How to Create and Promote Idea Pins on Pinterest

Want to get your video-based marketing content in front of new audiences? Have you considered Pinterest's Idea Pins?

In this article, you’ll learn how to create Idea Pins with video and how to promote them via Idea ads.

What Are Pinterest Idea Pins?

Pinterest launched idea pins in May 2021, giving businesses and creators a brand-new option to build multi-page video content. Idea pins can include up to 20 pages of videos, images, or a combination of the two.

Like standard pins, idea pins display in your home feed and other places throughout the app. But they easily stand out from standard pins. When you publish an idea pin, Pinterest automatically generates an icon in the upper left, indicating the number of pages it features.

Users can tap to advance through the videos featured in an idea pin, making them somewhat similar to Instagram or Facebook Stories. Unlike Stories, however, idea pins don’t disappear after 24 hours. Instead, they appear permanently on your Pinterest profile.

In addition to showcasing your brand’s photo and video content, your idea pins can feature voiceovers and transitions. Idea pins can also include interactive elements like linked detail pages, product tags, profile tags, and stickers.

Once users have tapped to view an idea pin, they have several options for interacting. They can press the heart icon to choose a reaction option, tap the message icon to comment, or tap the bookmark icon to save. Users can also tap the share icon to share across channels.

#1: How to Create Pinterest Idea Pins in the Pinterest Mobile App

To create a new idea pin, open the Pinterest app and tap the plus icon. Select Idea Pin.

Record or Upload Idea Pin Content

If you want to record new content for your idea pin, set the timer and tap the red button. If you’d rather upload a video clip or an image you’ve already saved to your device, tap the gallery in the lower-left corner. Video clips can be anywhere from 3 to 60 seconds long.

To trim your video content, tap the Clips button. Then use the slider to adjust the start and end of the video. You can also tap the plus icon to add another clip to the page. You can add as many clips as you like, as long as the total length is no longer than 60 seconds. You can also drag and drop the clips to change the order.

Design Text Overlays for Pinterest Idea Pins

Once you’ve uploaded or recorded a clip, you can start adding design elements. Tap the Text button to add text, change colors, and choose a font. After adding text, tap it again to edit the timing. You can also drag and drop to change the text placement.

To add graphics and interactive elements, tap the Sticker icon. You can add graphics by searching for stickers or browsing the available categories.

To make your idea pin interactive, use the Mention sticker to tag other accounts such as creators or brand partners. To link to a product, use the product tag. You can link to a pin or product page on an external site. If you opt for a link, Pinterest will automatically create and tag a product pin.

Add More Pages to Your Pinterest Idea Pin

After designing the first page of your idea pin, you can add up to 19 more. Tap the Duplicate button to reuse the same settings from the first page. Or tap Add Page to start from scratch. Then repeat the same steps as above.

Publish Your Pinterest Idea Pin

When you’re ready to publish your idea pin, tap the Next button in the upper-right corner. Give it a title and choose up to 10 related topics to help your content appear in relevant searches.

Then choose a board for your idea pin and add any relevant details. For example, if your idea pin features a recipe or how-to guide, you can add ingredients or instructions to help people get more value from your content.

Finally, review the advanced settings. Here, you can add a paid partnership label, choose whether to allow comments, and decide whether to show shopping recommendations.

How to Review Pinterest Idea Pin Stats and Analytics in the Pinterest App

Once you’re done editing your idea pin, tap the Publish button. Tap the graph icon in the lower-right corner to review the analytics at any time. Here, you can monitor everything from impressions and engagement to follows and profile visits.

#2: How to Create Pinterest Idea Pins on Desktop

If working on your desktop will make creating idea pins easier, head over to Pinterest Business Hub. Note that the editing options available on desktop are more limited overall but Business Hub has one key advantage.

Upload Pinterest Idea Pin Content

In Business Hub, click to open the Create menu and select Create Idea Pin. Then upload an image or video for your first idea pin. When you create on desktop, it isn’t possible to record new content.

It’s also important to note that idea pins use a full-screen 9:16 aspect ratio. Essentially, any image or video you’d add to a reel or story should work well as an idea pin.

However, you can’t cut multiple clips together on a single page like you can when creating on mobile. That means every clip you upload via Business Hub becomes a separate page in your idea pin.

Create Text Overlays for Pinterest Idea Pins

After uploading content, you’ll see an option to add a title. When you create with Business Hub, idea pins can feature a single text box with up to 250 characters per page so plan your text overlays carefully.

To adjust how the text displays, use the controls in the right-hand menu. You can change fonts and colors, increase or decrease text size, or highlight text to make it stand out in the home feed.

If you drag and drop the text, you can see a mockup of how your idea pin will look when published. That way, you can avoid placing key elements under your logo or outside readable areas of the screen.

Pinterest’s desktop editing dashboard also gives you options for adding a background color. If you’ve uploaded a full-screen image or video, however, you can stick with the default white background.

To ensure your idea pin displays exactly how you’d planned, click the Preview button in the lower-right corner to view a mockup.

Add Multiple Pages to Pinterest Idea Pins

When you’re ready to design the next page of your idea pin, click the Add Page button in the upper-left corner. If you want to copy and reuse the design from the first page, you can click the Duplicate Page button instead.

To add another video to your idea pin, follow the steps above. If you add an image instead of a video, you’ll see a few new editing options. First, you can click either of the two Adjust buttons to flip your image vertically or horizontally.

