What’s New on Pinterest: From Buyable Pins to Video Ads

We love Pinterest because it gives us a virtual bulletin board to collect all of our future goals and desires: the healthy recipes we want to make, the stylish clothes we want to wear, the beautiful home we want to decorate.

Pinterest boards are actually personalized wish lists, so they capture what users are drawn to – and what they might be interested in buying. This is a powerful opportunity for brands that to see what their customers want and connect with them in a relevant way.

According to an AdWeek article, “Pinterest is considered a Google rival because of how close its users are to making purchasing decisions.” Pinterest’s user base is expected to reach 47.1 million in 2015. There are already 50 billion pins on the social network, with two-thirds of them considered branded content – posted by brands or users who are fans of their products.

We talked about Pinterest’s new Promoted Pins program a few months ago, which incorporates sponsored posts relevant to users’ interests into their feeds. Pinterest has announced several new changes and features that marketers will be excited about. Here are a few to keep an eye on over the coming months:

Enhanced Search

Pinterest search is getting more robust so users can find precisely what they are looking for. When users start typing a word into the search field, Pinterest automatically suggests the closest matching options. Famous people and brands are verified with a check mark, and users can now filter to see boards, pinners, pins or just their pins. There’s also a new trending search section with popular tags.

Buyable Pins

Soon Pinterest will allow users to buy their discoveries directly from the app. Buyable Pins will feature blue prices, indicating that users can click Buy It to make an instant purchase with Apple Pay or a credit card. U.S. users will have access to millions of Buyable Pins by the end of the month.

Cinematic Pins

Pinterest has just released new video ads that appear within users’ feeds. What’s interesting about these ads is that they’re both motion-based and user-controlled. As a user scrolls through her feed, the picture moves; when she stops, the picture stops as well. The idea is to allow brands to tell engaging and creative stories, while keeping the user experience positive.

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