Image inspiration and shopping site Pinterest is the latest tech company to roll out generative AI products to advertisers, following similar moves by Google and Amazon. At Pinterest Presents, an advertiser event held on Tuesday, the company announced new features for its Pinterest Performance+ suite, which includes both automation and AI. The latter will allow advertisers to turn white, blank or flat backgrounds into lifestyle images.
Pinterest says the new feature, which is rolling out on Tuesday, will help advertisers who want to enhance their product Pins (ads) on Pinterest to get more clicks.
Using generative AI to transform product images isn't an idea unique to Pinterest, but given how quickly images can be improved with simple prompts, it's one of the baseline products offered to advertisers. It's starting to happen. Almost a year ago, Amazon gave technology advertisers the ability to provide image context for their products. Google also released its own tools around the same time, offering an easy way to change background colors and scenes.
Image credit: Pinterest
Now that advertisers are familiar with the feature, they can do the same with Pinterest.
One company that has previously adopted Pinterest's genAI technology is drug store chain Walgreens, which tested the generated AI experience across 50 products across multiple categories. The retailer said it was able to showcase its products in a way that was native to Pinterest, rather than just showcasing them on their own. As a result, Walgreens saw a 55% increase in click-through rates and a 13% decrease in cost-per-click when using AI-generated backgrounds compared to standard white backgrounds.
Additionally, Pinterest says that the combination of AI and automation capabilities will help advertisers create campaigns faster, reducing the input required by 50%. Advertisers can mix and match Pinterest Performance+ products to suit their needs. Pinterest says that in early tests, advertisers saw a 64% reduction in cost per action, a 30% increase in conversion rates, and a 1.8x return on ad spend.
Elsewhere on the site, Pinterest is rolling out Promotions, a new tool that offers discounts to Pinterest users. These tools will be made available upon request to advertisers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. The personalized promotions and sales ad module also helps you display sales and discounts to Pinterest users.
Another change is that Pinterest Performance+ bidding introduces the ability to optimize for best value, not just clicks and conversions.
Pinterest said all advertisers around the world will now have access to Performance+ campaigns to meet their consideration, conversion, or catalog sales goals.