While platforms such as Facebook have developed relatively sophisticated features for their business partners, other social sites are still playing catch up. This week, we were interested to consider Pinterest’s latest developments, and how these will lure brands on board.

Firstly, we were interested to see that Pinterest has updated its Marketing Developer Partners program, renaming this Pinterest Marketing Partners. Launched in 2015, this service was created to enable companies to use the site’s ad and content publishing application-programming interfaces. Essentially, select partners are chosen by Pinterest, who are then able to access the platform’s automated tools for monitoring the effectiveness of their ad campaigns. The advantage of this is that chosen brands are also able to work with the service’s partners, spanning crucial sectors such as advertising and content marketing- now, Pinterest has just added “Audiences” and “Measurement” sections to this. With a wealth of expert partners such as Buffer, Socialbakers, Sprinklr, and new additions such as Neustar and Moat, brands are in safe hands to improve their Pinterest ROI. In fact, since the launch of the program, Pinterest has revealed that more than half of its ad revenue comes from brands purchasing apps through Marketing Partners, making the update all the more crucial to ensure the platform’s monetary growth. Facebook and Twitter have similar services- Facebook has its Marketing Partners program, while Twitter has its Official Partners program, both of which have seen engagement rate and ROI success across a range of industries, for brands such as H&M, BMW and Santander.

And Pinterest’s expansion of this service seems to go hand in hand with another of the platform’s recent updates- the launch of “The Pin Collective”, which will enable brands to connect with the site’s most influential pinners. The Pin Collective is essentially a specially created group comprising handpicked publishers, production shops and independent creators, with whom brands will be able to partner in order to produce content and campaigns. Pinterest will also be able to step in and help businesses discover and work with suitable influencers, from the likes of publishers such as Tastemade, to individual creators such as Kyla Herbes, (a prolific home design influencer), to Peter Lombardi, who specialises in photography and design content.

The platform has also launched a new button, available on its app this week and desktop in the upcoming weeks, that has been created to help users remember which recipes or creative ideas they’ve already tried, or which items they’ve bought previously. This button will appear as a “check mark” above the pin, which users can click to notify others and remind themselves what they’ve trialled. After clicking the button, he or she can then add feedback, notes, and further images to inform other users, and Pinterest will also reveal which other users have ticked off that same item too. Checked pins will also be housed in a designated section on the user’s profile for future reference. Crucially, we see this new feature being more than just a helpful resource for individual users- it might benefit brands too, who will be able to use the tool to monitor product reviews and purchases, and repin reviews from influencers who have tested their recipes, ideas and items.

What do you think about Pinterest’s latest product updates and launches? Do you see yourself personally benefitting from the changes? We’d love to hear your thoughts as always, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.