Small online businesses, take note – Pinterest and Instagram recently announced the upcoming release of “buy” buttons, taking social media marketing to a whole new level. These new features will not only make it easier for consumers to shop on their mobile devices, but it will also help businesses reach their target audiences on social media.
Below is the scoop on how these new tools will help your ecommerce business.
Pinterest Releasing Buyable Pins for U.S. Shoppers and Businesses
In just a few weeks, Pinterest will be releasing Buyable Pins, allowing Pinners in the United States to make purchases of some of their favorite products without leaving the app.
Users will know when a product is available for purchase by looking at the same search tools available now, such as home feed and boards. When the price is blue, it means the product is buyable. To check out, users will just need to tap on the “Buy It” button and make the purchase via credit card, ApplePay, or Pay Pal.
Source: Pinterest
Some of the companies that Pinterest has partnered with include Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Kate Spade and Nordstrom. It is also partnering with ecommerce platforms Shopify and Demandware. Best of all, Pinterest will not take any percentage of a business’s profit from the sales derived from Buyable Pins. Shipping will also be left in the hands of the individual business.
If you are interested in selling your products through the Buyable Pins, Pinterest has set up a waitlist to inform businesses once the tool is available to them.
U.S. shoppers who access the Pinterest app on their iPhones or iPads, will be able to use Buyable Pins by end of June. The company is working on a later release for Androids and desktops.
Instagram is Giving Businesses More Advertising Power with Buy Buttons
Instagram has announced it is launching new ad tools – “Show Now,” “Install Now,” and “Sign Up” buttons – that take users to a mini-browser within the app, allowing them to take the sought-after action.
Source: AdWeek
To make advertising available to businesses of all sizes, the company will be integrating its ad-buying tools with those of Facebook. These new tools will include enhanced targeting options based on age, location, gender, interests, etc. Instagram is also launching a new API that will allow advertisers to easily manage multiple ad variations and targeting options instead of having to do it manually.
However, Instagram is not announcing in-app commerce (i.e. the ability to process payments within the app) – at least, not today. As Global Head of Business and Brand Development James Quarles states, Instagram is “watching the space closely. We want to help reduce the friction from the point of inspiration to transaction.”
Instagram plans to release these new formats gradually and it will start with testing the tools in Spain.