New business-only features spark renewed Pinterest

Start-ups could soon be looking at Pinterest with renewed interest, after the content-sharing service unveiled a new set of terms for businesses, designed to help them utilise the platform.

Pinterest, a pin board-style social photo-sharing website, launched in 2010, is fast becoming the new frontier in social media marketing.

Much like the established social media platforms, Pinterest is ideal as a marketing tool for start-ups as it is low cost and relatively hassle-free.

Earlier this year, Pinterest raised $100 million in a round of funding led by Japanese online retailer Rakuten, in a deal that valued the company at around $US1.5 billion.

However, Pinterest does not disclose revenue figures or how it makes money, if at all. But that could change, after it unveiled new tools for businesses.

“We want to help more businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites,” product manager Cat Lee wrote in a company blog.

“We’re taking a first step toward that goal with some free tools and resources.”

Pinterest now has two sets of terms – one for people and one for businesses. The business terms help guide businesses on how to use Pinterest.

According to Lee, they also enable Pinterest to separate the provisions meant for businesses from those meant for regular people.

“Whether you’re a publication, brand, designer, blogger, retailer, online merchant, non-profit organisation, institution or local business, we’d like to get to know you better so that we can provide the right tools and support to help you inspire people on Pinterest,” Lee said.

If you’re a Pinterest newcomer, you can sign up for a business account. If you have an existing account, it can be converted by following the steps on the Pinterest business site.

By signing up on the business site, Pinterest will be able to help you:

Verify your website

A verification badge will help people identify high-quality sources of content, and more easily find the business they want in search results.

Add new buttons and widgets

Businesses will be able to integrate the Pin It button, Follow button, Profile widget or Board widget to drive traffic back to their site.

Access upcoming features

Businesses will receive updates on future products and services to help them better understand their audience on Pinterest.

Pinterest has also published new case studies, best practices and guides on the business site to help businesses further.