It was only a matter of time, but Pinterest, the social pinboard site that took the world by storm, is officially targeting brands. That's right - it looks like your mom's favorite social network is ready to start monetizing.
Recently, the company announced that it was opening business accounts to new and existing users, which will get access to fresh features and resources that "help businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites."
This includes new buttons and widgets (including Pin It and Follow buttons and Profile and Board widgets) that they can integrate with their websites and content to increase engagement and drive traffic back to their sites. There are also a handful of other upcoming features that haven't been announced yet, but will give brands "more powerful ways of reaching and understanding" their audiences on Pinterest.
Furthermore, Pinterest is also going to offer businesses a series of resources, which includes case studies (from brands like Jetsetter, Allrecipes and Etsy), a set of best practices and various guides and documentation for the new Pin It and Follow buttons that show brands how to incorporate Pinterest into their marketing materials.
Pinterest wants businesses to verify their accounts to identify and ensure "high-quality sources of content," as well as making the profiles easier to find in search results. Like Twitter, the site will provide a verification badge that indicates to users that the account is on the level.
It should be noted that business accounts will have to follow a set of "terms of business" that the site has established, which differ from the traditional "personal, non-commercial use" terms that all users were expected to adhere to previously.
To get more information, sign up for a business account or have your existing Pinterest account converted into a sweet new business account, you can simply visit business.pinterest.com.