Pinterest took the wraps off several updates for creators Wednesday, highlighted by the rollout of Story Pins in beta and joined by a new creator profile and analytics tools.
The platform began early testing of its second rendition of Story Pins with some creators in the U.S. in June.
Story Pins enable creators to tell dynamic and visual stories with videos, voiceovers and text overlays, and all content is contained within those Pins, eliminating the need for an off-platform website.
They can be saved to boards, and Pinterest said they will be made discoverable over time.
Story Pins will be distributed across the platform’s home feed, search results and in other places, including Pinterest’s Today tab.
Creators with access to Story Pins can use the Pinterest camera to record video, add multiple images and incorporate text with custom fonts. Details pages can also be added so creators can share information including ingredients for recipes or materials required for do-it-yourself projects.
Pinterest pointed out that unlike content in the Stories format on other platforms, Story Pins don’t disappear after 24-hours, and creators can tag them with topics or interests.
Pinners in the U.S. will start seeing Story Pins Wednesday on Android, iOS and the web.
Pinterest also redesigned its creator profiles to showcase their published content, rather than Pins they saved.
Pinners can message creators via the Contact or Message card, and they can reach to ideas they discover from those creators with positive reactions including “great idea,” “love,” “wow” and “thanks.” Creators and Pinners can interact even further via images or text comments once the latter tries an idea.
Creators now have access to new analytics tools, Pin Stats, which give them numbers on key metrics such as impressions and engagement.
The platform’s redesigned analytics dashboard gives them a detailed view of how content is performing, including the categories and interests Pinners engage with most.
And a new engagement tab allows them to more easily connect with their audience by liking or responding to photos on Pins in one place.
Pinterest said in a blog post, “Over the past few years, we’ve seen creators and brands partner through collaborations and sponsorships to bring new ideas to our Pinners. We’ll continue working on ways to support creators in these efforts. We’re starting out Story Pins with select creators in the U.S. and will continue rolling out access and improvements over the coming months to international creators. All other features are live for Pinners with business accounts today.”
