Pinterest Brand Deals: A Practical Workflow for Creators

To win Pinterest brand deals, build the pitch around a searchable visual idea rather than a generic sponsored post. Show the brand what problem the Pin helps someone solve, which boards and search themes it fits, what you will create, where the click leads and how you will report the result. A smaller creator with a clear niche and useful content can often make a stronger case than a larger account offering only reach.

Pinterest describes itself as a place where people discover and save ideas. That makes the platform especially suitable for campaigns built around planning, comparison, tutorials, styling, recipes, routines, travel, interiors and other topics people may want to revisit. Your proposal should therefore explain the value of the content after the first impression, not just the size of your follower count.

This guide gives you a practical workflow for packaging, pitching, delivering and reporting a Pinterest sponsorship. It is business information rather than legal advice; campaign terms and disclosure rules may differ by country, so seek professional guidance where necessary.

Set up the account a brand can evaluate

Start with a Pinterest business account. Pinterest says a business account is required to access Pinterest Analytics, including an overview of performance, top Pins and boards, date filters and format-level data. Brands do not need a perfect account, but they do need evidence that you understand your audience and can measure the content you propose.

Before pitching, make your profile easy to assess:

• use a clear profile image and a short description of the subjects you cover;
• organise your strongest work into specific, useful boards rather than broad collections;
• make sure recent Pins lead to working, relevant destinations;
• remove or update Pins that no longer represent your quality or niche;
• identify the formats and themes that consistently earn saves, outbound clicks or meaningful engagement;
• keep screenshots or exports of a representative reporting period for your media kit.

Do not select only your biggest number. Choose metrics that support the campaign idea. A high-save tutorial may be more relevant to a brand than a high-impression Pin that produced little action. Olurai’s guide to using audience analytics in a brand pitch explains how to turn platform data into evidence without overloading the email.

Define the Pinterest sponsorship product

“One sponsored Pin” is too vague to price or approve. Convert it into a small, concrete campaign package. For example:

One original vertical video Pin showing a three-step weekend packing system, three supporting static Pins with different visual angles, placement on two relevant boards, one agreed landing page, a 30-day organic reporting snapshot and one round of factual corrections.

That description gives both sides something testable. It also prevents a brand from assuming that the fee includes unlimited versions, perpetual advertising, every board, raw files or unrestricted reuse.

A useful Pinterest sponsorship brief should define:

• the number and format of Pins;
• the idea, audience need and creative angle;
• which profile and boards will publish the content;
• the destination URL and who supplies it;
• the required disclosure and paid-partnership tag;
• draft, feedback, publication and reporting dates;
• revision limits;
• organic usage, paid promotion and any separate content licence;
• the creator fee, payment timing and cancellation terms.

If the brand wants several formats or channels, show each as a named deliverable. The creator sponsorship packages guide can help you structure a core option and sensible additions without making the proposal confusing.

Find the strongest brand-to-board connection

A credible pitch links the brand to a content behaviour already visible on your account. Look for the intersection of three things:

1. Your established subject: the topic your audience already expects from you.
2. The user’s next task: the decision, plan or project the Pin helps them complete.
3. The brand’s role: the honest place its product or service has within that task.

A food creator could propose a freezer-friendly recipe series for a cookware brand. A travel creator could build a saveable weekend itinerary that naturally includes luggage. An interiors creator could produce a small-space storage plan for a homeware company. None of these ideas needs to force a personal connection with the brand; the relevance comes from the useful audience context.

Use Pinterest Trends and your own Analytics to inform the timing and wording, but do not claim a trend guarantees performance. Trend data is a planning input, not a promise. Check the brand independently as well: products, markets, campaign themes, stock availability and the destination page should all match the concept.

Build a pitch around one useful idea

The first email does not need the complete storyboard. Its job is to establish fit and create enough curiosity for a reply. Use this structure:

1. Introduce yourself and describe your Pinterest niche in one natural sentence.
2. Mention one relevant pattern from your content or audience.
3. Explain why the brand fits a specific planning or discovery moment.
4. Offer a concise idea without giving away every execution detail.
5. Ask whether the contact would like the concept and supporting numbers.

