Pinterest Announces New Creator Features: A Unified Pin Experience, Links in All Pins, and Community Engagement Features

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest announced several exciting new features and updates aimed at creators. These include a unified Pin experience, links in all Pins, and community engagement tools.

Below is a breakdown of what's new, what it means, and why it matters. Allison Light, Content Publishing Product Lead at Pinterest, also shared insights with me.

Unified Pin Experience

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest is unifying its Idea Pins and Pins formats into a single format. Creators will now see a single "Create a Pin" option when creating content, instead of separate options for Idea Pins and Pins. Previously, certain features and tools were exclusive to specific formats and types of user accounts. However, with this new change, all users will be able to access all available features and tools through a unified Pin experience. Creators can also use different aspect ratios for their Pins and make edits to titles, descriptions, and links even after their posts have been published.

To improve the viewing experience for users, Pinterest has eliminated the need for viewers to tap through multiple pages. Instead, there will be a seamless, continuous play functionality akin to platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Plus, there are additional performance metrics for videos, such as Views and Watch Time.

“Our main challenge and focus was to ensure that the new streamlined tool met the needs of all our users while also being simple and easy to use.” - Allison Light, Content Publishing Product Lead, Pinterest

What it means and why it matters: By unifying its core formats, Pinterest creates a better experience for creators to share content. Creators no longer need to decide or weigh the costs of sharing Idea Pins versus standard Pins. With access to a full suite of tools, creators are also able to fully express themselves. Instagram made a similar move last summer when it decided to turn all video posts into Reels.

Enabling creators to make revisions to their posts after they have gone live gives them more flexibility. Creators can fix any mistakes or update their content as needed, instead of having to take it down and repost it. Having to repost is typically a negative thing, especially when content has already gained strong performance, but includes a typo or is missing key messaging in the context of sponsored content on behalf of a brand.

Links in All Pins

Source: Pinterest

All creators can add links to all Pins, including images, videos, and Pinterest TV live streams. Through a new 'Add a Link' option during the creation workflow, creators can include links to their websites, blog posts, storefronts, brand partner destinations, and more.

“The ability to link out from any Pin was one of the most requested features from creators and publishers. We heard loud and clear that creators wanted the capacity to drive traffic to a blog, a website, a newsletter, a podcast or anywhere they chose to, including their monetized channels. Ultimately, links will help their audience go from inspiration to action.” - Allison Light, Content Publishing Product Lead, Pinterest

What it means and why it matters: Similar to Instagram's recently launched support for multiple links in bios, the ability for creators to link out across Pins has been highly requested. With this update, creators have a better opportunity to drive audiences to channels where they can provide more value, monetize, and grow their communities.

Link-related features have become one of the most common ways for platforms to support creators, as they can lead to more long-term success for creators. Brands may be encouraged to work with more Pinners on sponsored content as well since they can create short-form video content with the added benefit of being able to include a brand website or product page to drive mid- to lower-funnel results like clicks and conversions.

Community Engagement Features

Source: Pinterest

On the safety front, creators can set filters for keywords that they do not want to show up in comments left on their posts, which will automatically hide comments containing them.

Users can also respond to Pins with Photo Comments, which allows them to upload a photo that shows up in the comment thread. Reactions such as heart and lightbulb emojis can also be used across all Pins by users.

What it means and why it matters: With these features, creators can add another level of safety protection by having more control over the type of comments being left on their content, while providing their audiences with more visual and interactive ways to engage with their content.

Comments can be a significant signal for what resonates with users, so the ability for users to respond to content that grabs their attention with a photo can create a more dynamic relationship between creators and fans while helping to generate more visual content across the platform.

Easier and Faster Content Creation

Pinterest's latest batch of updates provides benefits to creators by making it easier and faster for them to create content, particularly videos. With a more streamlined process for uploading content, access to more tools, the opportunity to drive audiences outside of Pinterest, and giving Pinners new ways to engage and interact with content, creators are more incentivized to spend time and effort in producing Pinterest content.