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Expanded targeting uses signals from your ad to broaden your targeting and reach additional people on Pinterest who may be interested in or searching for relevant ideas.

For example, a snack company might target topics like “recipes” and “snacks” but not think of targeting “road trips”. Without the company selecting “road trips”, expanded targeting will put their ads in front of people interested in or searching for related ideas.

Note: Expanded targeting is switched on by default in Ads Manager, but you can switch it off at any time. With expanded targeting you can see improvements in reach, click through rates and total spend.

Add expanded targeting in Ads Manager
  • Log into your Pinterest business account
  • Click Ads at the top of the screen, then click Create ad
  • Click New ad group from the left-side navigation
  • Click Targeting from the left-side navigation
  • Scroll down to Advanced options 
  • Click the box beside Use your Pin to expand your targeting
  • Once complete, select your Budget & Schedule, Optimization & delivery and Ads
  • Review your information
  • Click Launch
    •
    Add expanded targeting in Bulk editor
  • Log into your Pinterest business account
  • Click Ads at the top of the screen, then click Bulk editor
  • Click Download sample sheet to download a sample spreadsheet
  • Fill out column Y, Expanded Targeting
    1. Enter YES to switch expanded targeting on
    2. Enter NO to disable expanded targeting
  • Once complete, click Upload template to upload your bulk editor sheet
  • Click Upload

    • Learn how to edit your existing ads using the bulk editor.

    If you’re planning to use expanded targeting in addition to other types of targeting, you’ll want to consider how they’ll interact.

    Types of targeting Expected behaviour Reach impact
    Expanded targeting only (no interests, keywords, or audiences) Reach people using only visual and verbal signals from your ad. Reduces potential reach.
    Expanded targeting + some keywords and/or interests Reach people who are interested or searching for a topic. Expanded targeting adds visual and verbal signals from the ad in addition to the selected interests and keywords. Increases potential reach.
    Expanded targeting + audiences Reach people within an audience (customer list, site visitor, engagement, or actalike). Reduces potential reach.
    Expanded targeting + all interests Reach any Pinner on the platform. Increases potential reach.
    No expanded targeting (also no interests, keywords, or audiences) Reach any Pinner on the platform. Increases potential reach.

     
    Ad review process

    Once you launch your campaign, we’ll review it to make sure it follows our Advertising guidelines. The campaign review process can take up to 24 hours. 

    If your campaign targeting goes against our advertising guidelines, we’ll send you a notification in Ads Manager letting you know what needs to change so that your ad can be reviewed again for approval. Once approved, we’ll start distributing your ad.
    Explore targeting on Pinterest

    If you want to set up multiple different kinds of targeting on Pinterest or edit current campaign targeting, you can learn more in our targeting overview article. 
    Still need help? Contact us
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