Solved: Pinterest Ads Stuck at Zero Despite Being Approved

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

I had a look over your situation with Pinterest and I’m happy to give you some initial thoughts. It's a common story to hear people struggling with Pinterest, but seeing everything stuck at '0.00' is definately not normal and points to something more fundamental than just a bad strategy. It's usually a simple but frustrating technical hitch.

So, we'll first walk through the boring but necessary technical checklist to get your ads actually running. After that, we can get into the interesting stuff: how to actually think about Pinterest the right way, because it's not like other platforms, and how to build campaigns that actually deliver for an eCommerce business.

First, let's fix the 'everything is 0' problem...

Alright, before we even talk about what makes a good Pin or who to target, we need to sort out why your ads aren't even getting impressions. When every metric is zero, it means the platform isn't serving your ad at all. This is almost always one of a few simple technical issues. It's like having a car with a great engine but no petrol in the tank. Tbh, it's a bit of a pain but you've got to go through it methodically.

Here’s a quick checklist to work through. I'd bet my morning coffee the problem is on this list:

1. Billing Information: This is the most common culprit. Log in to your Ads Manager and go straight to your billing section. Is there a valid payment method on file? Has it expired? Did a payment fail recently? Pinterest will just silently stop your ads if they can't charge you. There's often no big red warning sign, they just stop. Make sure your primary payment method is up-to-date and has funds available.


2. Campaign, Ad Group, and Pin Status: I know you said they're approved, but double-check. Go into your campaign dashboard. Is the campaign toggle on? Is the ad group toggle on? Is the Pin (the ad itself) active? Sometimes an ad can be 'approved' but the campaign or ad group it sits in has been accidentally paused. It should clearly say 'Active' at all three levels. If it says 'Pending Review' or 'Not Approved', then there's your issue.


3. Budget and Bidding Strategy: What is your daily or lifetime budget? If it's something incredibly small like £1 a day, the algorithm might struggle to find anyone to show it to, especially in a competitive niche. Also, check your bid. If you've set a manual bid cap and it's far too low (e.g., £0.01), Pinterest simply won't be able to win any ad auctions, resulting in zero impressions. If you're just starting, I'd recomend using an automatic bidding strategy and let the platform figure it out.


4. Audience Size: Who are you targeting? If you've layered on dozens of specific interests and keywords and targeted a tiny geographical area, your potential audience size might be 'too small to serve'. In your ad group settings, Pinterest should give you an estimate of the potential reach. If that number is very low (e.g., less than 20,000), you need to broaden your targeting. Remove a few layers of targeting and see if that potential reach number goes up.


5. The Pinterest Tag: While not strictly required for impressions, a broken Pinterest Tag (their version of the Facebook Pixel) can sometimes cause wierd issues, especially if your campaign objective is conversions. Make sure your tag is installed correctly on your website and is firing properly. You can use the Pinterest Tag Helper Chrome extension to check this. If the campaign is optimised for conversions and the tag can't see any, it can get confused and under-deliver.

Work through those five points carefully. It's tedious, I know, but one of them is almost certainly why you're seeing nothing but zeroes. Once you fix it and start seeing impressions and clicks, then we can start worrying about making the campaign actually profitable.

I'd say you're thinking about Pinterest all wrong...

Okay, assuming you've fixed the technical glitch and your ads are now spending money, we need to talk strategy. The single biggest mistake I see with Pinterest ads is businesses treating it like a clone of Facebook or Google. It isn't. If you use the same approach, you'll fail. You have to understand the user's mindset on each platform.

Think about it like this:

• Google Search: Someone has a problem and needs a solution *right now*. They type "buy black summer dress size 12". They are mission-oriented. This is pure demand capture.
• Facebook/Instagram: Someone is scrolling to see what their friends are up to. They aren't looking to buy anything. Your ad has to interrupt them and create demand out of thin air. It's social-driven and disruptive.
• Pinterest: Someone is planning for the future. They are thinking, "what should I wear this summer?" or "ideas for my holiday outfits". They are discovering, gathering inspiration, and saving ideas to their boards. They are planning, not purchasing. This is demand generation for a future point in time.

