About author: Jack Evans brings his extensive experience in digital marketing to the table, specialising in paid social strategies that drive growth for e-commerce and DTC brands.
If you’re looking to broaden your paid social horizons, Pinterest ads can be a fantastic addition to your marketing strategy.
Whether you’re aiming to boost brand awareness, increase video views, or drive conversions among your target audience, Pinterest advertising can help.
But to launch wildly effective Pinterest ads, you need to select the right tools for the job – and that means picking tactical ad formats that align with your business goals.
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(That’s where we come in.)
We’ve gathered all the information you need on Pinterest ad formats, including the benefits of different placements and detailed Pinterest ad specs. Let’s get started, shall we?
As a specialist Pinterest ads agency we can help you with your campaigns just get in touch for a free consultation.
What are the different Pinterest ad types?
There are several different types of Promoted Pins available on the Pinterest platform, each with its own unique strengths and features.
Selecting the right ad types is crucial if you want to run successful Pinterest ads.
Not only will your choice of ad types impact campaign performance, but you’ll also need to adjust your creative approach to suit different formats. Pinterest marketing is all about high-quality visuals, so it’s important to maximise the creative impact of your Pinterest ads.
There are six primary Pinterest ad types available for marketers:
- Standard Image Ads
- Standard Video Ads
- Shopping Ads
- Collections Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Idea Ads
If you want to unlock the full potential of these Pinterest ad formats, you need to understand
how they can contribute to your ad campaigns and help you to engage Pinterest users.
6 Pinterest Ads Formats (+ how to use them)
Let’s take a closer look at each of the 6 Pinterest ad formats, explore their ad specs, and outline how each Pinterest ad type can help you to achieve your key campaign objectives.
Pinterest Ad Format #1 – Pinterest Static Pins
Static Pins are a hugely popular ad format on Pinterest. These Promoted Pins are almost identical to organic content on the platform, aside from a subtle ‘promoted’ label that identifies them as paid advertising.
These placements feature only one image, so it’s critical to produce a creative asset that can cut through the clutter of the Pinterest feed.
Static Pins can be targeted towards specific Pinterest users who can expand them, save them to Pinterest boards, and click them to visit landing pages. They can also be shared organically (like other Pins) which can be great for incremental reach and visibility.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Static Ad – Pros and cons
One of the biggest strengths of the Static Pin is its simplicity.
This placement blends seamlessly into the Pinterest feed, and since these ads feel less intrusive, they can be more likely to drive engagement.
If you have a straightforward creative message or a single product to promote, then Static Pins can provide you with the ideal canvas.
However, this can also be a potential drawback for advertisers depending on their campaign objectives. If you need to communicate a complex brand message or showcase multiple products effectively, then Static Pins can be a little bit restrictive.
Static Ad – Pinterest Ad specs
Images
File type: PNG or JPEG
Max file size: Desktop 20 MB, In-app 32 MB
Image Aspect ratio: Pinterest recommends using a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1000 x 1500 pixels. Pins with an aspect ratio greater than 2:3 might get cut off in-feed.
Character counts
Title: Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people’s feeds.
Description: Enter up to 500 characters. Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed.
Pinterest Ad Format #2 – Pinterest Video Ads
Pinterest Video ads function in a very similar way to Static Pins but provide brands with the opportunity to run video assets rather than static images.
Video ads offer a range of benefits to Pinterest marketers – they can help brands to deliver more in-depth messages, and motion is a great way to capture attention in-feed.
A Pinterest video ad can run for up to 15 minutes, but best practice dictates that video ads should only run for 6-15 seconds for optimal results. Video length is a huge factor in ad performance, so think carefully about your creative strategy.
There are also two different types of Pinterest video ads – Standard Width Video ads, and Max Width Video ads. As you might expect, the key difference is the size of the formats.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Video Pin Ads – Pros and cons
Paid social video advertising is immensely popular with brands around the globe – and with good reason.
Pinterest video ads can help brands to instantly stand out in-feed. Colour and motion are naturally eye-catching, and the right assets can be hugely impactful.
