6 essential tips to shine with Pinterest’s Premiere Spotlight video ads

With so many brands vying for attention online, your message risks getting overlooked by—or never even reaching—the very audience you’re trying to connect with. And that leads to missed opportunities for engagement, conversion and long-term brand loyalty.

Every month, over half a billion people come to Pinterest ready to try, buy or do something new.¹ We’ve explored how Premiere Spotlight puts your brand front and centre when those crucial decisions are being made. As Pinterest's most prominent video advertising placement, it occupies the top spot within users' app experience, delivering mass awareness for your brand. In fact, media aided brand awareness for brands running Premiere Spotlight placements in both home and search feeds on the same day is 3.7x higher than that of Pinterest norms.²

But securing that premium placement is just the beginning. By creating compelling video ads that align with Pinterest guidelines, you can capture attention, inspire action and drive results. Follow these creative tips to create ads that shine and reach your audience in the moments that matter most.

Six essential Premiere Spotlight creative best practices

1. Hook them early

Start your video with thumb-stopping visuals. Pinterest has slower scroll speeds, which gives you a unique advantage.³ When people slow down, they don't just see more—they notice more, including ads. Take Christian Louboutin's spring collection launch. They led with their iconic red brand colour, turning a quick glance into instant brand recognition. Their video completion rates soared, with cost per completed view (CPCV) dropping 86% below industry benchmarks.⁴

Pro tip: Sharing a recipe or beauty tutorial? Show the outcome in your first shot to grab attention from the start.

2. Lead with your brand

Don't hide your most powerful assets: Place your logo and ideally your product front and centre in the first 1-2 seconds of your video. G-STAR RAW nailed this balance in their Burna Boy collaboration campaign, opening their ad with a logo lockup floating over footage of their fresh denim. The strategy drove clicks 42% above benchmark, proving that strong branding drives strong results.⁵

Pro tip: Add branded end cards for an extra awareness boost.

3. Make your product the hero

Show your product in action within the video and connect it to real moments that people care about. Waitrose's festive Premiere Spotlight campaign brought recipes to life by placing food on the dinner table, inspiring people right when they were on Pinterest to plan what to cook for their celebrations. The result? They saw a 6.1% sales lift, with Premiere Spotlight delivering a strong 3.5 percentage point boost in brand awareness.⁶

Pro tip: Show people interacting with your products in real scenarios with genuine reactions. 

4. Visual storytelling wins

While audio always enhances your video message, plan for sound on or off. Magnum mastered this with their summer campaign, using delicious ice cream visuals with clear text overlays to communicate ”indulgence” without saying a word.  The strategy paid off: Pin awareness jumped 16 percentage points, with particularly strong results among Gen Z audiences.⁷

Pro tip: Visuals grab attention, text brings clarity, and sound adds depth to your story. Use all three elements in harmony to complete your story.

5. Keep it quick

In the world of shrinking attention spans, brevity in video is your friend. Aim for 6-15 seconds—just enough time to make your point while keeping viewers engaged. Chloé's successful holiday fragrance launch proved this with six-second videos that hit a 50.4% view through rate in their Premiere Spotlight placement.⁸

Pro tip: When cutting down from longer videos, focus on shots that convey your main idea clearly and succinctly.

6. Adapt to the small screen

Designing video creative specifically for the platform is ideal, but you can also transform your existing assets with smart framing, text overlays or static imagery. Both square (1:1) and widescreen (16:9) formats are effective, so choose the one that best complements your story. Dutch airline KLM exemplified this by adapting their Curaçao campaign for Pinterest using a mix of mobile-friendly formats that included Premiere Spotlight. This approach resulted in a nearly 6% incremental lift in Add to Cart actions.⁹ Ask your Pinterest team about creative design partners who can help you modify your assets.

Pro tip: Make sure your copy is clearly readable, even on small screens.

Make your moment matter

While other platforms fight for attention, Pinterest provides a stage for your brand to shine. By leveraging these creative best practices, you can help to ensure your Premiere Spotlight ads drive meaningful results. If you’re ready to master creative that converts, start with our Building Effective Creative course on Pinterest Academy. To learn more about Premiere Spotlight reservations and inventory, chat with your Pinterest team.