An 8-Step Guide to Pinterest Ad Creative

The human brain can process an image in as little as 13 milliseconds, making attention-grabbing visuals essential for advertisers. The ante is upped on highly visual social platforms like Pinterest, where users expect aesthetically appealing content. With a limited window to capture attention, brands with lackluster content can deter engagement.

Many users come to the site in a ‘consideration mindset,’ open to ideas as they plan for things to do, build, or buy in the future. With over 2 million people Pinning product rich Pins every day, it is crucial that advertisers check all the creative boxes when developing Pins in order to inspire Pinners to take action. Use our checklist below with ad specs and best practices to make sure your Pins are up to snuff:

 ✓  Images are high-quality

Use professional-quality, high-resolution photographs and illustrations and avoid amateur or user-generated content.

 ✓  Pins are vertically-oriented

All Pins should have a preferred image aspect ratio of 2:3 to 1:2.8 and a minimum width of 600px. Pins get cut off in feeds if the ratio is greater than 1:2.8, so make sure the image isn’t too tall.

 ✓  All copy is thoughtful, helpful, and timeless

Pinned content lives forever on Pinterest, so every Pin should have a description that gives it context while also being evergreen. If your image includes copy, avoid promotional information (“10% off”), calls-to-action that imply a false sense of urgency (“Call now!”), references to Pinterest functionality (“Click here to Pin!”), or the overuse of hashtags, especially those that are not brand- or campaign-specific.

 ✓  Image copy is clear

Minimize the amount of text in an image as much as possible. When text is part of the image, incorporate it into the design and make it big enough to read easily on mobile or in the grid view. As a rule, product information and taglines should reside in the description.

 ✓  Composition is clean

Pins with more than three separate images can end up looking busy in the larger grid view. Images should have a clear focus or theme and not just be a random assortment of products. Don’t add frills like rounded corners or borders to your Pins.

 ✓  Logos are tasteful

If you include your logo in the Pin image, make sure it is large enough to be seen in the grid view and on mobile, but not so large that it overpowers the image. Use Rich Pins wherever possible so your brand stays on the Pin as it gets Repinned.

 ✓  Background is off-white

Since white will be the background color on the iOS app, Pinterest will automatically add a bit of gray to Pins that have a white background (or a black background set at 97% transparency). This will help your Pins stand out, but might give grays like drop shadows less contrast.

 ✓  Rich Pins are simple and clean

Rich Pin descriptions are hidden to keep the feed concise, but will still show up on closeups, so keep your descriptions short and to the point. The hidden descriptions make the titles pop more, so double check your site’s metadata.