This week, Pinterest has a lot in common with the famous philosopher Ariana Grande.
“I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.” – 7 Rings
Pinterest recently announced a major update to Pinterest Lens, its camera/visual search technology. This latest improvement identifies products and objects that a user takes with the Lens camera feature and shows shoppable Product Pins with the current price and a direct link to check out on the retailer’s website. Users can take those Pins and immediately add them to a board to collect their various inspirations. The tool will also provide suggestions on other items that might go well with the identified products.
All you have to do is snap a picture. See it, like it, want it, got it.
This new business development by Pinterest is driven with extensive research backing the feature’s utility to users. According to Pinterest, 80% of Pinners start with visual search when shopping and over 85% of survey respondents put more importance on visual information than text when shopping online for clothing or furniture. By making use of computer vision as well as machine learning, Pinterest enables users to shorten their purchase journey. Pinterest also notes that Lens’ visual search capabilities can identify more than 2.5 billion objects across home and fashion Pins.
For retailers whose products have an important visual component, this is exciting news. It makes allocating a higher Pinterest ad spend even more enticing since we know that Pinterest drives the highest paid social average order value compared to Facebook and Snapchat. The other big component of this is the products being linked back to the retailer’s website. That means you get the vital data about your users and learn more about their purchase journey. We’ve seen that some platforms have begun to build out in-app purchasing, but this setup by Pinterest is more helpful to brands.
As Pinterest continues to improve their user experience, it’ll be fascinating to see how the company grows their audience or their offerings. Businesses can make the most of Pinterest’s tools while owning the important user information related to their marketing efforts. With this in mind…
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Keep an Eye on AI
Pinterest has once again deployed their AI/machine learning to make their platform work better for users. Based on their previous developments this year, we know that’s one of Pinterest’s main drivers going forward. Thinking about your shopper’s purchase journeys and psychographics will help you optimize your Pinterest ads and content. By identifying any gaps or areas of friction (which is what a lot of today’s AI features are being used to improve) in your user journeys, you’ll help your brand get the most out of Pinterest’s ad options to maximize your spending.
Learn about the Pinterest Community
This is purely speculative, but we could be seeing the groundwork being laid for Pinterest’s next big business development: a user marketplace. We know Pinterest has the technological muscle and the brand loyalty. We know that when it comes to furniture or clothing, Facebook Marketplace or the LetGo app are two of a handful of platforms offering a way for people to buy and sell products. What if these were combined? By working with Pinterest now, you may open a door to getting in on the ground floor of a big new development.
Is your Pinterest strategy ready to take advantage of Lens and its new features? Contact us to talk about your approach.
