Pinterest Ads Benchmarks by Industry (2026)
Pinterest is a planning surface, so its ads behave like a long-window channel: cheap impressions, modest immediate conversion, and unusually strong performance in home, beauty and wedding-adjacent categories.
Last reviewed
Pinterest Ads in 2026 average 0.44–0.71% CTR at $3.60–$6.20 CPM with conversion rates near 0.9–1.4%, performing best in home, wedding, beauty and craft categories where purchases are planned weeks in advance.
| Industry | Avg CTR | Median CPM | Conv. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home & Furniture | 0.62% | $4.80 | 1.35% |
| Beauty & Skincare | 0.58% | $5.40 | 1.28% |
| Apparel & Fashion | 0.54% | $5.10 | 1.10% |
| Jewelry & Weddings | 0.71% | $5.90 | 1.42% |
| Food & Beverage | 0.66% | $3.90 | 0.95% |
| Health & Wellness | 0.44% | $6.20 | 0.88% |
| Kids & Baby | 0.60% | $4.60 | 1.20% |
| Craft & Hobby | 0.68% | $3.60 | 1.05% |
Prospecting, 2:3 vertical pins. Conversion measured on a 30-day click window, which is materially longer than Meta's default.
Avg CTR by vertical
What the numbers mean
- 01CPMs are the lowest of the major visual platforms — often half of Meta's in the same category — which makes Pinterest a cheap way to build top-of-funnel reach.
- 02Home, wedding and craft categories outperform because the platform's core behaviour is planning a project or a purchase weeks ahead.
- 03The long consideration window means short attribution settings will make Pinterest look worse than it is; 30-day click is the standard for a reason.
- 042:3 vertical pins with legible on-image text consistently beat square or landscape creative reused from other channels.
Methodology
Aggregated from Pinterest Business published ranges, agency-reported data and Xeli beta accounts. Standard and idea-pin ad formats, prospecting only, 30-day click attribution window.
Buy the planning window, not the click
Pinterest users save ideas long before they buy, so the channel's value shows up over weeks rather than days. That has two practical implications. Measure on a 30-day click and 30-day view window rather than the 7-day settings you use on Meta, and expect a meaningful share of the return to land in later weeks — which means judging a two-week test is judging half the result. Seasonal categories are the clearest example: interior and wedding searches on Pinterest lead the actual purchase by roughly one to three months, so campaigns should launch a full season ahead of retail demand.
Creative rules that are specific to Pinterest
The native canvas is 2:3, and pins outside that ratio get visually truncated in the grid. What works is a clean product or scene photograph, a short text overlay in the upper third stating the outcome, and a visible brand mark. Idea-pin style multi-frame creative earns more saves, which extends distribution beyond the paid impression because saved pins keep resurfacing organically. Repurposed 9:16 TikTok video and 1:1 Meta statics both underperform for the same reason: they were designed for a feed that scrolls faster than this one.
Where Pinterest fits in a paid mix
Treat it as an efficient reach and consideration channel with a genuine direct-response tail, rather than as a Meta replacement. Accounts that succeed here usually run it as a persistent always-on layer at 5–15% of paid budget, feeding both site traffic and retargeting pools that convert on other channels. Because CPMs are low, the channel is also a cheap creative test bed for imagery you intend to run more expensively elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good CTR on Pinterest Ads?
0.4–0.7% is normal for prospecting pins. Home, wedding and craft categories sit at the top of the range; wellness and general health sit near 0.44%.
Are Pinterest Ads cheaper than Facebook?
Per impression, usually yes — CPMs commonly run 30–50% below Meta in comparable categories. Conversion rates are lower, so evaluate on cost per acquisition over a 30-day window.
What size should Pinterest ads be?
2:3 vertical, typically 1000×1500 pixels. Square and landscape creative is visually truncated in the grid and reliably underperforms.
How long should a Pinterest test run?
At least four weeks, and ideally six. The platform's planning behaviour means a large share of conversions arrive well after the click, so short tests systematically understate performance.
Sources
- 01Pinterest advertising performance — Pinterest BusinessPlatform-published format and measurement guidance.
- 02Pinterest creative best practices — Pinterest Business HelpPin ratio and specification requirements.
- 03Paid social benchmarks — VarosAdvertiser-reported CPM and conversion distributions.
- 04Social media benchmarks — DataboxPractitioner-reported CTR medians.