Pinterest Ads for E-Commerce: The Underrated ROAS Driver

In a digital world dominated by Meta and TikTok ad conversations, Pinterest quietly delivers one of the most underrated returns on ad spend (ROAS), especially for e-commerce brands.

While it may not trend on X or dominate Reddit forums, Pinterest’s visual-first, intent-driven environment can drive incredibly high purchase intent and conversion efficiency. In this post, we’ll explore why Pinterest Ads deserve a place in your cross-platform media mix, which ad types work best, and how tools like Rockads help monitor and optimize Pinterest alongside Meta and TikTok.

Why Pinterest Works for E-Commerce

Pinterest is a discovery platform, not a social feed. That distinction makes a huge difference:

• 🛒 83% of weekly users say they’ve made a purchase based on content from brands

• 🔍 97% of searches are unbranded — great for introducing products to new audiences

• 🎯 Users come with high buying intent (holiday, home, fashion, beauty, wellness)

Unlike scroll-heavy environments, Pinterest users actively seek inspiration, ideas, and solutions. Ads become part of the journey — not an interruption.

Pinterest Ad Types That Perform

For e-commerce brands, the following formats consistently drive ROAS:

1. 🧺 Catalog Ads (Product Pins)

• Dynamic product feed integration

• Auto-matched with relevant queries and boards

• Ideal for DPA-style performance campaigns

2. 🎞️ Video Pins

• 6–15s product use cases, styling demos, transformations

• Great for mobile-first product categories (beauty, home, fitness)

3. 📌 Idea Ads (Multi-Page)

• Interactive, swipeable storytelling format

• High engagement, ideal for bundles or seasonal drops

4. 🪄 Try On / AR Pins (for beauty & eyewear)

• Let users visualize product on themselves

Pinterest Targeting Capabilities

While not as granular as Meta, Pinterest offers solid intent-based and contextual targeting:

• 🔍 Keyword-based search intent

• 👥 Interest & life-stage audiences (e.g., brides-to-be, first home, baby arrival)

• 🕐 Actalikes (retargeting based on site activity or past converters)

• 📅 Seasonal / trend audience packages

Bonus: Pinterest recently expanded its Conversion API (CAPI equivalent) for better server-side tracking.

Important: Pinterest works best for high-quality visuals, evergreen categories, and top-of-funnel discovery-to-conversion flow.

Pinterest may not be your top platform by spend, but its outsized efficiency makes it a secret weapon, especially when tracked and scaled smartly.

Key Takeaways

• Pinterest is a high-intent visual search platform, not just a mood board.

• Catalog Ads, Video Pins, and Idea Ads work well for e-commerce.

• ROAS is often stronger than Meta/TikTok for visual-first brands.