear," or "best trails in Colorado." You can use different match types (broad, phrase, exact) to control how specific your targeting is.

Demographics

Fine-tune your targeting with filters for gender, age, location, language, and device type.

Placement

You can choose to have your ads appear everywhere or select specific placements:

• All: The default, shows ads across the platform.
• Browse: Your ad appears as Pinners browse their home feed or related Pins. Good for discovery.
• Search: Your ad appears in search results. Great for capturing high-intent prospects.

Step 4: Select Your Pins (The Creative)

Finally, you need to choose what the user will see. You can select existing Pins you've already published or upload a brand new creative directly in the ad creation flow. Make sure each ad in your ad group links to a relevant landing page on your website.

Step 5: Launch and Monitor

Give everything a final review. Check your budget, targeting, creative, and links. Once you hit "Launch," your campaign will go into review by Pinterest (this is usually quick). Once live, keep a close eye on your key metrics in the Ads Manager dashboard and optimize as you go.

Best Practices for Pinterest Ads That Convert

Knowing the technical steps is only half the battle. Here's how to create ads that Pinners will actually love.

• Inspire, Don't Interrupt: The best Pinterest ads don't feel like ads. They provide value and inspiration. Create Pins that are visually beautiful, helpful, and fit seamlessly into the aesthetic of the platform.
• Keep it Vertical: Pinterest is a mobile-first, vertical scrolling experience. Always use a 2:3 aspect ratio for your images and videos to take up the most screen real estate.
• Write for Search: Pinterest is a search engine. Include relevant keywords in your Pin titles and descriptions to help your ad surface for relevant searches. Think about what a user would type to find your product.
• Use Text Overlays Wisely: Include a concise, compelling message on your creative. This could be a clear call to action (like "Shop The Collection") or a benefit ("Easy 30-Minute Recipe"). It captures attention immediately, even before the Pinner reads the description.
• Craft a Seamless Landing Page Experience: Your ad is only the first part of the journey. The landing page must deliver on the promise of the Pin. If your Pin shows a specific dress, the link should go directly to that product page, not your homepage.
• Test, Test, Test: Don't guess what works. Test different images, videos, headlines, descriptions, and audiences. Let the data tell you what resonates and double down on your winners.

Final Thoughts

Advertising on Pinterest gives you a unique chance to connect with consumers who are planning and actively seeking new ideas. By setting up your account correctly, choosing ad formats that tell your story, and layering smart targeting strategies, you can drive meaningful traffic, leads, and sales for your business.

A good advertising strategy always benefits from a strong foundation of organic content. At Postbase, we've designed our visual planner to help you map out your content for Pinterest and all your other socials in one simple calendar. By scheduling your organic Pins in advance, you not only build a consistent presence but also create a library of tested, high-performing content ready to be turned into an ad campaign at a moment's notice.