Recently, Pinterest gave business-orientated users the long awaited insights they've been looking for by rolling out "Pinterest Web Analytics." The Pinterest facelift (which is still slowly revealing itself to users – Mark Zuckerberg style) was generated with users in mind and to differentiate businesses from individuals. Pinterest first introduced business accounts at the end of last year, along with tools to help expand their pinning presence outside of Pinterest (i.e. the "Pin It" button). The most notable changes in the "new look" are the larger pins and the greater accessibility to older pins. Pinterest already generates a large amount of traffic (see "Fast Facts" below), there is substantial room for growth, and the referral ratio is any advertiser's dream.
Fast Facts: According to Pinterest Insider, as of April 2013, Pinterest has a total of 48.7 million users. In addition, Pinterest hit an independent site milestone, reaching 10 million unique monthly visitors in record time.
Pinterest Web Analytics to the Rescue
It's clear that companies have long felt the need to be on this particular social media network, but never knew precisely why it was beneficial. Many questions remained unanswered: How do we measure the performance? How does this help my business? What's the ROI? While there are already some third party sites and tools available to help facilitate insight, the recent launch of Pinterest's reporting tool was highly anticipated (and is free for users). Google Analytics can provide insight in regards to referral traffic from the channel, but couldn't offer any details as to how people were interacting on the social channel itself. Pinterest Web Analytics yields a better understanding on how the users, aka pinners, are interacting with the pins that originated on your website. Not only will you have a clearer understanding of the amount of traffic being driven to to your site, you will know what pins on Pinterest are driving the most traffic. This new tool is an eye opener to companies, helping them to comprehend the type of content that is generating the most interaction and showing how many times a photo was clicked.
Not Just Numbers
Your results aren't displayed in spreadsheets or tables; Pinterest, of course, ensured that their data was as visually fascinating as your "Places I'd Love to Travel to Board," by providing engaging graphics pertaining to your content. If you are more interested in the numbers themselves and less in the flashy graphs, Pinterest's new tool gives you the option to export the data into a CSV file.
The Freeway to Pinterest Web Analytics: Verification Lane
In order to take advantage of the renovations, you must (a) have Pinterest's "new look," and (b) a verified business account. In order to be considered a business on Pinterest, you must verify your website. Once your site has been verified, you'll notice a white check mark in a red circle on your account (next to your URL). After you've verified your account, you can find the analytics tool in the menu on the top right of your account, or by visiting pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com. If you'd like users to be able to pin items directly from your site, be sure to add the "Pin It" button to applicable areas onto your website itself. Before diving head first into analytics, it's a good idea to make sure your profile is optimized as well.
There's more… finish reading "Get Insights Into Your Pinworthy Pics With Pinterest Web Analytics For Business " on the Blue Magnet Interactive blog.
About the author
Stephanie started out studying at the University of Illinois in Champaign, but decided half way into her college career that she wanted to study marketing in the heart of the city where she could get some first-hand experience. Packing her bags and traveling a lengthy 2.5 hours north, she took her talents from the corn fields to Columbia College. Her career started out on an entertainment marketing path after getting the opportunity to finish her degree in L.A. at Raleigh Studios. However, her passion for writing and internet marketing landed her as a social media manager for a variety of travel websites, organizations, & businesses, and eventually to Blue Magnet. From Twitter to Facebook, and everything in between, Stephanie likes to refer to herself as the Bo Jackson of social media. Aside from marketing, Stephanie is a huge fan of Chicago (we're talking Bears-Hawks-Cubs-Bulls) and when she's not behind the screen posting, tweeting, and writing, you can find her at the nearest baseball or football field. Her life goals include winning the Mirror Ball Trophy on Dancing with the Stars and participating in "Shoot the Puck" at a Blackhawks Game.