Video ads can be particularly valuable if you have multiple messages to communicate or a slightly more complex brand narrative. Although short and punchy assets tend to perform best, video still provides you with a little more room for creative storytelling.
However, creating high-quality videos can require a little more production investment, and you need to ensure that your message is suitable for a video ad.
Video Pin Ads – Pinterest Ad specs
Standard Width Video
File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v
Encoding: H.264 or H.265
Max file size: Up to 2GB
Video length: Minimum 4 seconds, maximum 15 minutes
Aspect ratio: Shorter than 1:2 (width:height), taller than 1.91:1. Pinterest recommends making your videos square (1:1) or vertical (2:3 or 9:16).
Max Width Video
File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v
Encoding: H.264 or H.265
Max file size: Up to 2GB
Video length: Minimum 4 seconds, maximum 15 minutes
Aspect ratio: Square (1:1) or widescreen (16:9). Note that Max Width videos can’t exceed the height of a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Character counts
Title: Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people’s feeds.
Description: Enter up to 500 characters. Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed.
Pinterest Ad Format #3 – Pinterest Shopping Ads
Shopping ads are ideal for driving online sales through Pinterest, as they allow your target audience to complete purchases without leaving the Pinterest platform.
Within a couple of taps, Pinterest users can explore your products, visit your online checkout, and make a new purchase.
You can run one product image at a time with your Shopping ads, so it’s crucial that you launch high-quality product visuals that showcase any special features or benefits.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Shopping Ads – Pros and cons
Convenience is hugely important for e-commerce. The easier and more accessible the customer journey is, the more likely Pinterest users are to convert.
Shopping pins create an extremely smooth user experience, which can help you to rack up sky-high volumes of valuable conversions.
In saying that, it’s worth noting that Shopping ads require a little bit of preparation.
You’ll need to organise and upload your product catalog to the Pinterest platform, as well as ensure that your product images are up-to-scratch.
Shopping Ads – Pinterest Ad specs
Pinterest Shopping ads follow the same specs as Static Pins.
(That was easy, eh?)
Pinterest Ad Format #4 – Pinterest Collection Ads
If you need to promote multiple products, services, or messages in your Pinterest ads, then Collection ads are the format for you.
Collection ads are served in the Pinterest mobile feed, and place a large ‘hero’ asset above three smaller secondary assets. You can choose to run a static image hero creative, or a video hero creative.
When a user taps on your Collection ad, they’ll open up a full-screen experience that contains up to 24 secondary creative assets.
This is a brilliant opportunity to showcase a full product range or collection, particularly if you can lead with an attention-grabbing hero asset.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Collections Ads – Pros and cons
If you’re keen to show off your product range in an efficient and creative way, you can’t go far wrong with Collections ads.
These versatile placements can effectively promote multiple brand messages, while also encouraging high levels of user engagement.
However, you’ll need to upload your product catalog to launch Collections ads, and this can take some time and organisation. You’ll also require consistency across your product visuals so that your Collections look seamless and professional.
Collections Ads – Pinterest Ad specs
Static Image Hero Creative/Secondary Creatives
File type: PNG or JPEG
Max file size: 10MB
Creative Quantity: Must have 1 hero creative. Minimum of 3 secondary creatives is recommended. Maximum of 24 secondary creatives.
Aspect ratio: The hero creative must have either a 1:1 or 2:3 aspect ratio and can differ from the aspect ratios of the secondary creatives. All secondary creatives must have the same aspect ratio – either 1:1 (square) or 2:3 (vertical).
Video Hero Creative
File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v
Encoding: H.264 or H.265
Max file size: Up to 2GB
Video length: Minimum 4 seconds, maximum 15 minutes.
Aspect ratio: Shorter than 1:2 (width:height), taller than 1.91:1. Pinterest recommends making your videos square (1:1) or vertical (2:3 or 9:16).
Character counts
Title: Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people’s feeds.
Description: Enter up to 500 characters. Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed.
