Pinterest is unveiling AI and automation tools to support advertising campaigns on the platform. At its annual Pinterest Presents global advertiser summit the social platform known for inspiration boards and shopping unveiled a generative background feature for its Pinterest Performance+ suite, allowing advertisers to replace flat backgrounds with “lifestyle imagery” using AI. Launched earlier this year, Pinterest says Performance+ lets advertisers create campaigns in about half the time and is already producing positive results. Now it is rolling out improvements to the feature in time for the holiday shopping season.

Pinterest says Walgreens was able to use Performance+ to present products in a Pinterest-native way, getting a 55 percent higher clickthrough rate as a result. It also claimed Walgreens realized a “13 percent lower cost-per-click using the AI-generated backgrounds compared with the standard white backgrounds,” reports TechCrunch.

“Advertisers can opt to mix and match Pinterest Performance+ products based on their needs,” adds TechCrunch, pointing out that “in early tests, Pinterest says advertisers saw a 64 percent decrease in cost per action and a 30 percent increase in conversion rates, alongside a 1.8x return on ad spend.”

Pinterest has made a wrap replay available for Pinterest Presents 2024, including CEO Bill Ready’s primer to “a more performant Pinterest” and case studies from Chief Revenue Officer Bill Watkins. A backgrounder on Performance+ that includes tips on how-to-use can be found at Pinterest Business.

Other Performance+ upgrades include a bidding option that allows advertisers to optimize “for the highest value, instead of just for clicks or conversion volume,” TechCrunch writes, noting that “access to Performance+ campaigns for Consideration, Conversions, or Catalog Sales objectives” has been rolled out to all global advertisers.

“Pinterest also will make Performance+ bidding for return on ad spend (ROAS) available in all markets to qualified advertisers,” MediaPost explains. “The tool was historically optimized for clicks or conversion volume. Now it will analyze thousands of signals to predict the value of potential conversions in real-time, helping advertisers maximize return on investments.”

“Ads can be altered depending on the location being served or time of year. Generative AI enables advertisers to change white, blank or flat color backgrounds into lifestyle imagery to improve engagement,” MediaPost adds.