Well, I guess Pinterest has always been interesting – I mean the word “interest” is in the name!! But now they’re adding official “Interests” just in case you didn’t know that 😉

This could be big news for those of you out there who use Pinterest for marketing efforts, or if you just like to get people to see your Pins! This will have some direct effects on the way you should be using Pinterest, plus some less direct effects for the way you treat Pinterest in the future. This is the biggest news since Rich Pins, so listen up!!

So what are Pinterest Interests? I thought they always had that?!

That’s what you might be thinking if you’ve already checked this feature out. If not, have a look now by clicking that three-bar menu icon in the top left, then click the bright, shiny “Explore Interests” link.

You’ll notice the layout is a little different from the rest of the site – I’ll get to that in a Mississippi second (is that a real thing? I’m from Georgia, and we just have regular seconds!). Basically this is a new way to connect you to new things you are likely to be (P)interested in by throwing out a bunch of searches that are relevant to things you Pin on the reg.

The more relevant sections are represented by big images, while the more outside-shot ones are smaller. It’s a nice little mix.

How Interests Work

Quite frankly – I’m not really sure! Sometimes the Pins make sense, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes you can’t figure out why some Pins are in the groups they are.

It’s an odd system, as far as I can tell. TechCrunch notes it’s still a little glitchy since it’s basically in Beta right now, and that may have some effects that Pinterest will iron out this year.

The best guess I have is that this aggregates description keywords, hashtags, Board titles, similar user habits, common Pins between users, etc. You’ll notice that the name of an Interest board isn’t necessarily a search query (look at the URL: it’s /explore/___, which is its own branch of the website).

What This Means for Pinterest Marketing

First, this means Pinterest is doing what every social outlet is doing – making a more immersive environment to keep users clicking and on-site longer while improving their overall experience. Expect to see more of that throughout 2014, and bear it in mind as you run campaigns.

Second, it means you’ve gotta get your Pins in order: relevant hashtags, descriptive descriptions, solid Board organization with relevant titles, links back to your website, etc. This has never been more important! You don’t want your pins to be buried in the Interests section once users start actually using it.

To learn more about it, you can check out the official Pinterest blog.

How do you plan to use Interests in your Pinterest marketing this year?