Imagine getting your content in front of your dream audience while they are already searching for ideas like yours. Sounds amazing, right? That is exactly what Pinterest ads let you do. They are one of the easiest ways to grow your audience, drive traffic, and start seeing real results without constantly posting on social media. If you’ve been curious about how to get started with Pinterest ads, this guide will walk you through it step by step.
Table of Contents
What Are Pinterest Ads?
Pinterest ads, also called Promoted Pins, are basically regular pins with a boost. They show up in home feeds, search results, and related pins but more people see them because you are paying to get them out there.
Pinterest users are planners and problem-solvers. They come to Pinterest to find ideas, inspiration, and solutions. That makes it a perfect platform for ads that guide people toward your products, services, or content.
Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
Before you can run ads, you need a free Pinterest business account. Head over to business.pinterest.com and either convert your personal account or create a new one.
A business account gives you access to analytics, ad tools, and the Pinterest tag, which tracks clicks, conversions, and other actions on your website. Basically, it is your secret weapon for measuring success.
Install the Pinterest Tag
The Pinterest tag is a tiny piece of code that tracks what people do after clicking your ad. You need it to see what is working and what is not.
If you are on Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, or similar platforms, Pinterest has step-by-step guides to make adding the tag super easy.
Choose Your Campaign Objective
When you set up your ad, Pinterest will ask what your goal is. This is important because it decides who sees your ad and how Pinterest delivers it. Some common objectives are:
- Awareness – Get your pins in front of more people.
- Consideration (Traffic) – Send people to your website or landing page.
- Conversions – Encourage email sign-ups, purchases, or other actions.
- Catalog Sales – Automatically promote multiple products from your store.
If you are new to Pinterest ads, Traffic is the easiest place to start.
Start by Promoting Free Lead Magnets
If you’re not sure where to start, start by promoting a freebie.
Think a checklist, guide, mini course, or template your audience will love. People get something valuable, and you grow your email list at the same time. The main benefit here is that freebies are a bit cheaper to promote in terms of cost per action (in this case, cost per lead) but they give you valuable data about what works for your audience, messaging, and creative.
You can experiment with promoting blog posts too, but a quick heads-up. Unless a post has a high RPM or a ton of affiliate links, you will probably pay more for Pinterest ads than you earn in ad revenue. That is why freebies are the perfect way to dip your toes in. They are low-pressure, high-value, and give you faster results in the form of email subscribers.
Create Your Ad Group and Targeting
Now it’s time to tell Pinterest who to show your ad to. You can target by:
- Keywords – Reach people searching for what you offer.
- Interests – Show ads to people who like similar content.
- Demographics – Narrow by age, gender, location, or device.
- Actalike audiences – Find new users similar to your best customers.
Personally, I’m still testing Performance Plus to determine if it’s better than using keywords and interests, so you may need to do your own testing as well because it can depend on your niche and offer.
You can also retarget people who have already visited your site or upload a customer list to reach your existing audience, but that’s a little more advanced.
Set Your Budget
Pinterest lets you set a daily or lifetime budget and choose automatic or manual bidding.
If you are just testing, start small. $5 to $10 per day is a good place to start. Once you find a winning pin and audience, you can scale it up and watch the results roll in.
Design Your Ad Creative
Your pin is your superstar here. Use vertical images (1000 x 1500 pixels), bright visuals, and text overlays that clearly show what your freebie offers. Add keywords to the title and description and make sure your link goes straight to your landing page.
Pinterest users love inspiration, so show the benefit or transformation your freebie provides.
Launch and Monitor Your Ads
Once your campaign is live, keep an eye on metrics like:
- Impressions – how many people saw your pin
- Clicks and click-through rate – how many visited your page
- Saves – how many people pinned it themselves
- Conversions – how many signed up for your freebie
Play around with images, headlines, and audiences. A little testing goes a long way, but be sure to not test too many different creatives if you have a small budget. You don’t want to spread the budget too thin (I’d recommend at least a few dollars per day per pin).
Pinterest Ads Best Practices
- Use bright, eye-catching vertical images.
- Keep your text short, clear, and punchy.
- Test multiple creatives and targeting options.
- Give campaigns at least a couple weeks before judging performance (and be prepared to not get instant results—ads can take time to test and optimize, and your first campaign might not hit it out of the park).
- Make sure your landing page loads fast and matches your pin.
FAQ
Can I run Pinterest ads without a product?
Yes. Promoting a freebie is a perfect way to start. You will grow your email list and build trust without selling anything yet.
Can I promote blog posts with Pinterest ads?
You can, but only if the post has high RPM or lots of affiliate links. Otherwise, you’ll probably spend more on ads than you make back.
How much should I spend?
Start small. $5 to $10 per day is plenty for testing. Scale up once you find winning pins.
Do I need a business account?
Yes. You need a Pinterest business account for analytics, ads, and the Pinterest tag.
How long until I see results?
Pinterest ads usually take a few weeks to fully optimize, and that’s assuming you have a proven offer to begin with. If you’re testing something that no one has organically signed up for, you could have a hard time figuring out if the ads or the offer is the problem. For that reason, I recommend promoting proven offers.
Final Thoughts
Pinterest ads are an effective and low-pressure way to grow your audience and email list. Start by promoting a free lead magnet, test different pins and audiences, and watch your results build over time. Once you get comfortable, you can expand to higher-value offers or products.
Want to skip the learning curve and get results faster? I can manage your Pinterest ads for you so you can focus on your business and let your ads do the heavy lifting. Check out my Pinterest Ads Management services here.
