Pinterest Performance+ Campaigns: Setup, Thresholds and Testing

What does Pinterest Performance+ automate?

Bids are set automatically with the Performance+ bid strategy, and Pinterest creates the ad groups based on the actions in the campaign. Targeting is simplified: country, a simplified age range and customer list inclusion or exclusion remain. Interest, keyword and language targeting aren't available in this campaign type. Budget is set as lifetime or average daily; no campaign-level spend cap can be applied.

With the sales objective, creative also comes under automation. Pinterest can generate AI backgrounds for product images, automatically adapt images to different sizes and build Collections and shopping ads from the catalog itself. That's why, before launching the campaign, we clean up rejected products in the product catalog and check that the title and image fields are filled in.

Pinterest Performance+ best practices: budget, volume and learning

On its help page, Pinterest gives clear numerical recommendations for Performance+. We treat these recommendations as the minimum for setup; accounts below them struggle to exit the learning period. Before setup, we compare the account's last four weeks of data with this list and complete any missing item first; most of the time, that means adding new creatives to ad groups.

• Daily budget should be at least 5 times the target cost per result.
• More than 50 conversions per week is recommended for lead and sales campaigns.
• At least 10 ads per ad group, more if possible.
• Budget increases should be gradual and based on performance, in the 20-30 percent range.
• Wait for the average 2-week learning period before making changes; pausing ads or adding new creatives during this period isn't recommended.

Running Performance+ for Türkiye and other markets

With no language targeting, country is the only boundary. Select Türkiye and Turkish-language creative goes to all users in Türkiye; for brands that also sell abroad, we open a separate campaign for each market. We use customer list exclusion to leave out existing customers and measure new customer acquisition.

We review AI backgrounds one by one in the first weeks. In categories such as cosmetics or food, showing the product in the wrong setting can damage brand perception; when results don't fit, we turn the feature off. With automatic resizing, we also check whether the logo or product gets cropped and upload manually prepared sizes in place of problematic images.

Pinterest Performance+ vs. Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+

The logic is similar to Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+ Sales Campaigns: we set the goal and budget, and the platform handles delivery. The difference is that conversion volume on Pinterest is usually lower. That's why we test Performance+ alongside a manually built campaign, over the same period and with a similar budget. We decide which one stays based on two to four weeks of data, with the discipline of a growth experiment.

Performance+ Campaigns: when do we recommend it?

How we manage Performance+ Campaigns

1. Threshold checkWe calculate the weekly conversion count and target cost per result for the last four weeks.
2. Budget calculationWe set the daily budget at no less than 5 times the target CPA.
3. Ten-ad setWe have at least 10 ads per ad group ready before learning begins.
4. Control campaignWe keep a manual campaign running over the same period to create a basis for comparison.
5. Two weeks of patienceFor two weeks, we don't pause ads or add new creatives.
6. Gradual scalingOnce the target is hit, we increase budget in the 20-30 percent range.

Performance+ Campaigns: metrics and requirements

The Brand Move Pinterest Team

To learn more about Performance+ Campaigns or other Pinterest ad formats, contact The Brand Move Pinterest team today.

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