It’s been hard to miss the news around Pinterest over the past few months. From talks of a possible acquisition by PayPal, to major C-suite hires, a slew of new features, and a focus on the creator economy, the social media platform is definitely vying for our attention. 

The social commerce landscape is growing rapidly, and is expected to reach over $36 billion this year and at least $45 billion next year, bringing in major interest and investment from retailers into social media platforms. This is causing those same platforms to make changes, introduce new features, and dial in their efforts to secure consumers’ dollars. 

Today we’ll dive into how Pinterest is evolving, what brands are jumping at the opportunity to play on the platform, and how to meaningfully implement influencer marketing campaigns.

A major overhaul at Pinterest

Pinterest recently wrapped up their second annual Pinterest Creators Festival, where they unveiled new features that will make the platform more shoppable. These features are going to be vital to the success of Pinteret’s creators, allowing them to publish high-quality content, better engage with their audiences, and pay them for their work.

The platform’s Idea Pins got an upgrade with the integration of augmented reality try-on capabilities that allow Pinners to try on and shop Idea Pins. Additionally, U.S. creators now have the ability to add affiliate links from Amazon and earn commission on qualifying purchases with the addition of the Amazon Associates Program to Pinterest’s product tagging tool. The platform also introduced Takes, a new way for Pinners to respond to a creator’s idea with their own Idea Pin, allowing for more meaningful engagement with their communities. 

Entering into live shopping Pinterest also announced the launch of Pinterest TV, a series of in-application live, original, shoppable episodes featuring creators. The feature which launched on November 8th shares episodes focused on specific areas such as beauty, fashion, food and home. Friday episodes called Buy This, hosted by comedian Robyn Schall, will team up with Pinterest creators to feature discounted product drops from brands including Allbirds, Crown Affair, Melody Ehsani, Mented and Outdoor Voices. Additional episodes will include:

• Christian On: Fashion designer and Project Runway alumnus Christian Siriano discusses the most searched fashion terms on Pinterest.
• Unfail My: Pinterest food creators join director and screenwriter Monica Suriyage to salvage failed holiday dishes such as a collapsed gingerbread house and an inedible vegan chocolate chip cookie.
• Tom Tries: Olympic diving gold medalist and knitting guru Tom Daley learns new skills from grandmas and grandpas.
• Manny Does: Beauty entrepreneur Manny MUA gives his take on the most common holiday beauty needs.

To solidify their dedication to creators Pinterest also announced a $20 million Creator Rewards program aimed at paying creators for their work on the platform. Similar to Snapchat’s challenges and Instagrams bonuses, the program will pay creators if they participate in “reward goals” focused on various themed challenges that will prompt creators to post content around certain trends or times of the year.  

How brands are using the platform

As Pinterest introduces these new features and puts focus on creators, brands have been quick to jump back on the platform. Below we’ll detail how a few brands are making their presence known:

L’Oreal

Over the summer L’Oreal USA launched a months-long influencer campaign on Pinterest, focused specifically on the platform’s short-form video feature Idea Pins. The brand tapped over 20 Pinterest creators to create content for their personal care subsidiaries that covered beauty tutorials and trends for consumers who were looking to return to social activity amid the ebb of the pandemic. 

NBC

To celebrate the launch of their show Ordinary Joe, NBCUniversal tapped five Pinterest creators: fashion influencer Coco Bassey, celebrity flight attendant Tenille Murphy, fitness creator Dane Findley, fashion designer and chef Peter Som, and body acceptance advocate Katie Sturino. They built a “choose your own adventure” quiz experience featuring some of their other titles, such as “Below Deck,” “Top Chef,” “This Is Us,” “The Voice,” and NASCAR. The quiz ends with a video from one of five Pinterest creators and quiz-takers then have the option to click through to a Pinterest idea board based on their one of five areas of interest: food, travel, fitness, beauty or fashion.

Fox x Lego

In preparation for the second season of Fox’s competition-based reality show, Lego Masters, the brands tapped Pinterest creators. The creators responded to trending searches on the platform and transformed those topics into unique Lego creations, sharing their techniques via both Idea Pins and Static Pins. Lego artist Nathan Sawayal shared behind-the-scenes looks at his Lego Masters-inspired creations while Courtney Quinn of Color Me Courtney and Amanda Kingloff built Lego Masters creations such as sunglasses and an upcycled flower bouquet with repurposed glass bottles. 

Netflix

In celebration of Memorial Day Weekend, Netflix tapped Shea and Syd McGee of Netflix’s Dream Home Makeover to share decor ideas and recipes suited for the holiday. The streaming service launched this campaign in response to increased searches for Memorial Day décor and menu ideas. The content was featured on Pinterest’s Today tab along with a “Call to Create” so that other creators on the platform could join in.

Incorporating influencers in your Pinterest strategy

The opportunity to activate influencers on Pinterest is vast at the moment, and brands should be jumping to launch campaigns and partnerships on the platform. It is clear that influencers are the main focus for the platform at the moment which means there will be an influx of talent looking to collaborate and create on Pinterest. 

Online shopping habits are shifting, social media platforms are the new e-commerce platforms and with the addition of new shoppable options and features it is going to be important for brands to test influencer marketing on Pinterest. 

When building a campaign it is going to be imperative that it is authentic to your brand, incorporates the newest Pinterest features, and involves creators that are hungry to create and build on the platform. Don’t shy away from testing new formats or working with new talent, you may just find your next best partner.

Looking for the right talent?

We’ve been around the Pinterest block and are here to support your next campaign on the platform. Reach out to us at partner@sostandard.com if you want to explore opportunities for influencer marketing on Pinterest, we look forward to it!