Pinterest introduces Idea Pins globally and launches new Creator discovery features

We’ve heard from our more than 475 million Pinners that they want to engage with video and explore content directly on Pinterest. Today, we’re introducing Idea Pins, our multi-page video format, to all Creators in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This new access and capability will empower anyone with a business account to create inspiring content and better interact with their audiences, building more engaged communities directly on Pinterest.

Idea Pins make it easy for Creators to publish high-quality, long-lasting, save-able content directly to Pinterest. In fact, the number of Idea Pins created daily has grown by nearly 4x since January.* With these updates, we’re highlighting the people behind the content and encouraging Pinners to follow Creators and engage with the ideas that they find.

Evan Sharp, Co-Founder, Chief Design and Creative Officer, Pinterest.

‘We believe that the best inspiration comes from people who are fuelled by their passions and want to bring positivity and creativity into the world. From Creators to hobbyists to publishers, Pinterest is a place where anyone can publish great ideas and discover inspiring content. With Idea Pins, Creators are empowered to share their passions and inspire and grow their audiences. By helping people on Pinterest to spark creativity, try new things, build confidence and be themselves, we believe that Creators are truly helping with our mission of bringing inspiration to create a life that you love.’

The story behind Idea Pins

Behind every good idea, there is a story. In September 2020, we launched Story Pins in beta to test this effort with a small group of creators. Over the past eight months, we’ve listened to our Creators and Pinners and evolved the product to include new features and functionalities against a long-term vision that is completely unique to what’s out there in the market: Idea Pins.

Idea Pins are an evolution of Story Pins, with a fresh name to better match the uniqueness of a product that empowers creators to share long-lasting ideas and not ephemeral stories. Starting today, Creators will have a suite of new publishing tools including, video-first features, fresh editing tools and updates to make creating Idea Pins easier and more creative.

Idea Pin creation now includes:

Video recording and editing for up to 20 pages of content
Voice-over recording so that Creators can add their own personal voice
Music selection by Epidemic Sound
Ghost-mode transition tools (perfect for those before-and-afters!)
Detail pages for instructions or ingredients
Interactive elements such as people tagging and stickers
Multi-draft save so that Creators can publish more ideas
Export options to share content beyond Pinterest
Topic tagging – a publishing feature that helps connect content to relevant interests
The Creator Code – our content policy designed to keep Pinterest a positive and inspiring place

Building an engaged community

To help Creators to find an audience, we’re introducing new ways for Pinners to discover Idea Pins. Starting from today, all Pinners in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland will see Idea Pins from Creators that they follow right at the top of their home feed. These ‘following streams’ give Pinners a new way to see fresh content from Creators that they follow and discover new Creators to engage with. We're also showing Idea Pins in more places, including search, the Today Tab and the top of Creator profiles. Idea Pins will be displayed in this special full-screen stream view, designed to engage and inspire Pinners.

For Pinners, this means that the ideas within a Pin will be more engaging and actionable. In the past month, we’ve seen 9x the average comment rate on Idea Pins compared to standard Pins.* With Idea Pins, Pinners can see the process of inspiration unfold – from the initial spark, through personalisation, iteration and conversation, ending with tries (and fails!)

Helping Creators to succeed on Pinterest

In addition to the new Creator Code and moderation features and the content-claiming portal that we announced last month, we’re building tools to help Creators to build their presence on Pinterest, focusing on published content (such as Idea Pins) first and foremost. We're introducing new updates to Analytics to help Creators to learn what content resonates with their audience. A new ‘Followers and profile visits’-driven metric will show Creators how their Idea Pins have driven deeper engagement with their account. We've also made it easier to access other important engagement metrics like Saves, comments and reactions, all of which affect Creators' content distribution.

Shahira Allen, Content Creator and Founder of Afro Glory

“Idea Pins are such a unique way to create and share fun, educational and evergreen content. I've noticed a huge growth in engagement on my Pinterest account since posting Idea Pins, and knowing that Pinners are enjoying my content has made me even more motivated to keep sharing and creating looks I love.”

Milly Bannister, Founder of GRLKND & Pinterest Creator

“As the founder of Aussie charity startup, ALLKND, I’m focused on sharing our important mission of equipping youth with mental health literacy far and wide, in an energetic, accessible way, and Idea Pins allow for exactly that. While our Pinterest board content is quite crisp, clean and educational, Idea Pins make room for a more candid, personal, 'behind the scenes' narrative to unfold. I love that with Idea Pins our hard work as creators stays on our Pinterest page indefinitely, as opposed to just 24 hours like on other platforms. This has enabled us to grow our community and see the high levels of engagement in real-time.”

These updates are meant to give anyone who has something to teach, share, or say the ability to share it with a community of Pinners who are looking for their ideas. We know that many Creators are focused on growing their business, as they grow their audience. That’s why we introduced our first-ever Creator Fund last month and have started testing Creator and brand collaborations with a select number of Creators, including Domonique Panton, Peter Som, and GrossyPelosi. We’re also testing product tagging within Idea Pins so that Creators can make their content shoppable. We’re still exploring where Creators can monetise their work in meaningful and scalable ways, while reaching the audiences that are most significant for them. We’ll have more to share about how this programme continues to evolve in the coming months.

We’re on a journey to build a platform where Pinners around the world can discover content and ideas that feel personalised, relevant and reflective of who they are. With an ecosystem of richer, fresher, more inclusive content from a new generation of Creators, we believe that Pinterest can be home to the most inspiring content, with the most inspiring people fuelling the ideas and inspiration behind that content.