Per an email from Pinterest founder, Ben, in my inbox this morning, it sounds like Pinterest is starting to get serious about how to monetize. They've announced that they're dipping their toes into the idea of sponsored pins. If they do it well, this could be great news for marketers, especially of products in popular Pinterest categories.
The note explicitly says they're testing things out first: they are unveiling a batch or two for the holiday season that aren't paid yet, just to get feedback on how (and if) these pins are relevant. Learning how avid pinners (admittedly like myself) are responding to them. They also share with pinners that these sponsored posts are partially to help ensure that Pinterest is "around for a long time," keeping our "wish boards" alive for when we need them. (Pinterest is particularly popular for future planning like homes, weddings and children.) Hopefully this helps people overcome their visceral reaction to sponsored anything in a new (free) social medium, and simply choose which pins they interact with as they normally would.
I think they've got a good chance at doing this well, and if the Pinterest community bites, I'll be checking with some of our clients in the travel, cooking and product industries to see how we can make these work for us (even more so than Pinterest already does in those categories).
Check out the note from Pinterest this morning:
