A Comprehensive Guide to Pinterest Ads for 2026

Pinterest ads have become the go-to solution for e-commerce merchants seeking to promote their products or establish brand awareness on the platform. These ads enable businesses to reach shoppers who are actively planning their purchases and saving product ideas for the future.

And this is what makes Pinterest a powerful advertising channel. It allows brands to connect with shoppers while they’re still exploring products, ideas, and brands and forming their buying decisions. Through ads, businesses can naturally position their products at the right moment, increasing visibility and influence before a purchase is made.

But there’s one important question that we must answer: how to run Pinterest ads effectively?

Well, if you don’t have the answer yet, worry not, as this blog will guide you. 

Throughout this article, we’ll explore Pinterest ads in detail, including their benefits, the setup process, best practices, and other important points.

So, are you ready? Let’s quickly get into it. 

What are Pinterest Ads? 

Pinterest Ads are promoted Pins, essentially regular Pins that businesses pay to show across placements where users are most likely to see them. These Pins can appear in your target audience’s home feed, category feeds, and relevant search results.

They look very similar to organic Pins, with only a small “Promoted” label (as shown in the example below) to distinguish them.

This native style of Pinterest ads enables them to seamlessly blend into the user’s browsing experience without disrupting discovery or purchase intent. 

In Which Countries is Pinterest Advertising Available?

Advertisers in the following countries can create their ad accounts directly through Pinterest and run ads with ease: 

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Luxembourg
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• The Netherlands
• United Kingdom
• United States

For other countries, such as Algeria, Bahrain, India, etc., Pinterest works with some approved advertising partners. These include: 

• Httpool by Aleph 
• Mediadonuts by Aleph and DMS

These partners support advertisers not only with account setup and local billing, but also with running and managing Pinterest ad campaigns. They offer local language support, strategic guidance, and more profound platform expertise to help businesses launch and optimize ads effectively.

Pinterest Ad Formats 

You can create Pinterest ads in the following formats: 

1. Carousel: The carousel format includes multiple images in a single ad. It is ideal to use when your goal is: 

• Promoting multiple products from your catalog 
• Highlight specific features or benefits of a single product or your brand  
• Or leveraging storytelling across several connected frames 

2. Collections: Collection ads allow you to combine images and videos within a single ad unit. This format works best when you want to showcase multiple products together and encourage users to browse your catalog in a more immersive way.
3. Idea ads: Idea ads on Pinterest are an immersive, multi-page ad format that enables you to combine images and videos to tell engaging stories to your target audience and encourage them to take action. These actions can include, but are not limited to, saving pins, following your account, or even visiting the provided destination URL. 
4. Image ad: Image ads are single-image ads used to promote a product, service, or brand. This format works best for simple, clear messaging and visually strong creatives that quickly communicate value.
5. Video ad: Video ads help you promote your brand or products through engaging motion content. You can create them in two formats: Standard width and Max width. 
6. Premier Spotlight: The Premier Spotlight ad format allows you to use max-width videos, using which you can promote your latest products or seasonal launches to your target audience with ease. These ads appear across high-traffic placements of Pinterest, such as the home feed and search page, for an entire day. 

Note: These ads aren’t like other standard auction ad campaigns. They require reservations and adherence to predefined guidelines. To read more about it, visit this Pinterest help page.

7. Quiz: Quiz ads include multiple-choice questions and answers to engage users interactively. Based on their responses, users receive personalized results or product recommendations from the advertiser, which further helps them build a personal connection with the brand or product. 
8. Showcase: Showcase ads let you present multiple interactive cards within a single ad. You can use them to tell engaging stories, promote different products, or share rich content. Users can tap, swipe, and explore each card while visiting the outbound links you include.

How to Create Pinterest Ads? 

You can create Pinterest campaigns via two methods: 

1. Automated campaign, where Pinterest automatically configures most settings—such as targeting and bidding—based on your selected goals. The platform applies proven best practices to help deliver strong results with minimal manual effort.
2. Manual campaign, where you can tailor all parts of your campaign with Pinterest’s advanced ad creation tools. 

In this blog, we will cover both methods individually. 

But before we dive into the step-by-step campaign creation process, let’s first review the prerequisites you need.

Prerequisites to Create Pinterest Ads 

• You must have a Pinterest business account.
• Your account (and its components such as Pins, content, etc.) should be compliant with Pinterest’s Advertising guidelines.

In addition to these basic guidelines, your Pins should also meet some requirements in order to be eligible for promotion:   

• They should be saved to your own business profile and public boards.
• They should have destination URLs.
• Your Pins shouldn’t include any link shorteners in the destination URL or description.
• Your Pins cannot be third-party videos or GIFs. 
• They should be in a 2:3 aspect ratio or 1000 x 1500 pixels. 

