Pinterest has introduced a new feature which could make it easier for customers to find you on the site. But it could also make it easier to discover related topics that belong on your Pinterest board and could attract more of your ideal customers too.
Pinterest Guided Search
Called Pinterest Guided Search, the feature enables users to define what they are looking for in a more narrow sense. So instead of entering a general search term and getting back lots of very general answers, Guided Search allows the user to break it down into more specific, more descriptive categories.
For small business owners who use Pinterest – especially those in a narrow niche – this could be good news. It will make it easier for customers to drill down from general products to more specific products or services and find you. It might also help you decide what to pin on your Pinterest page by giving you an idea of how broader topics related to your business lead to the more specific ones.
Currently only available as an app for iOS and Android mobile, Guided Search is extremely easy and intuitive to use. First, enter the general search term. For example, if you run an antique car business, you can start by entering the general search term “cars.”
As you can see from the screenshot above, entering “cars” then brings up a host of sub-categories. Just move the slider along until you see a sub-category closely resembling yours. Tapping on it will refine the search results and they are surprisingly very accurate.
If you want a red car for example, you’ll get it. Unlike Google which will give you red cars, red buses, and everything else in the world red. The search gives you a good idea of what related topics a customer might look through in an effort to find your page.
If you like, you can keep going, tapping sub-category after sub-category until you get to the end. Some of them can go on forever.
Now, after you’ve gotten an idea of the kinds of topics that might draw a customer to your sight, you may want to use Pinterest’s Guided Search in another way. Use it to search for related photos that you could pin to your Pinterest board, making the page more attractive and easier for your ideal client to find.
Images: Pinterest
First comes search, then comes ads. Looks like Pinterest is getting a little more serious about monetizing this amazing platform and audience they’ve built.
Mark O'Neill
And the usual “slippery slope” begins. They have the audience, but will they end up alienating the audience with all these changes. The guided search is cool, but the ads? Hmmm….
Earlier this year, I read that Pinterest was going to be introducing advertising this past April. Hopefully this ‘guided search’ feature will be the prelude a prelude to their advertising platform but something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath