Pinterest adds conversation features that encourage users to dwell on Pins and move further down the sales funnel.

Pinterest has an answer for marketers who might have been skeptical about the direct payoff of their Pins. It recently added a new feature that allows Pinners to share and communicate directly about their favorite finds, which could boost engagement on the site and even increase off-site conversions.

Why is this feature important? It helps users communicate directly and in real-time about the brand content they’re clicking and sharing. It brings Twitter-like speed and Facebook-esque conversations to the site that’s always been a place to discover things autonomously.

In the past, brands could publish Pins and encourage followers to share them, but success depended on discovery. If a prospect didn’t happen to come across the company’s board or see one of its Pins on another person’s Page, they may never come see it. To fill in this missing link, Pinterest enabled sharing and launched promoted Pins – two additional ways for brands to get the right social content in front of interested consumers.

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Now, we add conversations to the mix. This feature adds an extra layer of engagement to the network, bringing social elements to the discoveries and interactions that already take place there. It’s no longer just one user browsing boards, looking for inspiration – Pinterest is now a place where users can have back-and-forth conversations about the ideas, experiences and products they see on the site. More engagement generally means greater opportunity for conversion, because it’s a signal of stronger buy-in.

If users are sharing recipes with one another in anticipation of an upcoming party, there’s a stronger likelihood they’ll commit to making those dishes and buying the necessary recipes in stores. If users are sending Pins of vacation destinations to their friends and family members, they may solidify interest in visiting those locations. The same applies to B2Bs that Pin visual content like custom graphics – users who share these with others and talk about them at length are more likely to visit the company’s page to verify its research and vet its offerings.  

Marketers can’t afford to shy away from Pinterest if their target audience is there  – and over one in five Americans are active on the network. While it may not be the primary place for every brand to deliver its content, it is a strong contender for supplementary engagement and conversions within active groups.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.