Pinterest the latest platform for advertisers

As the popularity of Pinterest continues to grow, the social platform is now making changes to become a contender for advertisers.

It is now planning to introduce a wave of new features and measuring tools, which aim to make the platform a more attractive option for businesses to spend their ad budgets.

Of course, with Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat all major players, it will need to do something different to stand out from the crowd, and it seems to have found a unique aim.

Pinterest intends to position itself as a search engine which can track the entire customer journey, from inspiration right through to the point of purchase. With over two billion searches happening on the platform each month, this alternative angle could prove to be extremely successful.

In fact, just three months after the launch of promoted pins, over 1,000 brands are now advertising on the platform, including the likes of Topshop, Made.com and Centre Parks.

Matt Whitehead, partner manager at Pinterest, stated at an event in London last month: "There is a gap which we’re working to fill. Pinterest of now probably can’t compete with direct response budgets, but within the next 12 months we’ll have new targeting formats that will bring Pinterest and those other channels closer together."