Pinterest ads can be hard to master on your own. They’re even harder when you’re making mistakes over and over. The great news is we’re here to break down some common mistakes we see with Pinterest ads, give you some simple fixes and share best practices, and get you pointed in the right direction.

Erin, our Director of Pinterest Ads Management, has been learning everything she can about Pinterest ads since we created this department back in 2018.

A bit of fun history for you: Erin started with Pinterest ads as a result of my “dishwasher moment”. I was loading dishes and feeling angsty about the moving target of Pinterest ads. As I was closing my dishwasher the solution clicked.

“Why am I doing this? This is not my wheelhouse. I don’t need to be deep into the weeds. I can task someone else to take this on and let them run with it”.

We have several other podcasts where Erin and I have discussed Pinterest ads, but I wanted to do something different and focus on the mistakes Erin sees people making on a regular basis.

First, I want you to know that we believe in a fully diversified ad strategy. There is room for ads on many different platforms including Pinterest. Each platform brings a different audience and an opportunity that can be important for your business.

Let’s dive into the three big mistakes we see being made with Pinterest ads.

pinterest ads best practices and mistakes to avoid

Erin says that people make lots of mistakes with Pinterest ads, but she doesn’t mean that negatively. Ad campaigns can be complicated and we’ve all made mistakes with them.

People try to come from other platforms and approach Pinterest in the same way. They think having run Facebook ads, Google ads, or Instagram ads means Pinterest ads will be a no-brainer.

“Pinterest ads are so different. There’s an important mindset shift you need to make. Ads just don’t work the same on the Pinterest platform.”

But let’s not get down on ourselves because we’ve made mistakes. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn and grow, so let’s talk about the three most common things we see.

When we talk about Pinterest ads, we can’t forget all the things we know about Pinterest as a whole. Remember, Pinterest is all about search and discovery. Pinners are often looking for inspiration for the future. You won’t see traffic results right away.

“People use Pinterest to plan for moments in their life, events that are happening, and projects around their home.”

That holds with ad campaigns, especially if it’s your first time running ads on Pinterest. People are engaging and saving, but they don’t always buy right away. They’re in the planning mode. You won’t see conversions right away.

Losing the focus of the Pinners’ motivation leads to the first of our most common mistakes:

Setting Unrealistic Time Expectations

Pinterest marketing is a slow burn. Erin says you need to plan a minimum of two to four months for an ad campaign. If you stop three weeks in on a campaign, you won’t get accurate and effective actionable results.

Erin encourages you to think of the first month as the data-gathering phase. The second month your conversions will begin to come through, and by the third month you will begin to see a return on ads that are working well.

In the fourth month, you can begin scaling to optimize your results.

As a business owner,