Creative best practices for your next lower funnel campaign

Let’s be honest: It can feel daunting to get your ads right for every goal, on every platform. But we’re here to be your guides. With our expanded performance marketing solutions, you’ll find more options to reach your lower funnel goals on Pinterest. And to really help you succeed, we’re giving you data-backed insight into what works best. 

Our team analyzed hundreds of performance campaigns to see what drives success.¹ Here are our top tips to help your performance campaigns really perform. 

1. Use your visuals for storytelling

Don’t just pick an image and call it done. Pinterest is a visual platform—so you really want to make those visuals shine. Tell a richer story by combining different Pins, ads or even boards to create a strong narrative.

We recommend combining lifestyle shots with clear product images across ads so people really understand your products. For example, a retail apparel brand could create story-driven boards like "Urban Explorers" and "Weekend Getaways," featuring stylish outfits for both city adventures and relaxed retreats. Seeing products in action helps people get a better sense of your brand and helps them imagine your products in their lives. 

2. Keep CTAs direct

When someone's ready to buy, seamlessly guide them to the next step. A clear call to action (CTA) like "Shop now" or "Buy today" helps guide them to purchase. Use strong action verbs and align your CTA with the ad's intent. Make your CTAs really focused and direct. For example, don’t write “Learn more” if you’re hoping people will checkout at the next step. Position your CTA prominently, at the bottom of your ad, ensuring it doesn't obscure other elements of your creative. For extra emphasis, consider implementing a complementary CTA, like “Explore the Collection” within the ad design to reinforce the main CTA like “Buy now”.

3. Write short, clear copy 

Especially for lower funnel ads, you’ll want to prioritize clarity over cleverness. Tell shoppers exactly what they’re getting. You can use text overlay to grab attention and make the offer more enticing or relevant. Overlay can provide extra info about what you’re selling, like special benefits or brand information (ex: “waterproof” or “free shipping”). If you use text overlay, think about your font size so it’s easy for people to read what’s on the Pin. 

4. Use a combination of ad formats

Our research shows that using multiple ad formats can drive better results.² If you’re looking to optimize your return on ad spend (ROAS) and conversion rates (CVR), Shopping ads, Carousels and Collections have been shown to be the most effective formats.³ In fact, brands that have added Shopping ads to their mix have seen 15% higher ROAS and 2.6x higher conversion rates.⁴ Shopping ads allow you to promote products directly from your catalog, helping to reach shoppers when they’re most likely to act, and Carousels and Collections let you share complementary products that “complete the look” or that other people also purchased. 

For example, a jewelry brand could create a carousel ad highlighting a variety of charms and beads for their popular customizable bracelet.  Then, they could retarget people with a Shopping ad showcasing the bracelet, complete with charms, driving the shopper directly to the purchase page.

5. Create a seamless clickthrough experience

Imagine clicking on a gorgeous ad for comfy sweaters, only to land on a website with harsh colors and no sweaters in sight. It would be pretty jarring! That’s why it’s important to make sure that when people click your CTA, your landing page matches the look and feel of your Pin. 

Make sure to incorporate elements that help maintain brand identity to your ads. Try to include prominent branding by using your logo or key colors—just make sure they don’t overwhelm your ad’s message.

Putting it all together

Level up your lower funnel

These research-based tips are a great start to boost your ad campaign on Pinterest. But ad creative is just one step to better performance marketing on Pinterest. That’s why we coach our partners to success with our Path to Performance framework. Our coaching includes info on how to optimize your product feed and a campaign testing strategy to gather nuanced insights and tweak specific variables.