This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission on sales generated through such links. Read my FTC disclaimer for more information.
Idea Pins (formerly Story Pins) are one of Pinterest’s newest features. I was able to beta test this feature with my own blog as well as on some of my client accounts. At first, my colleagues and I speculated that they wouldn’t last but we quickly realized there was a huge push for Story Pins and for Pinterest users to create and engage with them. Since Idea Pins officially launched for all accounts, here is the Pinteresting guide to Idea Pins.
What are Idea Pins?
Behind every good idea, there is a story.
Pinterest
Much like Instagram or Facebook stories, Pinterest Idea Pins have a similar meaning. They showcase behind the scene moments, the ideas behind their stories, recipes in the making, etc. Pinners want to see more of those people behind those scroll-stopping Pins and Idea Pins are a great way to do that. Idea Pins are also more real-time focused and help your audience become engaged.
An Idea Pin will look like this in your Pinterest feed. They are in a swipe format where Pinterest users can swipe through multiple pages of photos/videos for that particular Idea Pin. These photos are a little outdated and were taken when Idea Pins were Story Pins. They might look different in the feed. See below:
As you can see on this muffin recipe Story Pin I created, it got nearly 10k impressions, 169 swipe throughs and 14 saves. Not bad. But here’s the catch…Idea Pins are not clickable. At least not yet. I really hope they will be in the near future. Pinterest is in the works to allow Idea Pins to be promoted as an ad.
One cool feature on Idea Pins is that they encourage Pinterest users to follow the creator behind the Idea Pin. While I have not seen an unusual increase in my follower growth compared to normal, they do tend to get a lot of engagement fairly quickly. Here’s another Story Pin I created that did really well:
Pinterest analytics now has metrics just for Idea Pins so that you can see how they are working for you.
The Pinteresting Guide to Idea Pins & Idea Pin Strategies
My strategy for All Natural & Good’s Idea Pins is to create an Idea Pin whenever I want to create a new blog post. Recipes are easy ones to create Idea Pins for. What I do is take photos and short video clips as I make the recipe and post it as an Idea Pin. I also create a blog post for the recipe and create a regular Pin for that blog post. I do it all at once so I do not have to go back later to fill in the gaps.
There are definitely more steps involved with this approach but it does get all of the work out of the way at once each time you create new content. It also gives your audience a way to be more involved behind the scenes so they can learn more about you, your personality and your brand.
For those non-recipe creators, think of other ways you can create Idea Pins. If you are in fashion, try on some outfits or give suggestions for outfit accessories. For photography, post some BTS footage of your photoshoots. These are just a couple of examples to get you started.
Idea Pin Tips
I have been attending the webinars from the Pinterest Creators team lately and Idea Pins has been a huge topic. Here are some of the highlights they discussed for story pins.
- Use keywords within your Idea Pins so Pinterest can better index your Pin in search, the Pinterest home feed and related Pin suggestions.
- Add up to 10 relevant tags to enhance your Idea Pins and get your Idea Pin in the eyes of your ideal audience.
- Add a call to action and text using their font and templates options. Again, these are not clickable but you can still encourage people to follow you or visit your website.
- Use a compelling image or video as the Idea Pin cover.
- Use 3 or more pages using a mix of images or short videos (less than 15 seconds).
- Create Idea Pins once a week to build brand awareness and even your followers.
Has anyone else tried Idea Pins yet? How do you feel about them? Have they helped you in any way so far?
