Pinterest has been around for 10 years now, but it hasn’t had quite the cultural impact that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or any of the other fan-favorites have. However, it turns out that a pandemic is just what this platform needed to put it back in demand.
Pinterest calls itself “the world’s catalogue of ideas” because it is designed to help you find ideas and inspiration for your next purchase, outfit, recipe, adventure, road trip, or anything else you might be interested in. Now that everyone is stuck at home and dreaming about what the post-pandemic future might bring, Pinterest comes in handy.
A With fall almost here, I’m ready to start planning some fall adventures, and even better, some fall outfits. But since fall will likely come with the same restrictions as the past few months, we’ll have to settle for mood boards as the next best thing.
Screenshots via Pinterest
Pinterest has really been getting me through by helping me find the perfect fall jacket I always feel I’m missing.
But I’m not the only one who has noticed that Pinterest can fill a certain void. Our future-focused mindsets have led to Pinterest receiving record levels of engagement and 367 million active monthly users. So let’s take a look at how the platform has evolved with the times.
Today Tab
While you may not even notice this tab at first, the Today tab is one of Pinterest’s new features that you might find yourself sucked into for hours. Rather than showing you personalized pin recommendations, as the home page does, the Today tab displays daily inspiration and trending topics and posts chosen by Pinterest’s editorial team.
The tab helps pinners (users) discover trending topics from across Pinterest that they might not normally stumble upon. I feel like this tab is perfect for those occasions when you’ve already rotated between all of your favorite social apps a million times and now you’re truly bored. The Today tab tends to focus on things you can actually do, like self-care, DIY projects, cooking, etc.
Screenshots via Pinterest
For example, I would never normally look for virtual museums to visit, but I might just do that when I’m tired of scrolling and come across this pin. Or I could start my own side hustle, or learn some disco-inspired makeup looks (because who doesn’t need that in their repertoire).
Shop Tab
Pinterest has always been a gateway for online shopping. But now that engagement on shoppable pins has increased 44 percent since the onset of the pandemic, Pinterest has made shopping easier than ever.
Searches can now be filtered to show you only shoppable pins with in-stock items. According to Pinterest, this can be done one of two ways depending on your account. First, search for an item in the search bar. Then, if you see a “Shop” tab at the top of your results, select that tab.
Screenshot via Pinterest
If you don’t see a Shop tab, you can click into the filter options and select “Product Pins.”
I also discovered that Pinterest will give you a shopping option, whether you filter or not, when you enter a product-related search. No matter how you go about it, the results are now filtered to show pins with current shoppable products, and the perfect fall jacket is that much easier to find.
Image Search
One last feature I could really see becoming my favorite is the camera button in the search bar. This feature allows you to snap or upload a picture and use it to conduct an image search. This means that Pinterest will use your photo to find pins and products similar to the image you searched. I think this has real problem-solving potential.
Screenshot via Pinterest
We all have those moments when we see the perfect shoes, bag, glasses, coffee mug etc. out in the world and we wonder how to get our hands on them. Now I can snap a picture of that coffee mug right in the app and Pinterest will find me very similar mugs, some of which I can buy right now.
For Brands
These features continue to draw new users to the platform, which is why brands should be paying attention. This is especially true for retail brands, as the majority of pinners end up buying something based on pins they discover. Pins also have the unique edge of being immortal. While content on other platforms gets pushed down by new content and competition, pins can be rediscovered by users indefinitely.
Pinterest really is the app we all need right now, and if your brand is ready to join the space, ChatterBlast is here to help.
