Pinterest Ads Are Changing: What You Need to Know About Campaign Objectives — Pinterest Expert

Last updated: July 2026. Pinterest is rolling out these changes gradually through April 2027. I'll continue updating this article as the rollout progresses.

Pinterest recently announced an updates to its Ads Manager. Over the coming months, campaign objectives will be simplified, making it easier for advertisers to choose the right objective for their business goals.

According to Pinterest, the goal of this update is to make campaign setup easier and help advertisers choose the objective that best matches their business goals. While the new structure is simpler, you may be wondering what this actually means for your current advertising strategy.

The good news is that while the campaign objectives have changed, the fundamentals of a successful Pinterest Ads strategy haven't. Great creative, thoughtful targeting, relevant keywords, strong landing pages, and a clear strategy are still what drive results.

In this blog, I'll walk you through what changed, what stayed the same, and what these updates mean for e-commerce brands advertising on Pinterest.

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What's Changing in Pinterest Ads Manager

Pinterest has changed the campaign objectives you'll choose from when creating a new campaign. The new structure is designed to make it easier to match each campaign with the business goal you're trying to achieve.

The update also combines some objectives that were previously separate. For example, Catalog Sales campaigns are now part of the new Sales objective. Rather than deciding between multiple campaign types, advertisers will focus on the outcome they're trying to achieve, while Pinterest handles more of the optimization behind the scenes.

Here's a quick look at what's changed:

This chart outlines the new Pinterest Ads Objectives. The chart is from a blog from Pinterest Expert Cathy Heflin about changes in Pinterest Ads Campaigns.

What this looks like in your Ads Dashboard:

An image of the Pinterest Ads Campaign dashboard from Pinterest Ads Expert Cathy Heflin.

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Why does this change in ad objectives matter for e-commerce brands?

If your e-commerce business relies on Pinterest Ads, especially catalog ads or conversion for e-commerce brands, to drive traffic and sales, understanding these changes now will help you plan for the transition over the next several months. While there's no need to make immediate changes, knowing what's coming will make it much easier to create new campaigns and prepare for the retirement of the legacy objectives in April 2027.

I'll dive deeper into what the changes to Catalog Sales campaigns mean for e-commerce brands in a separate article, because that's one of the most important updates for online stores.

What Isn't Changing

Whenever a platform announces a major update, it's easy to wonder if you need to rethink your entire advertising strategy. Fortunately, that's not the case here.

While Pinterest has changed the names of the campaign objectives, the fundamentals of successful Pinterest advertising haven't changed. Good strategy, eye catching images, great landing pages, clear goals, and a clear understanding of your audience are still what drive results, to name a few things.

If you already have campaigns that are performing well, there's no reason to panic. Your campaigns won't suddenly stop working (right now) just because Pinterest updated the campaign setup for new ads. You just need to plan ahead for the updates.

The things that have always mattered still matter today. Think of this update as an easier way to tell Pinterest what you're trying to accomplish, what your goals are.

Who Will Notice These Changes?

If you're new to Pinterest Ads...

One of the biggest goals of this update is to make campaign creation more intuitive, so you'll likely find it easier to choose the right objective without feeling overwhelmed by too many options.

If you're already advertising on Pinterest...

You'll notice the updated campaign objectives the next time you are making updates to your campaign or start to create a new campaign, but there's no need to rush in and make changes to existing campaigns that are already performing well. Existing campaigns will continue to run, and Pinterest has provided a transition period for legacy campaign objectives (In April 2027, they will map your existing ads to the new objective). My advice? Continue monitoring your results and make optimizations as you create new campaigns rather than rebuilding everything at once.

Existing campaigns don't need to be changed today, but it's important to understand that Pinterest is gradually phasing out the legacy objectives. By April 2027, advertisers will need to transition to the new objective structure. You can either create new campaigns using the new objectives or migrate existing campaigns when the time is right. Just keep in mind that creating a new campaign or duplicating an existing one will restart the learning phase, so it's worth planning your transition rather than rushing into it.

If you're an e-commerce brand...

Pinterest has changed the way shopping and catalog-based campaigns are created, which will change how you set up campaigns moving forward. While the overall goal is to make campaign management easier, there are a few important details that online stores should understand.

I'll take a closer look at those changes, including what they mean for Catalog Sales campaigns, in my next article. The big change, the standalone objective for catalog campaigns is going away. You will be able to select catalog as your pin type in a sales campaign.

Next Steps for Existing Pinterest Ad Campaigns

If you are running conversion or catalog sales ads today, using the old objectives, here’s what you need to know:

You don’t have to change anything until April 2027. You can keep your current ads live, continue optimizing, etc. If it’s working, there’s no rush to make a change in objective.
If you haven’t started your ads using the new objectives or changed your ads to the new objectives by April 2027, Pinterest will automatically map your existing (old objective) ads to the new objective type. The most important thing to note, in my opinion, this will restart learning on the ad. It is essentially a new ad. My initial thoughts, I would prefer to just set up a new ad on my own vs. having Pinterest map it for me.
If you have an ad that you want to move over to the new objective, you can do that anytime. Your options here are to start fresh and select the new objective in setup. OR, duplicate your existing ad and select the new objective. This option will help save time with setup, adding images, etc. if you aren’t changing them. Again, this will restart learning.

My Thoughts on the Pinterest Ads Objective Update

Overall, I think this is a positive change from the perspective of simplifying objectives. It doesn’t seem earth shattering to me but does require some thought for advertisers. I don't think this update changes anything fundamental about what makes Pinterest Ads successful.

My biggest negative….this will restart learning on your ads. So if you have an existing successful ad campaign running with an old objective, at some point that ad will have to be restarted….with will restart learning. That’s not great news in my opinion. But, since you know the strategy you are using there works, just do that again, but with the new format!

A simpler campaign setup doesn't replace a well-thought-out strategy. You still need to understand your audience, create compelling images and videos, choose relevant keywords, send visitors to the right landing pages, and think about where your campaigns fit within the customer journey.

In other words, Pinterest has simplified the setup, not the strategy. Instead of spending time trying to decipher which campaign objective is right for you, you can focus on building campaigns that connect with the right shoppers, support your business goals, and grow alongside your organic Pinterest strategy. You will select Sales (I want conversions) or Lead (I am building an audience).

The platform will continue to evolve, and I'm sure we'll see more updates in the future. But the businesses that consistently see results with their Pinterest Ads are the ones that focus on the fundamentals: understanding their customers, creating valuable content, and building a strategy that supports long-term growth.