Dive Brief:
- To attract advertisers and support e-commerce on its platform, Pinterest has introduced new features for its video-based Idea Pins: product tagging, shopping recommendations and augmented reality try-on integration, the company announced via email.
- Users can now tag shoppable Product Pins to their Idea Pins. The platform has also integrated visual search recommendations and shopping capabilities through Idea Pins, enabling users to purchase or find similar items to what they see in posts.
- Creators can tag their Idea Pins with a try-on sticker to point users to the AR lipstick and eyeshadow testing feature, allowing users to virtually try out the featured product before buying it. The tool covers more than 10,000 AR-enabled products on the platform, per the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Pinterest has been on a journey to drive monetization on its platform, including with features it released this summer, like the shopping list tool and "The Goods by Pinterest" feature. In July, the platform introduced shoppable Idea Pins and enabled creators to collaborate with brands on sponsored content and earn commissions.
In addition to targeting features toward shoppers and content creators on its platform, the company has also courted advertisers. Earlier this year, the social media platform created a new advertising format that allows marketers to automate the process of building personalized creative assets for specific users. Then in March, the company hosted its first international advertiser summit, providing content tailored to advertisers across the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Australia and Canada.
Other tech platforms have been experimenting with augmented reality tools to help homebound users test out products as well as social commerce rises. Snapchat, in particular, has been integrating AR tools into its business and has invested in the technology in other ways, including through a recent deal with WPP to create AR products that connect to e-commerce tools.
Etsy, Amazon and Google, among many other companies, have recently launched their own AR features or experiences to engage customers and encourage shopping. Social media firms as well have been leading the charge on integrating more features to encourage shopping on their platforms: Facebook, for example, announced plans in June to add AR product testing features to Instagram.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Tatiana Walk-Morris, Khareem Sudlow