Image idea pins also provide more color options for text overlays. Pinterest automatically pulls a handful of colors from your image, making it easy to include them in the text. If you want to reuse the same text color in a video idea pin, copy and paste the hex color.

As you add more image pages to your idea pin, Pinterest automatically reuses the same text and background color settings. That makes it easy to create a coherent story throughout the idea pin.

Edit Pinterest Idea Pin Page Order and Cover

After creating two or more pages for your idea pin, you can reorder them as necessary. Drag and drop the previews in the upper-left corner to place the pages in the right order. You can also click to delete any selected page from your idea pin.

To add the finishing touches to your idea pin, click the Next button in the lower-right corner. 

If the first page of your idea pin features a video, you have the option to edit the cover. Click the Edit Cover button to choose a thumbnail from various frames of your video.

Choose a Pinterest Board and Tag Topics for Your Idea Pin

Next, give your idea pin a title and organize it to a board. If you’d like to start a new board, you have the option to create a board from this publishing interface.

You can also add up to 10 topic tags to your idea pin. The tags won’t display on your pin but they’ll help Pinterest deliver your content to users searching for related ideas.

When you create idea pins in Business Hub, you can also add a link to drive traffic to your website. Note that links for idea pins aren’t fully rolled out yet and aren’t currently available on mobile.

Similar to the mobile workflow, Business Hub gives you options for adding recipes and ingredients and adjusting shopping recommendations. When you’re finished editing your idea pin, click the Publish button.

How to Check Pinterest Idea Pin Analytics on Desktop

After publishing your content, you can check real-time analytics in the upper-right corner of the idea pin. You can also view more complete metrics for your idea pin or board from the analytics dashboard in Business Hub.

#3: How to Create Pinterest Idea Ads From Idea Pins on Pinterest

To amplify results from your idea pins, promote them through Pinterest Ads Manager by turning them in to Idea Ads.

Set Up a Pinterest Ad Campaign

In Ads Manager, create a new campaign using one of the supported objectives. Currently, brand awareness, consideration, and conversion all work with idea pins, which means you can include idea pins throughout your advertising funnel.

Give your campaign a name and set a budget and a schedule. Then click the Continue button to set up an ad group.

Choose Targeting Parameters

At the ad group level, select an audience targeting strategy. Depending on your campaign objective, you may want to retarget people who have engaged with your brand or reach out to new customers.

You can also choose how much to bid for the results you want. By default, Pinterest ads use automatic bidding. If you have specific goals to reach at a set budget, select Custom and choose how much to bid.

Select an Idea Pin Creative

At the ad level, select at least one creative to promote. If you want to use an idea pin you’ve already published to a board, click Select Pins and search for the creatives you want to add. Note that Pinterest recommends adding between two and four pins to each ad group.

To build a new creative for your ad campaign, click Create an Idea Pin. Then follow the same steps we covered above for creating idea pins in Business Hub. Note that editing options are more limited in Business Hub, especially in terms of stickers and text overlays.

In addition, any idea pin you create in this interface will publish instantly to the board of your choice. Once you’re done creating the idea pin for your ad, select a board and click Publish.

Then you can finish setting up your creatives in Ads Manager. Give the ads names to make them easier to track, and add landing page URLs as applicable. You can also add tracking URLs to attribute results more accurately.

To see how your idea ad will look in the app, click Preview. You’ll get a notification on your mobile device, allowing you to see where the ad might appear in users’ home feeds and how it will look when users tap to view your idea pin. When you’re ready to launch the campaign, click the Publish button in Ads Manager.

#4: How to Share Pinterest Idea Pins Across Marketing Channels

In March 2022, Pinterest rolled out new options for sharing idea pins across marketing channels. Take a look at your options for downloading and sharing this content.

Share Idea Pins With Others on Pinterest

To share an idea pin with another account, tap the Send on Pinterest option. Type the user’s name or email and tap the Send button to send a message instantly.

Share Idea Pins on Other Social Media Channels

To share idea pins outside of Pinterest, you can publish content to Facebook or Instagram Stories with a single tap. Do you want to share to Twitter, LinkedIn, or another channel? Scroll to the end and tap More to see a full list of options.

Share Links to Idea Pins

You can also link to idea pins from email newsletters or external websites. Scroll to the end of the list of sharing options and tap Copy Link to get the URL for the idea pin. Then paste it anywhere you want to share the idea pin.

Allow People to Download Watermarked Idea Pins

Anyone can download your idea pins and save them directly to a mobile device as long as you enable permissions. To allow downloading, open Pinterest settings and select Social Permissions. Switch on Idea Pin Downloads.

Now whenever anyone taps the Share button on your idea pin, they’ll see an option to download. The download includes a watermark with your username to help prevent others from repurposing your original work.

Conclusion

Pinterest idea pins give businesses interesting new options for publishing creative content. With the new sharing and promotion capabilities for idea pins, your organization can get even more mileage from this interactive content.

Get More Advice on Pinterest Marketing Strategies:

• Explore how to drive more traffic to your website with Pinterest.
• Discover how to use Pinterest to connect with a local audience.
• Learn how to build a Pinterest showcase for your business profile.

---

Stay Up-to-Date: Get New Marketing Articles Delivered to You!

Don't miss out on upcoming social media marketing insights and strategies! Sign up to receive notifications when we publish new articles on Social Media Examiner. Our expertly crafted content will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your business. Click the link below to sign up now and receive our annual report!