Dive Brief:

• Social media analytics provider Sprout Social has announced an integration with Pinterest aimed at helping Sprout’s brand clients enhance and streamline the process of publishing marketing posts on the social network and reporting their performance, according to a Sprout Social press release.

• The capability, called Pinterest in Sprout, had been the most requested feature among Sprout customers, according to a blog post by Amber Washington, a product marketing specialist at Sprout. The feature’s aim is to help brands to more effectively manage functions like sourcing content, publishing Pins, managing interactions with Pinners and analyzing resulting data.

• In announcing the integration, Sprout also noted Pinterest’s own audience data that suggests about 200 million people use the social network every month, and that 87% of Pinterest users admit to having purchased a product due to the platform.

Dive Insight:

Purchasing through social media channels is on the rise. As an Avionos study from this past spring noted, about 55% of consumers surveyed admitted to making purchases through social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and yes, Pinterest. Pinterest’s own audience data further showed that users buying through Pinterest spend about 29% more than non-Pinterest users.

Hence, more retailers and brands are likely to be ready to build on the ways that they leverage Pinterest for marketing purposes. While many companies in the sector may already count themselves as a Pinterest marketing partner, they may want to broaden their use of the platform to include new Pinterest features. Home Depot, for example, recently started using Pinterest’s Shop the Look feature. They might also consider exploring how to use the platform more efficiently and effectively, which is where the Sprout Social integration comes in.

Sprout is essentially integrating Pinterest into a comprehensive view of all of a brand’s posts, campaigns and profiles. The integration enables Message Preview and Message Approval workflow visibility so that different parties can collaborate to make sure scheduling and content of posts are on track with the brand’s broader Pinterest strategy and social media marketing strategy. Sprout Social users can also view metrics for sent Pins across all Pinterest profiles as part of their Pinterest Performance Report.

Up until fairly recently, retailers and brands may not have been doing much more than dabbling in social media, using it for promotion or customer service communication in a general and sometimes inconsistent way. There is now growing evidence that some of them are becoming more deliberate and strategic in how they use these channels, perhaps with the realization that an individual social media user can sometimes be the best brand ambassador. That change in mindset requires a different approach for brands and an embrace of tools that can help them manage their increasingly important use of these channels.