In recent years, Pinterest has emerged as a major platform for businesses aiming to reach users who are actively searching for inspiration and practical solutions. Unlike typical social platforms, Pinterest is intent-driven, attracting users during their decision-making or purchasing processes. This makes its ad formats not just creative tools, but highly strategic ones as well.
To make the most of advertising on Pinterest, understanding the specific ad formats and their use cases is essential. Let’s dive into what each format offers for different business goals, how to choose the right one, and common pitfalls to avoid.
A Breakdown of Pinterest's Ad Formats
1. Promoted Pins
Promoted Pins resemble standard user-created pins but are amplified for greater reach. They can drive brand awareness or traffic to your website.
- Best for: Small businesses or entrepreneurs just getting started with Pinterest ads.
- Example use: A food blogger showcasing a recipe, linking back to their blog.
- Tip: Invest in high-quality visuals. Pins with bold typography or a clean layout outperform cluttered designs.
2. Carousel Ads
Carousel Ads consist of multiple images users can swipe through.
- Best for: Telling a story or displaying a range of products.
- Example use: A fitness brand promoting a new line of gym shoes in different styles.
- Statistics: Carousel ads often lead to 20% higher engagement because they keep users interacting longer.
3. Video Pins
These include autoplay video within feeds and tend to capture attention more effectively than static ads.
- Ideal for: Launches or showcasing step-by-step tutorials.
- Example use: A skincare brand explaining the benefits of a new product.
- Recommendation: Keep video ads short, ideally under 15, 20 seconds, to improve completion rates.
4. Shopping Ads
Shopping Ads feature specific products, complete with price and availability. When clicked, they direct users to the product page.
- Best for: E-commerce retailers with a catalog to showcase.
- Example use: A furniture seller advertising individual pieces directly shoppable through the site.
- Tip: Sync your product catalog with Pinterest to automate the process.
5. Collection Ads
These ads combine a main hero image or video with smaller supporting visuals. Clicking opens a full-screen experience showcasing more products.
- Best for: Building a visually immersive shopping experience.
- Example use: A jewelry brand creating a holiday gift collection advertisement.
- User trend insight: Shoppers often engage with multiple products, leading to higher average order values.
6. Idea Ads
Idea Ads combine interactive elements like lists, short tutorials, and multiple visuals within one ad unit.
- Best for: Educating your target audience.
- Example use: A digital marketing agency creating an educational ad about SEO tips.
- Advice: Use these for niche audiences interested in learning first, rather than directly purchasing.
When to Use Each Format
Choosing the right format depends on your goals. Here’s a quick summary:
- Traffic generation: Go for Promoted Pins or Video Pins.
- Conversions: Shopping Ads or Collection Ads work best for e-commerce.
- Engagement and inspiration: Carousel Ads and Idea Ads excel.
How To Launch Your First Pinterest Ad
- Set up a Business Account: Create or convert your personal account into a Pinterest Business account.
- Define your goals: Start with a clear objective, such as increasing web traffic, engagement, or sales.
- Select the right format: Match a format to your specific campaign.
- Target wisely: Pinterest's targeting lets you focus on demographics, interests, or user behaviors.
- Budget accordingly: Test with a limited budget before scaling ads that perform well.
- Monitor analytics: Use Pinterest’s built-in metrics to track performance and refine your strategy.
Avoid These Mistakes
- Ignoring the platform’s aesthetic: Pinterest users favor clean, professional, and visually appealing content. Poor design can hurt performance.
- Not targeting specifically enough: Casting too wide a net sacrifices your budget on irrelevant viewers. Use detailed targeting for better returns.
- Skipping keywords: Pinterest functions as a search engine, omitting keywords reduces visibility.
- Neglecting mobile optimization: Most Pinterest users browse on mobile. Ensure your images and landing pages are mobile-friendly.
Insights You Can Use
Shopping Ad Success
According to Pinterest research, nearly 50% of users use the platform to make purchasing decisions, and Shopping Ads convert higher than other formats across fashion, home decor, and beauty categories.
Carousel Interaction
Reports suggest that businesses using Carousel Ads have seen engagement rates rise by up to 20% compared to Standard Pins.
Video Adoption
Between 2023 and 2025, advertisers saw a considerable increase in video view completions when pairing visual storytelling with actionable CTAs on Pinterest.
Creativity Meets Strategy
For many entrepreneurs and small business owners, Pinterest offers the unique chance to combine captivating visuals with actionable strategies that drive real results. The platform’s ability to target users actively seeking ideas and inspiration is a game-changer for growing businesses.
By focusing on the right ad format and avoiding common mistakes, you can optimize your ad spend and achieve measurable results. With the diversity of Pinterest’s ad offerings, it’s all about finding the one that best resonates with your customers’ intent at the moment they’re most likely to take action. Expand your strategy, test formats, refine your approach, and see Pinterest not just as a creative outlet, but as a cornerstone in your marketing plan.
FAQ on Pinterest Ad Formats
1. What are the different types of Pinterest ads?
Pinterest offers a variety of ad formats including Promoted Pins, Video Pins, Carousel Ads, Shopping Ads, and Collection Ads. Each format serves unique goals like awareness, engagement, or sales generation. Learn more about Pinterest ad types
2. What is the purpose of Shopping Ads on Pinterest?
Shopping Ads are designed for e-commerce businesses to promote their products. These ads display product details like price and availability and redirect users to product pages, optimizing online shopping experiences. Check out how Shopping Ads drive sales
3. How do Carousel Ads function on Pinterest?
Carousel Ads consist of multiple, swipeable images or videos, making them ideal for showcasing a range of products or telling a story. Studies show they lead to 20% higher user engagement. Explore Carousel Ads on Pinterest
4. When should I use Video Pins?
Use Video Pins if your goal is to capture attention quickly, such as during a product launch or for showcasing how-to tutorials. These autoplay videos are proven to be more engaging than static images. Find out more about Video Pins
5. What are Collection Ads and who are they best for?
Collection Ads combine a primary image or video with supporting images to create an immersive, full-screen shopping experience. They are excellent for retailers looking to showcase product collections. Get insights on Collection Ads
6. What makes Pinterest especially valuable for advertisers?
Unlike other social platforms, Pinterest users are often in the discovery or decision-making phase, making Pinterest Ads highly effective in reaching audiences with intent to act. Understand Pinterest’s audience intent
7. Are there special ways to optimize Pinterest ads for mobile users?
Since most Pinterest users browse on mobile, it’s essential to use mobile-optimized visuals and landing pages. Clean designs, bold fonts, and clickable links improve overall mobile ad performance. Learn how to optimize Pinterest ads
8. What is the role of keywords in Pinterest advertising?
Pinterest works like a search engine; integrating relevant keywords into your ads enhances discoverability in search results, maximizing visibility and ad performance. Get more tips on keyword strategy
9. How do Idea Ads work on Pinterest?
Idea Ads incorporate interactive elements like lists and tutorials into a unified, visually-rich ad unit. They are suitable for educating audiences or showcasing how-to content before pushing for purchases. See best practices for Idea Ads
10. How can I track the performance of my Pinterest ads?
Pinterest offers built-in analytics to monitor metrics such as click-through rates, impressions, and engagement levels, enabling advertisers to refine strategies for better results. Dive into Pinterest ad analytics
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.