Pinterest Ads: Best practices to optimize your creatives

Pinterest's numbers are only growing. More than 475 million global monthly active users and 300 billion saved pins. Pinterest exists to inspire users, and users turn inspiration into action. Pinners, creators and brands are all part of this ecosystem of inspiration. 

In previous blog posts, we've talked about how to run eCommerce campaigns on Pinterest and how the way ads work on the platform is very similar to search engine advertising.

But to share inspiring content and advertise on Pinterest it is essential to take into account the best practices to optimize campaigns on Pinterest Ads, such as recurrently sharing good ideas, finding the right audience to inspire, taking into account the times when users use Pinterest (Christmas, birthdays, christening, wedding...) and taking into account where the Pin will appear (homepage, related, search...). 

Once you've optimized your campaigns, it's time to optimize your ad creatives, so what other recommendations can you follow to get the attention of Pinterest users?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Best practice 1: Optimize the headlines, CTAs and texts of your creatives
• Best practice 2: Consider ad formats
• Best practice 3: Consider the 5 dimensions of inspiration on Pinterest for your creative
• Recommendations from our creative team to optimise your creative on Pinterest Ads

Best practice 1: Optimize the headlines, CTAs and texts of your creatives

As we have already mentioned, Pinterest is a hybrid platform between a social network and a search engine. For this reason, in order to successfully launch campaigns on Pinterest Ads, it is essential to optimize the text that appears in your creatives.

• Headlines: This is included in the creative of your ad. Your Pin should tell a coherent, clear and concise story. The headline should provide context to your Pin, for it to be more successful, we recommend aligning it with a moment or a trend. It should be mobile friendly (try to make it at least 48pt), as mobile is the main device users use to access Pinterest. Still, don't cover more than 30% of the image with the headline! Write in a tone that fits your brand, positive and inclusive.

• Calls to action (CTAs): This is a layer included in the creative. CTAs should evoke the Pinner to click, especially on consideration and conversion goals. It should be clear, concise and lead the user from inspiration to action - remember to keep a positive tone!
  
  
• Title: If your Pin does not include a title, you risk your ads performing poorly. Pinterest recommends using between 6 and 40 characters and not including hashtags.

• Pin description: This is an important field for user search and content targeting. Remember to always include the Pin description in your ads and keep it short and concise (between 6 and 50 characters). Whenever possible, include search keywords and the brand name. Avoid using hashtags.

• Alt text: It is important to include alt_text in your ads because nowadays screen readers read the URL and all titles and descriptions.

• Landing page: Make sure the landing pages of your Pinterest Ads campaigns load quickly and are consistent with the content of the Pin.

Best practice 2: Consider ad formats

Pinterest is a visual platform, so images with a strong presence attract the attention of the Pinner. Let's take a look at which ad formats on Pinterest Ads your brand can use to attract users and drive them to convert. 

Remember that all formats are designated with a "promoted by" tag in the feed and are accompanied by a link to a landing page, on or off the platform.

• Standard video: Animated videos the size of a normal pin.  It is a format available for awareness, consideration and conversion purposes.

  • File type: .mp4 or .mov or .m4v

  • Max. file size: Less than 2 GB

  • Ratio: 2:3

  • Encoding: H.264 or H.265


  • Video length: Between 4 and 15 minutes (6 to 15 seconds is recommended)


There is the possibility to use the full-width video format to extend the content to the entire feed. In this case it is a format available for brand awareness and video views. The format requirements are similar to standard video, except for the file size (max 2GB) and the aspect ratio (16:9 or 1:1).

• Carousel: Use multiple images (between 2 and 5) to tell your brand story. The carousel format is available for awareness, consideration and conversion goals.

• File type: PNG and JPEG
• Max. file size: 32 MB per image
• Ratio: 1:1 or 2:3

• Collections: Display a main image over three smaller secondary images in the Pinterest feed. This format is available for awareness, consideration and conversion purposes.
• File type: PNG and JPEG
• Max. file size: 32 MB per image
• Ratio: 1:1 or 2:3

• Idea Pin: Tell your brand story by combining video, images and text to grow your audience. The recommended length is between 5 and 20 pages in a native format with the possibility of adding audio.

Best practice 3: Consider the 5 dimensions of inspiration on Pinterest for your creative

In conclusion, there are 5 factors that your brand can combine in ad campaigns to make Pinners consider your content in their inspiration process.

1. Visual appeal

Images should be visually appealing, inspiring and legible. Use your branding to reinforce user recognition. Play with touches of colour, patterns, textures... A successful resource on Pinterest Ads is to add the human touch to creatives. Avoid blurred images, screenshots and collages. 

2. Relevance

Titles and descriptions should be clear and tell a coherent story that adds value. In the case of product pins, don't forget to label products to make it easier to buy. Other things to avoid...

• Hashtags in ads

• Small text sizes

• Texts that cover more than 30% of the Pin

• The use of more than 3 typographic styles

   

3. Positivity

Images and text should be inspiring, encouraging and engaging. If you use different languages, make sure translations remain positive. Design for diversity (body, lifestyle, gender, budget...) and don't forget to focus on solutions, not problems.

4. Originality

This is a key factor when it comes to creating influential content and inspiring Pinners to explore and try something new. Avoid reusing your ad creative with look and feel ratios from other platforms. Don't forget to be mindful of moments to create influential content for Pinners.

5. Actionability

Consider cultural context and language in each creative. For Product Pins, make sure that stock is available and that the target website for a campaign is correct.

Recommendations from our creative team to optimise your creative on Pinterest Ads

In Adsmurai we have a creative team to give a differential touch to your Paid Media campaigns through original assets, multi-platform strategies and optimisations. Their creative recommendations for Pinterest Ads campaigns are:

• Use graphic elements to reaffirm the meaning of the product image.

• Ensure that the logo is integrated into the creativity.

• Play with the typography and the image so that they are integrated and the creative attracts the attention of users.

• Combine videos and still images to achieve hybrid video formats and make the content stand out on the Pinterest homepage.

• To increase viewing time, create loops where it is not clear where the content begins and ends.