New in Social Media: Buyable Pins and Targeting Features

Pinterest and Instagram had a big week in the social media world. Read what they have in store in The Motherhood’s social media round-up!

Pinterest to Enter E-commerce Sector with Buyable Pins

Pinterest’s long-awaited ‘buyable pins’ feature was announced earlier this week, providing an option for users to browse and purchase items directly on the social media site.

Pretty soon, iOS products will begin to show blue ‘buy it’ buttons on pins from retailers like Macy’s and Neiman Marcus, and consumers will be able to purchase products with a credit card or Apple Pay. Users will even be able to search for products by price.

Pinterest founder and CEO Ben Silbermann said, “Pinterest is already designed to work like a catalogue, so we wanted to find a way to weave buyable pins into the pages people already know. Buyable pins are a simple and secure way to buy the products you love right from inside Pinterest.”

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Pinterest will not receive a profit from items sold through the new feature, nor will merchants be charged a fee to use the platform. Pinterest hopes this model will generate revenue by selling promoted buyable pins and ads.

Instagram Announces Direct-Response Ads, New Targeting Features

Instagram continues to build momentum with its ad platforms and is looking to offer more business-driven results for advertisers. The photo-sharing site plans to roll out ads that will allow its users to take action directly on a single-photo ad by signing up on a website, purchasing a product or downloading an app.

Like its parent company Facebook, Instagram will begin targeting consumers based on demographics and interests, allowing advertisers to reach niche audiences on the app.

Similarly, Instagram will follow in Facebook’s footsteps and use their infrastructure for buying, managing and measuring of ads’ success on the app. Instagram plans to make their advertising features available through an Instagram Ads API and Facebook ad buying interfaces.

Tell us your thoughts on these developments in the comments!