Four Pinterest reporting tools worth watching

Digital marketing has always been held to a different level of standards (some might even say a higher level) when it comes to tracking performance and optimizing for success. And given the speed at which digital trends and consumer trends move, keeping up can be a significant undertaking. This is true not only when adapting digital strategies to account for shifts in trends, but also in defining the tools to measure results.

Take Pinterest, for example. This site took consumers and marketers by storm right from its introduction in 2010. Pinterest now ranks as the 24^th most popular website in the U.S. and has grown from 10 million total visits to over 17 million since the start of 2012.

So why do we care so much about a social platform like Pinterest? It’s simple. Traffic – a lot of traffic. According to Shareaholic, Pinterest generates 3.6% of referrals, which is more than Google+ (0.22%), YouTube (1.05%), Reddit (0.83%) and LinkedIN (0.20%) combined – and there is still a lot of room to grow.

Progressive brands looking to expand their social footprint were quick to establish Pinboards and Pins to extend the reach of their content and drive traffic. Content was organized. Photos were grouped and Pinned, Pinners were followed and cross-channel integration was under way. Life was good.

But after the dust settled and the Pinterest hangover subsided, questions about performance and what Pinterest is actually doing for brands naturally began to emerge. As predicted, participating brands saw a nice bump in referral traffic. However, identifying how content was being used and shared by consumers remained a bit of a mystery.

Despite the power of the Pinterest platform, its native reporting tools leave a lot to be desired. Aside from quantifying the number of followers, Pins and Repins, marketers have been left with very little to validate the investment and track performance. And while many speculate that Pinterest will inevitably launch their own, more robust suite of reporting tools, the demand for answers has produced a surge of start-ups looking to capitalize on the Pinterest craze and help marketers avoid a few ulcers.   

Here are four Pinterest reporting tools worth watching.

Curalate
Curalate is the first image-based analytics platform that enables tracking, optimization, measurement and monitoring of Pinterest content. It provides in-depth metrics to help marketers understand who users are and how they are engaging with a brand, both on and off their boards, in order to shape effective content strategies.

Since 85% of pins, repins, comments and likes originate from sites outside of Pinterest, Curalate monitors Pinterest activity coming from other websites in addition to engagement from Pinterest itself – through share buttons, Pin It browser buttons and referrals. At a glance, Curalate helps users see how successful their boards are, based on total Pins, Repins, Likes and Comments during a defined time period. It shows which boards are driving engagement and which need to be revamped.

PinReach
PinReach is a lot like Klout, but for Pinterest. PinReach is great for obtaining a quick snapshot of your Pinterest activity. Simply type in your Pinterest username, and PinReach gives you a score and generates graphs representing your Pinterest activity. It also shows your most popular pins and boards. This is useful for determining which content your customers and followers consider most valuable.

PinReach also breaks down pins and boards individually by number of Repins and Favorites. The board stats in particular are useful because they help you measure the engagement level of an entire set of Pins. It’s important to know how users are interacting with your boards – a huge factor in obtaining new followers.

Pinfluencer
Pinfluencer focuses on helping you identify your most influential pinners. Then you can spend time connecting and building relationships with people who might become advocates for your brand. It’s also useful to identify these people because they have large networks of followers; when they Repin your content, a large audience will see it. Pinfluencer also provides tools for competitor comparison by showing you your competitors’ most popular Pins and influencers.

Reachli (Formerly Pinerly)
Reachli is still in Beta testing; however, when up and running, Reachli promises to be the ultimate Pinterest reporting tool. Essentially, you will be able to post Pins from within the Reachli site to Pinterest. Reachli will then monitor each Pin and provide you with stats. This will give you a really detailed look at how your Pins are being received by the Pinterest community. Reachli will also provide suggestions for new things to pin, and new users to follow, based on your previously posted content. With Reachli, you will also be able to schedule Pins to post – a very useful tool considering Saturday morning is one of the prime times.