Customer List Template and Formatter for Pinterest Ads

How to use the customer list template formatter for Pinterest

A Pinterest customer list template is just one column of data, but most exports have twenty. This tool pulls out the emails (and Android ad IDs, if you have them), cleans them, and writes the single-column file that Pinterest's audience targeting help page describes. Your customer data stays in your browser.

1. Add your export. Shopify, WooCommerce, Klaviyo, an app's user table or a spreadsheet all work. Try sample data loads a test file with emails and ad IDs.
2. Confirm the columns. Pick every email column. If your file has ad IDs, map them too, plus the device or platform column so iOS IDs can be removed.
3. Choose hashed or plain. SHA-256 is selected by default; plain text is fine too.
4. Read the checks. Rejected values, duplicates and dropped iOS IDs are listed with the row number.
5. Download. You get an email file and, if needed, a separate ad ID file. Neither has a header row.

What Pinterest accepts in each file

Upload the list in Pinterest Ads Manager

1. Log in to your Pinterest business account and click the menu icon at the top left.
2. Under Manage business, click Audiences, then Create audience.
3. Select Customer list and enter an audience name and an optional description.
4. Click Choose file, pick the downloaded CSV, and click Create.
5. Come back after 24 to 48 hours. The audience size updates on the Audiences page, and the status turns green at 100 matches.

Upload the ad ID file the same way as a second list. Before sharing data, Pinterest asks you to review its Ad Data Terms and advertising guidelines.

Pinterest customer list errors and fixes

Pinterest customer list upload failed

The most common cause is a header such as email on the first line, which Pinterest's help says to leave out. Titles, blank lines and tab characters break the file too. The download from this tool has none of them.

Phone numbers or names in the file

Unlike Google or Meta, Pinterest does not take phone numbers in customer lists. Names and addresses are not accepted either. Keep only the email column, or the ad ID column, nothing more.

iOS ad IDs (IDFA) in the list

Pinterest prohibits lists built from activity in iOS apps or websites, which includes lists with IDFA data. If your app data has a platform column, map it: ad IDs on rows marked iOS, iPhone or iPad are removed and counted. The ban is about the source of the list, so you can also leave out the emails on those rows.

All-zero or malformed ad IDs

An ID made of zeros means the person turned off ad tracking. Pinterest does not allow people who opted out of targeted advertising, so those rows go. IDs that do not follow the 8-4-4-4-12 shape, like a 16-character Android ID, are rejected too.

Upper-case ad IDs

Pinterest says AAIDs must be lowercase, and Android devices show them that way. Apple IDFAs usually come in capitals, so an upper-case ID with no device column is left out and listed as a possible IDFA. If you know your IDs are all Android, pick “All Android AAIDs” and they are lowercased before hashing.

Audience smaller than the list

Only people with a Pinterest account can be matched, so the final audience is usually smaller than your file. Under 100 matches, the status stays red; add people to the same audience rather than starting over.