This difference is everything. On Google, you're the answer to a question. On Facebook, you're an interesting interruption. On Pinterest, you need to be the *inspiration*. Your ad's primary job isn't always to get an immediate sale. It's to be so visually appealing that a user saves it to their "Summer Style" board. Once you're on that board, you're in their consideration set for weeks or even months. The sale might happen next week, or two months from now when they're actually ready to buy.

This is why a campaign that just pushes a product with a "Buy Now" button often fails on Pinterest. It's too aggressive, too soon. You're asking for marriage on the first date. Instead, your strategy should be built around a longer sales cycle. The goal of your initial "prospecting" campaigns should be to get views, clicks, and especially *saves*. Every save is a vote of confidence and, more importantly, it's a user who has opted into seeing more from you. These 'savers' and website visitors become your golden goose for retargeting later on.

You probably should focus on creative and your offer first...

Because Pinterest is a visual platform, the quality of your creative isn't just important, it's basically the only thing that matters. A boring ad on Facebook might still get clicks if the copy is amazing. A boring Pin will be ignored 100% of the time. You are competing with beautiful photography, interior design ideas, and stunning travel destinations. Your product shot on a plain white background just won't cut it.

Here's what works:

• Vertical Format: This is non-negotiable. All your images and videos should be in a vertical aspect ratio (like 2:3) to take up maximum screen space on mobile.
• Lifestyle Shots: Don't just show the product, show the product in use, creating the lifestyle your customer desires. For apparel, this means models in interesting locations, not a sterile studio shot.
• Video is King: Short, eye-catching video Pins perform extremely well. A 5-10 second clip showing someone wearing the dress, the fabric moving, can be far more compelling than a static image.
• Multi-product Pins: "Idea Pins" or carousels that show how to style an item or feature multiple related products can perform really well because they provide more value and inspiration.
• Text Overlay: A small amount of clear, concise text overlay on your Pin can help it stand out and provide context. "5 Ways to Style a Maxi Dress" or "New Summer Collection" can grab attention.

I remember one campaign for a women's apparel client where a focus on high-quality creative was crucial. By using a mix of Meta and Pinterest ads that were designed to be visually appealing and inspiring, rather than just direct-response, we achieved a 691% return on ad spend. It underscored that on a platform like Pinterest, investing in creative designed to be "pinnable," not just "shoppable," makes all the difference.

And then there's the other half of the equation: your website. Let's say you create an amazing Pin, it gets a click. The user lands on your product page. What do they see? If the page is slow to load, has poor quality photos, lacks a detailed description, or doesn't look trustworthy, they will leave instantly. You've just paid for a click that had zero chance of converting.

Your product page must continue the inspirational journey that started on the Pin. Show multiple high-res images, a video of the product, detailed sizing information, materials, and plenty of social proof like customer reviews and photos. The transition from Pin to page needs to feel seamless.

You'll need a proper campaign structure...

Okay, so you have great creative and a solid website. Now, how do you structure your campaigns? Don't just lump everyone into one big ad group. You need to segment your audience based on how familiar they are with your brand. This is a classic funnel approach, and it works just as well on Pinterest.

I usually structure accounts like this:

1. ToFu (Top of Funnel) - Prospecting: This is your 'cold' audience. People who have never heard of you. Your goal here isn't direct sales. It's awareness, engagement, and building your retargeting pools.
   • Targeting: Use broad interest targeting (e.g., "women's fashion", "dresses", "boho style") and keyword targeting (e.g., people searching for "summer outfit ideas").
   • Objective: Optimise for Video Views, Pin Clicks, or even just Reach. You're paying to get your inspirational content in front of new eyes.
   • Creative: Use your most eye-catching, inspirational content. Video Pins and Idea Pins are perfect here.