Pinterest Ad Format #5 – Pinterest Carousel Ads
Pinterest Carousel ads can house multiple images (up to five individual image assets within a single placement), allowing audiences to easily explore multiple products or services.
Each Carousel asset can also include a specific headline, ad description, and landing page URL – meaning you can set up intuitive customer journeys that drive consistent sales.
Carousel ads are designed to encourage exceptional levels of engagement, so with the right creative strategy, you can rapidly generate masses of clicks and conversions.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Carousel Ads – Pros and cons
Pinterest Carousel ads are a fantastic way to deliver multiple messages in a highly engaging, highly visual way.
With a smart creative strategy, you can produce impactful Carousel ads that generate jaw-dropping levels of engagement.
Carousel ads aren’t suitable for every campaign, however. If you don’t have enough interesting brand messages or quality creative assets to make the Carousel ad work, then it can feel disjointed and ineffective.
Carousel Ad specs
Carousel Images
File type: PNG or JPEG
Max file size: 20 MB per image
Creative Quantity: 2-5 images per carousel
Aspect ratio: 1:1 or 2:3
Character counts
Title: Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people’s feeds.
Description: Enter up to 500 characters. Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed.
Pinterest Ad Format #6 – Pinterest Idea Pins
Idea Pins provide advertisers with a suite of creative tools that they can use to record multiple videos and publish them on the Pinterest platform.
Idea ads function in a very similar way to the popular ‘Stories’ format found on other social media platforms. These Promoted Pins can appear in a sequence as images, videos, lists or custom text.
Idea Pins are often created in partnership with Pinterest influencers, as the format lends itself to organic and authentic content. Creators will produce influencer-style videos that brands then promote and target at scale through Idea ads.
(Source: pinterest.com)
Idea Pins – Pros and cons
The biggest benefit of Idea ads is their versatility.
Advertisers can use Idea Pins to share various types of content, including ‘how to’ tutorial videos, visual ‘listicle’ style images, and recipe suggestions.
Since Idea Pins can effortlessly combine video assets, static images, and text, the creative possibilities are almost endless.
However, Idea Pins won’t necessarily work for every brand on Pinterest.
You’ll need a diverse range of content to really maximise the potential of Idea Pins. If your campaign messaging is more straightforward, you may not get much value from this format.
Idea Pins – Pinterest Ad specs
Images and Videos
File type
Image: .BMP, .JPEG, .PNG, .TIFF, .WEBP
Video: .MP4, .M4V. .MOV files are available on iOS and Android only
File size: 1 GB recommended
Video encoding: H.264 or H.265
Max file size: Android and iOS: 16mb recommended
Web: 20mb maximum for images and 100mb for videos
Video length: Videos should be between 3-60 seconds
Resolution: For full-bleed images and videos, or images and videos that extend to take up the entire screen, Pinterest recommends using 1080×1920 pixel size (9:16 ratio).
Aspect ratio: Aspect ratio is 9:16, but there are no restrictions for image or video.
Character length
Title: 100 characters max
On page: One text box per page on Desktop and Android and multiple text boxes per page on iOS, 250 characters max
Safe zones: Put text and other elements within the light blue lines or the dimensions below so users can easily see on any device when viewing your Idea Pin.
Top: 270 px
Left: 65 px
Right: 195 px
Bottom: 440 px
Brands often achieve optimal results with Pinterest ads by partnering with an experienced Pinterest agency. Pinterest specialists can help marketers to accelerate their business growth and crush their campaign objectives with a data-fuelled strategy.
Useful resources for Pinterest ad campaigns
If you need a refresher on Pinterest ad specs or expert guidance on creative best practices, look no further.
Below are some valuable Pinterest resources that will provide you with all the marketing insights that you need.
25 Best Pinterest Tools For Marketers (Free & Paid)
The right combination of Pinterest ad formats can lead to mind-blowing results on the platform.
When you’re pulling together a Pinterest advertising strategy, just think carefully about your target audience, creative assets, and campaign messaging.
If you can align your Pinterest ad formats with your most important business goals, then you’ll be guaranteed to deliver outstanding performance.