Example Pinterest sponsorship pitch

Hi Morgan,

I’m Ana, and I create practical small-space interior ideas on Pinterest, mostly for renters who want rooms to feel calmer without major renovations.

My storage and room-layout Pins are the ones people return to most, so I think [Brand] could fit naturally into a useful “one corner, three functions” series rather than a standard product post.

I have a visual concept for a short video Pin and three saveable layouts built around that idea. Would you mind if I send over the outline and the relevant Pinterest numbers?

Ana
[Profile or portfolio link]

Replace every bracketed detail with verified information. Do not pretend to use a product you have not used, invent audience interests or describe performance you cannot evidence. For a wider outreach framework, see Olurai’s human-sounding brand pitch email template.

Agree rights separately from the post

A brand may want to publish the Pin organically, promote it as an ad, reuse the image elsewhere or receive the underlying files. These are different permissions. State what the base fee includes and quote separately for wider use.

Pinterest’s current paid-partnership guidance says creators can add one brand partner to a Pin in the mobile app. The label appears when the Pin is published, and the brand must approve the tag before its name appears with that label. Pinterest also says the label cannot be added after publication; a new Pin is required. Build this step into the approval checklist rather than trying to correct it later.

The same Pinterest guidance explains that a brand may promote eligible paid-partnership content as an ad. If paid promotion is planned, agree the term, territory, advertiser, budget expectations, permitted edits, destination URL and additional fee before you grant access. A platform control is not a complete commercial agreement.

Disclose the relationship clearly

Use Pinterest’s paid-partnership tool when it applies, but do not assume the platform label settles every disclosure requirement. The US Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for social media influencers says a material relationship should be disclosed clearly and where people can notice it. Free or discounted products can also create a relationship that needs disclosure.

The FTC advises against burying disclosures after a “more” click or among many hashtags, and says creators should not rely solely on a platform disclosure tool. Use plain language appropriate to the audience and campaign, and ensure the disclosure travels with the endorsement. If the content targets people outside the US, check the relevant local rules as well.

Report the result without cherry-picking

Agree the reporting window before publication. Pinterest Analytics can show organic and paid-and-earned views through different filters, so label the data clearly. Do not combine unlike numbers or present estimates as settled results.

A simple sponsor report can contain:

• links to every published Pin;
• publication date, board and format;
• impressions and video views where relevant;
• saves and engagements;
• outbound clicks and click-through context;
• top-performing creative or board;
• the defined reporting window;
• what you learned and what you would test next.

Where a landing page or affiliate system provides conversion data, keep its attribution window and source separate from Pinterest’s platform metrics. Explain gaps instead of filling them with assumptions. A transparent report is more useful for planning a second campaign than an inflated success story.

A repeatable Pinterest brand-deal workflow

1. Qualify the brand: verify audience fit, products, contact and campaign timing.
2. Choose the use case: identify the real planning, discovery or decision moment.
3. Check the evidence: collect relevant Pin, board and audience metrics.
4. Draft one concept: define the hook, formats, boards and destination.
5. Send a short pitch: ask permission to share the full idea and numbers.
6. Scope the agreement: confirm deliverables, dates, revisions, rights, promotion, disclosure and payment.
7. Approve before publishing: obtain sign-off on creative, claims, links and tags.
8. Publish carefully: add the required disclosure and paid-partnership setting before the Pin goes live.
9. Capture records: save URLs, screenshots, approvals and the agreed reporting window.
10. Report and propose: share results honestly and recommend one evidence-based next test.

Pinterest sponsorship checklist

• The brand fits an established content theme or a well-supported audience need.
• The pitch contains one clear, useful visual idea.
• The package defines every Pin, format, board, link and date.
• Analytics support the concept without promising an outcome.
• Organic publication and paid promotion have separate terms.
• Usage rights, files, edits, territory and duration are written down.
• The paid-partnership tag is planned before publication.
• The disclosure is clear, prominent and appropriate to the audience.
• Payment, revisions and cancellation terms are agreed.
• The report uses a defined window and clearly labelled metrics.

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