Pinterest has introduced Media Planner, a built-in planning tool inside Pinterest Ads Manager designed to help advertisers plan, forecast, and optimize ad campaigns more efficiently.
This tutorial explains what Pinterest Media Planner is, how to use it step by step, and how to apply it to real advertising scenarios, especially for brands focused on awareness and consideration campaigns.
What Is Pinterest Media Planner?
Pinterest Media Planner is an ad campaign planning and forecasting tool integrated directly into Pinterest Ads Manager.
It allows advertisers to:
Explore and size target audiences
Estimate campaign performance before launch
Model different budget and timing scenarios
Unlike basic campaign setup tools, Media Planner focuses on upper-funnel strategy and pre-launch planning, helping advertisers make data-driven decisions before spending budget.
Where to Find Pinterest Media Planner
To access Media Planner:
Log in to Pinterest Ads Manager
Click the top-left menu
Select Manage Campaigns
Open Media Planner
No third-party tools or spreadsheets are required.
How to Use Pinterest Media Planner (Step-by-Step Tutorial)
Step 1: Define Your Campaign Objective
Before using Media Planner, decide your primary campaign goal.
Pinterest Media Planner supports two main objectives:
Awareness campaigns (impressions, reach, frequency, CPM)
Consideration campaigns (clicks, CPC)
Choosing the correct objective ensures that performance estimates align with your actual goals.
Step 2: Explore and Size Your Target Audience
The Explore Audiences feature helps you discover high-value audience segments based on Pinterest data.
You can analyze audiences by:
Demographics (age, gender, location)
Interests and categories
Keyword affinities and search behavior
This step is essential for understanding whether an audience is large enough to support your campaign duration and budget.
SEO tip: Audience size data also helps when planning scalable campaigns instead of one-off tests.
Step 3: Estimate Campaign Performance and Budget
Once your audience is selected, Media Planner provides performance projections.
Depending on your objective, you can see estimates for:
Impressions
Reach and frequency
CPM
Clicks and CPC
Country-specific results
These estimates help advertisers avoid under- or over-budgeting and set realistic expectations before launch.
Step 4: Model Multiple Campaign Scenarios
The Model Scenarios feature allows you to compare different campaign setups.
You can adjust and compare:
For example, you can test whether a higher daily budget over a shorter period delivers better reach than a lower budget over a longer timeframe.
This replaces manual spreadsheet forecasting with a built-in planning system.
Step 5: Finalize and Launch Your Campaign
After reviewing projections and selecting the best scenario:
Confirm budget and timing
Apply the plan directly within Ads Manager
Launch the campaign
Once live, you can monitor actual performance and compare it against Media Planner estimates.
Best Use Cases for Pinterest Media Planner
Pinterest Media Planner is most effective for:
Brands running upper-funnel awareness campaigns
Ecommerce businesses focused on product discovery
Advertisers entering Pinterest Ads for the first time
Teams managing multiple campaigns across regions
It is especially useful in visually driven categories like fashion, home decor, beauty, lifestyle, and food.
Why Pinterest Advertising Is Worth Considering
Pinterest recently surpassed 600 million monthly active users, with continued investment in:
Many users visit Pinterest with planning and purchase intent, making it a strong platform for early-stage demand generation.
Final Thoughts
Pinterest Media Planner helps advertisers plan campaigns with greater confidence by combining audience insights, performance estimates, and scenario modeling in one place.
For brands focused on discovery, awareness, and early-stage consideration, it is a practical tool worth integrating into your advertising workflow.
