Pinterest Presents 2022 recently concluded. The summit — the second of its kind — is held by Pinterest to review the platform and discuss what changes are coming. For brands that rely on Pinterest, this was a must-attend event. It revealed new information and invaluable tools that companies can use to improve their brand experience and learn how to take advantage of this critical social media tool.
Pinterest didn't disappoint, and that's good: The brand has struggled of late and needs to unveil as many new features as possible to reverse its declining userbase. There's no question that the social media platform has a slew of uses for businesses. Still, the platform needs to do more to recapture customers and businesses in the social media game.
Your Shop
As Pinterest leaned more into digital marketing, it began to explore various ways to expand its e-commerce capabilities. That has morphed into what may be Pinterest's most aggressive play in this area yet: Your Shop. In Your Shop, users will have algorithms serve them with customized and personal shopping recommendations. The platform is currently in beta in the United States and will see a full rollout shortly. The shop is clearly designed to take advantage of a Pinterest user's tastes and can be seen as a natural extension of the advertisement algorithms that are already serving customers across all of social media.
This should enable brands to get more in front of their prospective customers. It will also incentivize brands to create a better brand experience when using the popular social media platform. The way to get into a customer's Your Shop is to create interesting and robust content that the customer likes. In doing so, they will be more likely to arrive in front of a customer via Your Shop. This, of course, creates a powerful incentive for businesses to use Pinterest more and potentially increase their advertising spend on the platform.
Data from the initial rollout of Your Shop showed that users are more likely to shop on Pinterest than they are on other social media platforms, and Your Shop can help accelerate this process by delivering customized products to customers.
In-App Checkout with Shopify
Pinterest's push into the e-commerce universe continues with its additional shopping features. Users will now be able to make purchases on the app directly. This feature will be available to all merchants who set up an account and use Shopify.
The potential for merchants is obvious: They can now have individuals make purchases directly from their brands without ever even leaving the Pinterest app. This should make impulse shopping easier than ever. However, that's not to say that it is without real potential issues. Businesses will have to create and format their stores, then make sure that their inventory is constantly up to date. If they already use Shopify, this process will be straightforward, and there is no question that this new form of social media marketing can enhance a user's overall brand experience.
However, if a business doesn't use Shopify, it will have to go through the process of setting up a Shopify account. Of course, this presents excellent digital marketing opportunities for Shopify — and participating merchants. However, each business will have to determine if the expense and hassle associated with this process are worth it for their enterprise.
This is not a new social media trend: Instagram has had a similar option for two years, and if anything, Pinterest is late in adding such a platform. Pinterest executives hope that this will help them reverse falling user numbers and create additional incentives for businesses to utilize Pinterest as part of their overall social media marketing strategy.
Shopping API
Pinterest also announced the creation of a new Shopping API. This behind-the-scenes improvement is a very important one for stores. According to comments from Pinterest, it enhances the integration between stores and their Pinterest accounts, creating another marketing boon and increasing their digital marketing. Specifically, the API is designed to make it easier for stores to upload their product catalog to Pinterest, thus making digital shopping a much simpler experience.
Part of this API also involves more customized data that will be provided to individual shops. This will include real-time analytics, additional insights into their audience, and recommendations about online shopping trends.
Final Thoughts
Like other social media platforms, Pinterest has shown real evolution over the past year. This includes augmented reality functions and an option for brands to put their values, including "inclusive" and "LGBT+ friendly." These options allow brands to enhance their value proposition to customers.
If you are interested in learning more about how Pinterest can help you and your brand grow your digital and social media, reach out to Fifth & Cor. We have years of experience with digital media, social media, and the social media market. As such, we can help your brand develop an innovative marketing strategy that will earn you more customers and help you increase your bottom line.