Pinterest Outlines 6 Ideas for Making Best Use of Idea Pins

Idea Pins are Pinterest’s take on the Stories format, a full-screen, video-aligned content option that provides a range of new creative opportunities, aligning with broader consumption trends.

And if you’re wondering how to make best use of the option, you’re in luck – this week, Pinterest has outlined six concept ideas for compelling Idea Pins, which could help you formulate a better approach to the option.

You can check out Pinterest’s overview here, but in this post, we’ll take a look at the key tips.

First off, Pinterest notes that the concept of your Idea Pin is the essential consideration, regardless of which approach you take.

As explained by Pinterest:

“The foundation of a great Idea Pin is a great idea. Plan around your passions, picking topics and ideas you genuinely care about. It’s easier to make great content when you’re excited about it, and your authenticity will come through in your final content.”

Once you have a focus in mind, Pinterest says that these six formats have proven to be among the most effective for Idea Pins thus far.

1. Instructional

As with other Stories formats, instructional Idea Pins can be a great way to maximize engagement, while they also more specifically align to Pinterest’s audience. You can use the instructional approach to teach new skills, provide tutorials or recommend specific products, which can be a great, engaging way to showcase your products/services in the display.

2. Quick Tip

Another good usage of the format is providing quick tips and insights that can be captured in a few frames. This could relate to usage options for your product, handy insights about your industry, etc.

3. Comparison

Highlighting the different ways in which a product can be used is another engaging Idea Pin option, with Pinterest noting that this can be effective for recipe hacks, home decor ideas, fashion and more.

4. Storyteller

The Idea Pin format can also be great for storytelling, with the frame-by-frame approach enabling the story to unfold. You can use this to show, for example, how you create your products step-by-step.

5. Conversation

Much like Instagram’s Question Sticker, you can take a similar approach to Idea Pins, by prompting your audience for questions, then replying to each. Pinterest doesn’t have a sticker that enables direct response, as such, but you can still take note of user questions then use them as inspiration.

6. Showcase

Finally, Pinterest also suggests that a basic showcase can be a great, engaging Idea Pin option, which involves simply showing a process in action.

In each case you can also invite your audience to respond with their own Take on the idea, adding more potential for engagement, which further underlines the push towards participatory/instructional approaches that invite action from the user.

Pinterest hasn’t provided any solid numbers on Idea Pin usage as yet, but it has noted that the format has seen significant user interest, and with more people gravitating towards short video content, it makes sense to consider Idea Pins in your broader Pin content approach.

At the least, they’re likely worth an experiment, and these tips could be the starting point for your own Idea Pin strategy moving forward.