Pinterest launches analytics tools for brands, plans to monetise soon

Popular online scrapbooking platform Pinterest has decided to introduce new analytics tools that will inform and allow businesses to track visitors to its site. This is part of Pinterest’s movement into monetising the site as it officially launches the free app to businesses.

The feature enables companies to obtain data through a tracking tool that informs brands how many people have pinned from their site, how many views each pin has, and how many users have visited a brand’s site from Pinterest. This nifty tracking instrument known as Pinterest Web Analytics will give owners insights with the idea of helping businesses understand the level of engagement their content has on the platform, once they have verified their account.

The image-heavy network allows users to create a variety of boards and pin different pictures and videos based on themes such as travel, sport, fashion and weddings. This site was 38th most visited by US internet users in January, with roughly 30-million unique visitors according to online measurement firm comScore. With this statistic it seems that the online scrapbook has the ability to start capitalising on its features as large brands like The Gap, Patagonia and Dell are increasingly using the site to promote their products. The company began expanding into social business territory by offering these personalised accounts to companies in November.

The launch of Pinterest’s insights tool signals the company’s move into “building [its] foundations to monetize,” platform founder Ben Silbermann told the Wall Street Journal.

Despite its current lack of revenue, Pinterest raised an impressive US$200-million last month from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners, in a round that put the company’s value at US$2.5-billion. The site is proving to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses.

Last year July, data from online sharing service Shareaholic showed that Pinterest beat Twitter, StumbleUpon, Bing, and Google in referral traffic. Additionally, Pinterest users don’t just click over to ecommerce sites to ogle merchandise – they are 10% more likely to make a purchase than people who come over from other networks, according to data from ecommerce platform Shopify.

Pinterest plans further this year to look at implementing paid ads and a potential advertising system. As well as working with businesses Etsy and Allrecipes in a case study found businesses will be able to learn how Pinterest can result in sales of merchandise, a potential income source for companies’ websites. Other features Pinterest may unveil later this year include “suggestions” for users based on what they have already added to their boards. The company also plans to launch international sites this year.