Pinterest Welcomes Businesses with Open Arms

Have you been using a regular Pinterest account to promote your business?  Pinterest has finally released the launch of Pinterest for Business.  You need to log in to your account now and convert it into a business account to take advantage of the new features available exclusively for businesses.  Their new business application gives insight into their new business plan that will include paid advertisements to gain revenue.  For a business with no business plan and no revenue, it has become an Internet giant in just a short amount of time.

Now Pinterest is making it easier to brand your business, offering profile widgets, board widgets, pin it buttons, and follow buttons for your website.  They’re even offering case studies to help businesses with their branding and marketing strategies, as well as website verification to build trust with visitors.  Unlike regular Pinterest accounts that only let you use a first and last name for your account, Pinterest business accounts allow the whole business name to be used.  All of these new features are sure to increase customer engagement and traffic overall.

While the way that business accounts create content is no different from the way regular accounts create content, the ability to place board, profile, and product pins on other third party sites differentiates them enormously.  Businesses need to convert their accounts over to start reaping the rewards of Pinterest business accounts.

While Pinterest’s new business accounts are a no-brainer for established businesses that have their own websites, the new platform is going to send small mom-and-pop sellers rushing to get their own website up and running.  While the regular accounts made everyone fight on the same playing field, the new business accounts will make established and verified websites look much more authoritative and trustworthy.

Right now you can only verify straightforward websites (not sub domains), but Pinterest says they are working towards opening up other opportunities for small businesses as well.  Pinterest is also giving business accounts access to case studies from companies like JetSetter and Etsy who used Pinterest to build traffic and brand awareness of their sites.

In addition, Pinterest is giving businesses a guide for best practices as well as one describing how to use the Pinterest brand to market your business.  Their comprehensive internet marketing tools are a wonderful addition to what was already a great platform for businesses.

PInterest’s new relationship with businesses is an obvious step towards monetizing the site.  It has to happen for the website and company to survive, as investors have already poured over $130 billion dollars into this budding social media giant.  While Pinterest’s business plans have not yet been released (nor has any indication that there is a business plan in place), it would make sense for them to use a combination of affiliate sales and paid advertising to bring in revenue.  One thing’s for sure; Pinterest followers and users aren’t going anywhere.

Written by Jennifer Long