Pinterest’s Engineering team recently released a Pinterest algorithm overview, detailing updates to the social media platform’s algorithm and how those changes could help diversify the home feed, better recommend content to users, and potentially increase representation on the platform. It’s all about user experience, right? Whether you’re a casual Pinterest user, business, or blogger, you need to be in the know about how these algorithm changes affect you.
- What Changes Did Pinterest Make?
- Why Did Pinterest Make Algorithm Changes?
- How Can Brands Succeed on Pinterest?
What Changes Did Pinterest Make?
In the last few months, Pinterest has made updates to its algorithm to better curate pin content for users. Before this update, the platform relied strictly on engagement data to recommend pins. This means that the pins showing in the home feed were displaying because they ranked higher in terms of engagement.
Now, with more filters and preferences built into the algorithm, Pinterest can look at more data beyond just engagement when it comes to pins. This is leading to more diverse content being shown to Pinterest users along with more relevant content recommendations, which helps keep Pinners on the platform longer.
Why Did Pinterest Make Algorithm Changes?
Pinterest wanted to diversify and better recommend content by introducing controllable distribution. This new system adapts in real-time after pins have been ranked traditionally. Think of it as another search filter applied to what users are searching for.
In addition to the typical filters used in the algorithm, there’s another layer so that pins can be filtered out and ranked in the feed based on relevance, newness, and specific targeting goals. Content is then ranked higher or lower based on the scores of content type and shows up in the feed accordingly.
The tweaks to the platform’s home feed rankings have also allowed Pinterest to quickly adapt the home feed based on curation goals that help distinguish between different pin types and compare them accordingly, which improves upon the ability to interpret this model.
After releasing this update, Pinterest saw great results. Key findings included:
- They were able to show more relevant pins to users by improving the accuracy of their predictions.
- They improved engineering velocity by separating the model predictions from the ranking layer. They can now iterate on ranking functions by modifying utility terms and do model iterations.
- They made it easier to quickly adjust rankings based on other business’ targeting needs.
How Can Brands Succeed on Pinterest?
So what does this mean when it comes to using Pinterest for business? Here are a few recommendations for your brand’s social media marketing and content marketing strategy moving forward.
Create More Video Content
It’s no surprise that video content is popular on Pinterest in terms of engagement, as 66% of users say that videos add to the experience more significantly than videos on other social media sites. Video content has been dominating other social platforms, so it makes sense that Pinterest followed suit in highlighting and preferring video content in its feed. If your brand has a content strategy, video better be at the top of your list.
Use Tags to Categorize
Another key piece of your Pinterest content strategy should be tags. Similar to how hashtags function on other platforms, tags work to categorize content and help that content be seen by Pinterest users. This may factor into the relevancy preference Pinterest gives when ranking content. Tags can also help you track conversion rates. Your brand should be utilizing a tagging strategy to boost your pins.
Test Different Types of Content
You can’t expect there to be a 100% success rate with every piece of content you push on Pinterest, so it’s smart to continually test different content. Try videos every few posts to supplement posts that are photo or text-heavy. That way, your most fervent fans won’t feel like they’re getting the same content again and again from your brand.
Looking to get started using Pinterest for your business? Hurrdat can develop and manage a Pinterest strategy for your brand that can help you engage your customers on social media. Learn more about our social media marketing services today!
