Pinterest often gets overlooked by Australian businesses running paid advertising. It doesn’t have the reach of Facebook or the professional targeting of LinkedIn, but for the right type of business – it’s a genuinely underrated platform.
Here’s the key thing about Pinterest that sets it apart: people go there with intent. They’re planning. A wedding, a renovation, a wardrobe refresh, a garden makeover. That’s a very different headspace to passive scrolling, and it creates real advertising opportunities for businesses in the right industries.
Who uses Pinterest in Australia
Pinterest has around 4 to 5 million monthly users in Australia, and the audience skews heavily female (around 70 to 75%), with strong representation in the 25 to 54 age range. The interests that dominate are home decor and renovation, fashion and style, food and recipes, travel, weddings, fitness and health, and parenting.
If your business serves any of those categories – or if your ideal customer overlaps with that demographic – it’s worth understanding how the advertising works.
How Pinterest advertising is different
Pinterest is a visual search engine as much as it is a social platform. People use it to search for ideas and save them for later, which means content on Pinterest has a much longer lifespan than on Facebook or Instagram. A pin can continue driving traffic months or even years after it was first published.
Pinterest ads (called Promoted Pins) work the same way as organic pins – they appear in feeds and search results, but with a small “Promoted” label. Because they blend naturally with organic content, they tend to feel less intrusive than ads on other platforms.
Pinterest ad formats
Standard Pins – single image ads. Clean, simple, effective for most campaign goals.
Video Pins – video content in the Pinterest feed. Autoplay on mobile, strong for tutorials, how-tos and product demonstrations.
Shopping Ads – pull products directly from a product catalogue. Ideal for e-commerce. Show up when people are searching for products to buy.
Carousel Pins – multiple images in one ad. Good for showcasing product ranges or telling a visual story.
Collections – a lead image above a grid of smaller images. Works well for product discovery.
Idea Pins – multi-page format similar to Stories. Currently organic only in Australia, but worth knowing about.
How Pinterest targeting works
Pinterest targeting combines search intent with audience data. The main options are:
Keyword targeting – your ads appear when people search for specific terms. Very useful given how people actively use Pinterest to search for ideas.
Interest targeting – reach people who regularly engage with specific content categories.
Audience targeting – target your existing customers, website visitors, or Pinterest users with similar characteristics (act-alike audiences).
Demographic targeting – age, gender, location, language, device.
The keyword targeting in particular is a real differentiator. It lets you reach people at the exact moment they’re searching for what you offer.
When Pinterest advertising makes sense
Pinterest is worth considering if your business operates in:
- Interior design, architecture or renovation
- Fashion, beauty or personal styling
- Wedding planning, events or floristry
- Food, hospitality or catering
- Travel or accommodation
- Health, fitness or wellness
- Parenting, education or childrenswear
- Craft, homewares or gifts
If your business is B2B-focused or in an industry that doesn’t have a strong visual or lifestyle angle, Pinterest advertising is probably not the right fit.
What it typically costs
Pinterest advertising is generally more affordable than Facebook and LinkedIn, with cost-per-click often ranging from $0.50 to $2. The trade-off is a smaller total audience in Australia compared to Meta platforms.
A starting budget of around $500 to $1,000 per month can be enough to test whether it works for your business – which is lower than most other paid channels.
How we approach Pinterest advertising at Media Sociale
Pinterest requires a different creative approach to other platforms. Vertical imagery, strong typography and clear visual messaging perform best. We work on getting the creative right first, then build campaigns that target both search intent and audience interest to maximise reach to the people most likely to engage.
Curious if Pinterest could work for your business? Let’s have a chat.