Pinterest has carved its niche as a social discovery platform. Guided search is the next evolution of the platform that will create more opportunities for users to discover content that is relevant to them, especially via mobile while building a foundation to refine Pinterest’s promoted pin ad product.
75% of Pinterest traffic is mobile and the primary user experience shift will be focused on gesture based elements integrated within the user experience.
One of the bigger shifts is now users can track custom categories of interests vs. just pre-selected categories. From a user perspective this is key as it allows more control to the user to further personalize the experience.
Here is the new user experience. Notice the ability to select a top level category and customize based on different keyword combinations at the top of the ux.
From a brand perspective, the focus on personalization for the user will allow Pinterest to gather additional data that will greatly enhance their targeting capabilities. The new guided search offering is also building towards a more refined discovery engine positioning offering for promoted pins via keywords and new categories where brands can further create new points of discovery with users.
Within the year we should see a more refined Pinterest promoted pin product that is refined based on the new guided search elements that will unlock greater targeting capabilities.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