2. MoFu (Middle of Funnel) - Consideration: This is your 'warm' audience. People who have interacted with you before but haven't bought yet.
   • Targeting: Retarget people who have visited your website in the last 30-60 days, people who have engaged with your Pins (clicked or saved), or people who have watched your video Pins.
   • Objective: Now you can start optimising for "Consideration" (traffic) or even "Conversions" (Add to Cart).
   • Creative: Show them different products, maybe a carousel Pin showcasing a collection. You can be a bit more direct with your call to action here.


3. BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) - Conversion: This is your 'hot' audience. People who are on the verge of buying.
   • Targeting: Retarget people who have added items to their cart or initiated checkout in the last 7-14 days. This is a small but highly valuable audience.
   • Objective: This campaign MUST be optimised for Conversions (Purchase).
   • Creative: Use Shopping Pins or Dynamic Product Ads that show the exact product they viewed or left in their cart. A small discount code ("Complete your order for 10% off") can work wonders here.

By separating your campaigns like this, you can tailor your message and your budget to the right people at the right time. You spend less per person at the top of the funnel just to get their attention, and you can afford to spend more at the bottom of the funnel to close the deal with people who are already interested. This is how you build a predictable and scalable system instead of just throwing money at the wall and hoping something sticks.

You'll need to know your numbers to scale...

This is where most businesses get it wrong. They obsess over the Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Purchase (CPA) without understanding the most important metric of all: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). Your CPA could be £50, which sounds expensive. But if you know that each customer you acquire will spend an average of £500 with you over their lifetime, then paying £50 to acquire them is an incredible deal. You'd be crazy not to spend that all day long.

Without knowing your LTV, you are flying blind. You have no idea if your ad campaigns are truly profitable in the long run. Calculating it isn't that hard. You just need three numbers:

1. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much a customer spends with you per month (or year). For eCommerce, you can calculate this as (Average Order Value x Purchase Frequency).
2. Gross Margin %: Your profit margin on each sale. If a dress sells for £100 and costs you £30 to make and ship, your gross margin is 70%.
3. Monthly Churn Rate: What percentage of customers you lose each month. For non-subscription eCommerce, you can estimate this by looking at how many customers make a repeat purchase within a certain timeframe (e.g., 12 months). If 60% of customers make a second purchase, your retention rate is 60% and your churn rate is 40%.

Let's plug that into a formula: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

This single number transforms your advertising. It tells you exactly how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer while remaining profitable. A common rule of thumb is to aim for a 3:1 LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio. So if your LTV is £300, you can afford to spend up to £100 to acquire a new customer.

Here's a simple calculator to help you figure this out for your own business. Play with the sliders to see how small changes in retention or price can dramatically impact the value of each customer.

Once you understand your LTV, your focus shifts from just 'getting sales' to 'acquiring customers profitably'. And for that, the metric to watch in your ads dashboard is Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). This is simply how much revenue you generate for every pound you spend on ads. A 4x ROAS means you made £4 for every £1 spent. Depending on your margins, you can figure out your break-even ROAS and your target ROAS for profitability and growth. For many of our eCommerce clients, we see ROAS figures anywhere from 6x to 10x once the campaigns are fully optimised.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take in, I know. It's a shift from just "running ads" to building a proper marketing system. To make it clearer, here is the main advice I have for you summarised in a table. This is the roadmap I would follow.

Getting the technical side sorted is the easy part. The real work, and where the results come from, is in building out the strategy, the creative, and the measurement framework. It's not a quick fix and it requires a dedicated process of testing and optimisation.

Running paid ad campaigns, especially on a nuanced platform like Pinterest, can be a full-time job. It involves constant creative refreshment, audience testing, bid management, and analysis. While you can definately get started with the advice above, partnering with someone who has done this successfully for dozens of other businesses can significantly speed up the process and help you avoid costly mistakes.

If you'd like to have a chat about how we could apply a system like this to your business, feel free to book in a free, no-obligation strategy session with us. We can take a proper look at your account and give you a more detailed plan of action.

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh