What role do customer lists play in Pinterest Performance+ campaigns?

n Pinterest Performance+ campaigns, customer lists (also known as Customer List Audiences) are a vital tool for refining who sees your ads. While Performance+ uses AI to automate much of the targeting, customer lists provide the necessary manual "guardrails" to improve efficiency: Inclusion (Retargeting): You can upload a list of existing customers (via hashed emails or mobile IDs) to re-engage them with new product launches or loyalty offers. Exclusion (Prospecting): This is one of the most common uses in Performance+. If your goal is to find new customers, you can exclude your existing customer list. This prevents wasting your budget on people who have already purchased, ensuring every dollar is spent on true customer acquisition. Seeding Actalikes: Performance+ leverages these lists to build Actalike audiences. By analyzing the behaviors of the people on your list, Pinterest's AI can find millions of other users who share similar interests and "Pinning" habits. Privacy and Security: These lists are uploaded as a CSV file and hashed to protect user privacy. Pinterest then matches these identifiers to active users on the platform to create your custom segment.