Pinterest has updated its Acceptable Use Policy and this is going to directly impact how you present your business on Pinterest. Pinterest’s ultimate goal is to make the site a place where users come for inspiration and share their thoughts and ideas.

Here are the key points:

1. Paying Pinners

The biggest change to Pinterest’s policy is businesses are no longer allowed to directly compensate users for pinning, following or unfollowing. Pinterest came out with the rule because the company wanted people to Pin authentically. Businesses need to be careful moving forward and ensure they are in compliance with the Pinterest policies.

2. Accessing Data

The next update from Pinterest is their stance on accessing (scraping) information off of the Pinterest platform. Pinterest does not have an API and the only way to date to gather data was to scrape the data off of Pinterest to determine metrics such as followers, repins, likes, etc. With the updated policy you aren’t allowed to access, search, scrape, download or change Pinterest or anything on it. This means that Business temporarily will not have as much access to data as they once had.

3. Contests

When it comes to contests on Pinterest, there has been a shift in making sure that the contests do not appear to be “spammy”. In keeping with their policy of wanting Pinterest users to be pinning authentically, Pinterest has cracked down on making sure that users are not required to pin from a selection, pin the contest rules, or ask for votes based on pins, likes, or boards. This gives the user the ability to pin whatever image they want when entering the contest, keeping in line with how Pinterest wants its site to be used. By prohibiting the use of votes based on pins, likes, or boards, Pinterest has levelled the playing field by allowing every entrant to have an equal chance at winning the contest. Business needs to be aware of the new rule when crafting the contest rules.

What This All Means

These changes show that Pinterest is doing everything to prevent businesses from maximising the system. They want you to grow your presence organically and the content to be shared because the users want to share it and not because they are being paid or incentivized otherwise.

What Can Your Business Do?

The end game is still for Business to attract followers, engage them, and ultimately drive revenue. There are a variety of tips and tricks to help your business drive engagement

• Pin engaging content
• Follow your active followers
• Add a Pinterest tab to your Facebook page
• Tweet your Pins
• Add the Pinterest button to your homepage

It is easy to do and allow you to get a very wide exposure. This should encourage businesses continuing to expand their communities on Pinterest as the network is already one of the key traffic drivers for retailers and Business and will continue to drive successful and meaningful engagement.