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In this newsletter, youāll find:
š Your Pinterest programmatic test brief, filled in and ready to send
š¢ Google Ads tests AI creative reports, adds audience controls and updates lead terms
š Ad of the day
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š Your Pinterest programmatic test brief, filled in and ready to send
Pinterest launched programmatic deals for display and video on October 26. You can now buy its inventory through Amazon DSP, Googleās Display & Video 360 or Yahoo DSP, with Magnite as the main supply partner and Google Ad Manager covering Latin America and Asia Pacific. Itās live in North America, South America, and Asia Pacific.
Pinterestās pitch rests on 640 million monthly users and more than 80 billion monthly searches, over half of them commercial. Its showcase test with haircare brand Moroccanoil reported 15% incremental reach with 1% audience overlap, 63% more new-to-brand buyers and a 20% higher click-through rate.
If you already buy through one of those DSPs, below is a test brief you can hand to your team or agency. Swap in your own numbers.
Objective
Find new-to-brand buyers at a cost close to our best prospecting channel. The Moroccanoil result points to new-buyer reach as the strongest case, so thatās the goal. Reach and cheap views are secondary.
Eligibility check
Confirm our DSP supports Pinterest deals in our account, and ask about minimums. If we buy only through Pinterestās own ad manager, this brief doesnāt apply.
Budget and length
10% of monthly DSP spend for four weeks. At $30,000 a month, thatās $3,000. These numbers are illustrative.
Creative
Built for planners and searchers: product-focused images and short video with a clear idea, such as āfive ways to style this.ā No recycled hard-sell display banners.
Measurement
Overlap: use DSP reach reports to see how many people reached on Pinterest also saw our other inventory. Pinterestās own example was 1%. Ours may differ.
New buyers: count first-time orders tied to the test. If $3,000 drives 40, cost per new buyer is $75.
Reporting: same format as our other DSP buys, so the comparison is fair.
Decision rule, agreed before launch
Within 20% of our best channelās cost per new buyer: double the budget for another month.
Between 20% and 100% higher: refresh creative and run two more weeks.
Twice as high or worse: stop.
The thresholds are my judgment. Set yours before launch so the result decides, and nobody argues afterward.
Owner and dates
Name one owner, a start date and a review date four weeks later.
Send it with one question
Ask your DSP contact or agency whether Pinterest deals are available to you and what minimums apply. Their answer decides whether the brief goes ahead.
š¢ Google Ads tests AI creative reports, adds audience controls and updates lead terms
Google Ads is introducing new tools to help advertisers improve creative performance, control audience targeting and manage lead-generation campaigns, with AI-powered recommendations and clearer campaign settings.
The Breakdown:
Google Ads is testing a weekly AI-powered Asset activity report, suggesting new headlines, identifying top-performing creatives, and highlighting emerging industry search trends.
The beta report organizes insights into four categories: Featured, Asset performance, Asset diversity, and Industry trends, helping advertisers identify creative testing opportunities. Availability remains limited.
Google Ads is introducing three audience reach options, allowing advertisers to expand beyond selected audiences, restrict targeting by age and gender, or limit delivery to matching audience segments.
Google is also rolling out new opt-in terms for pay-per-lead campaigns, covering business verification, customer communications, and service responsibilities, although eligibility and lead pricing remain unclear.
Google is giving advertisers more control over campaign targeting while using AI to identify creative improvements. However, tighter audience restrictions could reduce conversions, and advertisers should validate AI recommendations and review lead-generation terms before making changes.
š Ad of the Day
What Works:
Outcome Leads Fast - āThicker, fuller hairā gives the ad an immediate end benefit, while the large type keeps message-market fit clear and easy to process in-feed.
Routine Feels Effortless - āLess than 1 minute/dayā directly reduces perceived effort, making the treatment feel easy to adopt while the capsule-in-hand visual reinforces simplicity and daily habit formation.
Product Feels Credible - The clean clinical palette, visible jar and ingredient callouts like hair vitamins plus minoxidil create strong trust signals without making the creative feel overly medical.
Pair a high-value outcome with the smallest believable daily commitment. Reducing perceived effort can lower conversion friction as much as increasing the promised benefit.
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