Pro tip: Read about Pinterest ad specifications on this page.

Automated Campaign

1. Log in to your Pinterest Business account. 
2. Click on the menu sign at the top-left corner of the page. 
3. Then, under ‘Manage Campaigns, ’ you will see the option of ‘Create Campaign.’ Click on it. 

4. Select ‘Automated Campaign.’

5. Then, choose a campaign objective from these available options: 

• Build brand awareness
• Video completion 
• Consideration 
• Conversions
• Catalog sales

6. Then you will have to select your Pins. At this step, please note that: 

• Pinterest will highlight those Pins that have delivered high CTRs. 
• You must select at least 4 Pins if possible. 
• You can also upload new creatives. 

7. Add any age restrictions that you want. 
8. Add any location targeting requirements that you may have.  
9. Select a daily budget or add your own. Also, at this stage, you can add a campaign duration. 

Pro tip: Pinterest recommends that you allow a campaign to run at least 10 days for optimal results.

10. Review all the campaign settings carefully. If you are satisfied, you can click on ‘Publish.’

That’s it. Your campaign will be ready. 

Limitations of Automated Campaigns 1. Automated campaigns rely on Performance+ bidding. This means that as an advertiser, you cannot set bids manually for better cost control.  2. These campaigns, by default, target all genders and devices, and you cannot edit that.  To tackle these limitations and for greater control, you can build campaigns manually or choose the bulk editor.

Manual Campaign 

The first three steps of the campaign creation flow remain the same as the automated campaign setup that we discussed above. After completing those steps:  

1. Select ‘Manual Campaign’ and click on ‘Get Started.’ 
2. Then choose a campaign objective from the available options.
3. Enter your campaign details. 

Note: If you are creating a campaign with the consideration objective, then you will also have to set up your budget at this level.

4. Click on ‘Continue’ to complete creating your campaign and move toward the ad group settings. 
5. Add a name for your ad group. 
6. Then configure your targeting settings: 

• If you want to target a specific audience, click on ‘Create new audience.’ 
  • If you want Pinterest to broaden your reach automatically, enable the option to ‘Use your Pin to expand your targeting.’

7. Select your budget & schedule: 

• To set a max amount that you want to spend each day, you should select ‘Daily budget.’ 
• On the other hand, if you want to set an amount that you would want to spend over your entire campaign, then you must select ‘Performance+ lifetime budget.’ 

8. Configure your Optimization & delivery settings. Here, too, you will have two options to select from: 

• If you want Pinterest to automatically maximize your clicks within your defined budget, select Performance+. 

Note: Currently, Pinterest offers Performance+ bidding only for consideration, conversion, brand awareness, and catalog sales campaigns.

• Or you can select the ‘Custom’ option to control how much you want to bid. 

9. Then, you will reach the ad level.

10. You can either select existing Pins from your boards or paid partnerships, or create a new one. 
11. Once done, click on ‘Publish.’ 

Your campaign will then be submitted for review, and once approved, it will begin delivering ads in line with Pinterest’s advertising policies.

How Much Does Pinterest Advertising Cost? 

Based on a survey of 270 marketers, on average, Pinterest ads cost:

1. $0.00 to $0.10 per click
2. $0.00 to $2.00 per conversion
3. $0.00 to $1.50 per 1,000 impressions. 

In addition, many businesses report spending anywhere from $0 to $500 per month on Pinterest advertising. This highlights the platform’s accessibility, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses looking to advertise on a flexible budget.

Note: These are average costs. But the actual Pinterest ad costs can vary based on different factors such as your audience targeting settings, ad structure, ad relevance, etc.

Benefits of Pinterest Ads

Advertising on Pinterest can be fruitful in many ways. 

• Large and Diverse Audience: Pinterest has over 600 million monthly active users globally. Most importantly, 96% of top searches on the platform are unbranded. Both these statistics demonstrate that Pinterest offers new brands:
  1. An opportunity to engage with a massive audience 
  2. Better chances of getting discovered, even if they don’t have existing brand awareness
• High Purchase Intent User Base: As per Pinterest, 83% of weekly Pinners (users) have made a purchase based on the content they saw from brands on the platform. This reinforces a key point discussed earlier in the blog: running ads on Pinterest enables you to tap into a user base of high-intent shoppers who are already looking for products, which also makes them more likely to convert!
• Seamless, Native Ad Experience: Pinterest ads blend naturally into feeds and search results. They appear alongside organic Pins and match user intent. This makes ads feel relevant and non-intrusive, which encourages higher engagement and interaction.
• Cost-Effective and Profitable Advertising: Pinterest ads often have lower costs and excellent return on ad spend. According to statistics, Pinterest’s cost-per-action (CPA) can be 2.3 times more efficient compared to other social media advertising platforms. And some advertisers have also reported that you may need up to 50% fewer impressions on Pinterest to drive conversions compared to Facebook, Instagram, etc. 

These numbers highlight that Pinterest ads are both cost-effective and highly profitable for driving conversions. 

Pinterest Ad Best Practices

When creating or running Pinterest ads for your business, ensure that you follow these best practices: 

1. Follow Pinterest’s Ad Creative Best Practices: Always design your ads as per Pinterest’s creative guidelines for each format. 

For example, in the case of standard image ads, the guidelines suggest that: 

• The images should be in the 2:3 aspect ratio or 1000 X 1500 pixels. 
• The pin title shouldn’t be longer than 100 characters, etc. 

Following these requirements will help you ensure that your ads display correctly, feel native to users, and deliver optimal results. 

2. Keep CTAs Clear and Direct: Add clear calls to action such as “Shop now” or “Buy today” in your Pinterest ads. Make sure that those CTAs align with the ad’s intent and that you display them prominently in your ads. 

This will help guide users toward the next step without any confusion, reduce friction in their buying journey, and boost conversions for your business. 

3. Experiment with Various Ad Formats and Creatives: Try different ad formats, as each one aligns with a different stage of the funnel and can help you achieve specific goals for your business. 

For discovery and awareness, formats like video or idea ads can work well to inspire users. But for encouraging purchases and consideration, Carousel and Collection ads can be more helpful, as using them, you can showcase multiple products.

Also, keep experimenting with the design of your ads to check which version performs the best. Continuously tweaking and testing your ads will help you improve the overall performance of your ads over time. 

Note: Testing is important, but avoid being overly finicky with frequent changes. Constantly tweaking multiple elements can disrupt learning and hurt performance. Allow campaigns enough time to stabilize before making further adjustments.

4. Use Pinterest Tags and Conversions API (CAPI): We recommend you use both the Pinterest Tag and Conversions API for better conversion tracking. Using the captured marketing data, you can understand how effective your ads are and how you can improve your campaigns further. 

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Pinterest ads can be a powerful solution to promote your brand and products on a visual discovery platform like Pinterest. 

The key takeaways from this blog include: 

• Pinterest Ads are promoted Pins that blend naturally into user feeds. They help businesses reach users who actively plan purchases and save ideas for future buying decisions.
• Pinterest offers multiple ad formats like Carousel, Video, Idea, and Collection ads. Each format supports different goals across the discovery, consideration, and conversion stages of the funnel.
• You can create Pinterest ads using automated or manual campaigns. Automated campaigns simplify setup, while manual campaigns offer deeper control over targeting, bidding, and optimization.
• Pinterest ad costs remain affordable for most businesses. Average costs range from $0.00 to $0.10 per click, $0.00 to $2.00 per conversion, and $0.00 to $1.50 per 1,000 impressions.
• Pinterest ads work well because of the high purchase intent of Pinterest users. A large percentage of Pinners discover and buy products after seeing brand content on the platform.
• Following Pinterest ad best practices is essential for long-term success. Creating clear, visually strong ads, using direct CTAs, testing formats thoughtfully, and setting up proper tracking all contribute to stronger engagement, better optimization, and improved conversion performance over time.

FAQs

1. Which campaign creation method should I choose: Automated or Manual?

The right choice depends on the level of control you prefer. Automated campaigns allow Pinterest to manage targeting, bidding, and other key settings automatically, making them a good option for a faster, more hands-off setup.

Manual campaigns are better suited if you want direct control over these settings yourself.

2. How can I review ad performance on Pinterest?

You can review ad performance using Pinterest Analytics. It shows how your paid and organic content performs with your audience. You can track impressions, engagements, saves, clicks, outbound traffic, and video activity to understand what content resonates best with users and optimize accordingly. 

3. Does Pinterest support A/B testing for ads?
   

Yes. Pinterest supports A/B testing to compare creatives, audiences, or campaign strategies. This helps you identify what works best using real performance data.

4. What advanced measurement options does Pinterest offer?

Pinterest offers brand lift, conversion lift, and sales lift studies. These tools help measure the true impact of campaigns beyond clicks and standard conversion metrics.

5. How does Pinterest decide which Pins and ads get more reach?

Pinterest distributes Pins and ads using engagement signals like searches, saves, and clicks. Higher engagement shows relevance and increases visibility.

6. The Performance of my Pinterest Ads is trending down. What can I do?

Generally, ad performance goes down due to low-quality ad creatives or duplicate ad content, which can get flagged as spam. In the case of product-based ads, issues in product feed data can also reduce delivery and reach.

To avoid these issues, use fresh, unique creatives and keep product feeds accurate and compliant with Pinterest’s product data requirements.