Pinterest Unveils New Advertising Feature

Pinterest is following in the footsteps of Facebook and Twitter.

They recently decided to start implementing promoted pins. They started testing what they're calling promoted pins on Wednesday.

They are making it very similar to the way Facebook and Twitter use promoted advertising.

On either of those sites you can promote a post that will show up on the users news feed.

Users go to their feeds because that's where they are able to see what their friends and followers are posting. Promoted tweets/posts are dispersed throughout these feeds so users can see them.

Some users don't like this because they feel that it's an intrusion. They feel that if they wanted to see these advertisements they would become a fan or follower of that company's page.

That's not the case with the new advertising feature on Pinterest.

Everything You Need to Know About Pinterest Advertising

How They Plan to Use Ads

The promoted pin will look just like regular pins; the only difference is it will have an attachment at the bottom of it that says, "promoted."

On the attachment is a link so the user can learn more about the company that created the pin.

As you can see above, the pin looks just like the ones around it. The only difference is the extra attachment on the bottom that says promoted pin.

The problem with having them look just like regular pins is that users might skip right over. They will have no idea that it's a pin. Users might not even click on the ad. Which might cause companies to start using more compelling images that will capture the attention of their audience.

This is just one way Pinterest is trying to make ads less intrusive.

Promoted Pins Based on Context

Pinterest is taking a different angle than Facebook and Twitter. They are trying to have these promoted pins show up on peoples searches and category feeds instead of their home feeds. This way the ads don't feel so forced and they are associated with the ones around them.

Sometimes when I'm on Twitter, I see a tweet on my feed and wonder how it got their. It ends up being a promoted tweet and normally they are really random so it turns me away from the tweet.

The great part about Pinterest making their promoted pins based on context, is now they'll be surrounded by other pins related to it.

So if a person is looking through the sports category they might get promoted pins from a fitness apparel company. This might be something they're interested in. As a user, you wanted the promoted pins to be relevant to what you're searching for.

Not only is this beneficial for users but also for your company. It allows your ad to reach your target audience and not get wasted on people who don't want to see it.

This is a big step for Pinterest. Now they will be making money off of promoted pins, but they are also trying to set a new standard for social media advertising. They don't want their ads to be so intrusive and in your face.

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