Third-Party Influencer Marketing Platforms Can Now Access Pinterest’s Content Marketing API

Pinfluencers? Pinterest opened up its content marketing API (application-programming interface) to third-party influencer marketing platforms earlier this week in the hopes of carving out a spot for itself in a sector that has been dominated by Instagram, and the new insights that will be available to brands and influencers are already creating a buzz among the influencer marketing community. “Opening up the Pinterest API to influencer platforms is huge for brands,” said Jose M. Sanchez, head of the creative studio at social advertising platform Smartly.io. “From our experience with paid social campaigns, combining influencer content, such as product-in-use videos, with direct response drives results and revenue across the board.” Pinterest, which topped 250 million monthly users earlier this month, touted the longevity of its Pins versus posts on other social platforms, saying that they can drive engagement for as long as 120 days. “We’re excited to make it easier for brands to discover and collaborate with influencers, as well as track their performance on third-party platforms," Pinterest head of content and creator products David Temple said. "Creators are essential to Pinterest, and we’re thrilled to provide additional tools and resources for them to leverage as they build relationships with businesses.” Brands and influencers will have access to insights including monthly views, followers, impressions, click-throughs and Pin saves, helping them craft their campaigns to deliver optimal return on investment. This new data was key for Jake Maughan, evp of campaign execution and integration at brand integration agency Branded Entertainment Network, who cited lack of data as one of the biggest obstacles to working with influencers. "While possible to get a baseline for data, it has been a very time- and labor-intensive process," Maughan explained. "In opening its API, Pinterest has opened up the floodgates to provide this data in a strategic move that could attract higher levels of ad spend from brands and marketers.” Ryan Detert, CEO of artificial-intelligence-powered influencer marketplace Influential, agreed. “By providing insights on influencers' handles and accounts, there is now going to be a larger economy for said influencers to be incentivized to create more content than ever before on the Pinterest platform," Detert said, adding that it's "been done" by platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and that "the market expects this to happen across every social platform to draw and retain their audience.” Eight Pinterest partners have already been working with the API: AspireIQ, Hypr, Influence.co, Izea, Klear, Mavrck, Obvious.ly and Open Influence. Hypr founder and CEO Gil Eyal was bullish about the new insights, as well. “Pinterest has been extremely accommodating in helping us build a solution that focuses on metrics that actually matter, as opposed to simple likes and shares," Eyal explained. "We don’t really care about follower numbers or how famous they are. We care about an actual influencer within a specific context.” Brands and content creators can find more information on Pinterest’s content marketing API and the eight launch partners on the Pinterest Marketing Partners site, and influencer marketing platforms interested in access to the API can contact Pinterest by emailing pmp-partnerships@pinterest.com.