May 30, 2014

After their introduction last year, Pinterest has now finally decided to go in for a paid test for promoted pins that help people to have an improved overall search experience. These small add units will serve as an aid to monetize the ever growing social network of Pinterest. Initially, the rollout of promoted pins will be limited to the search and category fields. Later on, as time goes by, the pins could be used for other spheres of pinterest as well.

The promoted pins will be initially tested on a small set of brands so as to gain a better understanding of their viability and effectiveness. Some of the brands that would be a part of the test include: ABC Family, Banana Republic, Expedia.com, Kraft, Nestle, Old Navy, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Through these brands, Pinterest aims to gauge whether promoted pins are tasteful and relevant. Based on user feedback, subsequent improvements will also be made.

As per AdAge, Pinterest is looking at an estimate of about $1 to $2 million for every campaign pertaining to rollout of promoted pins. As is evident from the list of brands mentioned above, the first rollout of promoted pins is not for small or medium-sized businesses.

As the Pinterest network continues to grow by leaps and bounds, tens and thousands of people have put up more than 30 billion pins. Brands form a significant chunk of these users, and hence promoted pins will help them to gain better visibility among the audiences. This will also help the audiences by providing them a better insight into areas they are concerned about; you could for example, easily look for places to eat out, or gifting ideas for a friend or a loved one on special occasions.

Up till now, Pinterest was primarily focused upon enhancing its user base, and revenue generation was not on the cards. But with the rollout of promoted pins now, Pinterest is all set to take on advertizing giants like Facebook and Twitter. Since user feedback is an important tool to understand the effectiveness of promoted pins, Pinterest has put up links for users alongside every promoted pin that they see on the social network. Users can put in their comments and suggestions here, which would be monitored on a regular basis so that improvements can be made accordingly.

The rollout of promoted pins by Pinterest is surely going to change the advertizing landscape in the online space. The first phase of the rollout with these brands will show what the further course of action should be.