Pinterest網(wǎng)站試水商業(yè)化策略
????圖片社交分享網(wǎng)站Pinterest最近頻現(xiàn)大動作,相當(dāng)引人注目。近幾個月來,Pinterest大筆融資,招聘高管并積極向海外擴(kuò)張,但是卻遲遲未披露其營收策略。不過,這家初創(chuàng)公司最新的舉動表明,該公司不僅十分認(rèn)真地在考慮擴(kuò)大業(yè)已十分龐大的用戶群,而且還在試圖解決其困擾已久的商業(yè)化問題。
????今年10月,Pinterest網(wǎng)站融資2.25億美元,估值也一舉達(dá)到了38億美元。9月,Pinterest推出了“贊助商圖釘”(promoted pins)活動的實(shí)驗(yàn)性版本(不產(chǎn)生營收)。Pinterest將贊助商的圖釘(比如展示手工藝品、時尚或是食譜的圖片)整合至用戶主頁上顯示的常規(guī)內(nèi)容中,以實(shí)現(xiàn)對品牌的推廣。這是Pinterest第二次對其內(nèi)容進(jìn)行貨幣化的嘗試。2012年,Pinterest曾與營銷聯(lián)盟工具Skimlinks合作,但由于營銷聯(lián)盟系統(tǒng)缺乏透明度,用戶反饋并不好。這一次,Pinterest準(zhǔn)備公開標(biāo)明網(wǎng)站的盈利區(qū)域。 ????自上周四起,Pinterest便開始對電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站開發(fā)者們開放部分實(shí)時數(shù)據(jù)工具。這些工具可以讓這些網(wǎng)站的營銷人員了解自己產(chǎn)品的“圖釘”圖片的流行趨勢,他們也可以使用這些數(shù)據(jù),在自己的網(wǎng)站上向消費(fèi)者展示這些熱門的圖釘圖片。目前,Pinterest的合作商包括迪斯尼、蘭登書屋、塔吉特、雀巢、沃爾瑪和Zappos等知名品牌。Pinterest發(fā)言人羅瑞?魯西奇在郵件中表示,與這些供應(yīng)商合作的優(yōu)勢之一,就是在這些網(wǎng)站上營造一種無縫的用戶體驗(yàn)。“當(dāng)你在瀏覽網(wǎng)頁時,可以直接為網(wǎng)站中的圖片打上‘圖釘’,而卻絲毫不影響你的購物、閱讀或網(wǎng)頁瀏覽。”Pinterest將免費(fèi)為開發(fā)者提供這些工具,而Pinterest網(wǎng)站合作伙伴營銷主管史蒂夫?帕特里奇則對《華爾街日報》表示,此舉“可以很好地展示Pinterest所作的工作。” ????Pinterest網(wǎng)站目前工作的主題似乎正是建立合作關(guān)系。11月6日,Pinterest宣布《舊金山紀(jì)事報》總裁、負(fù)責(zé)該報數(shù)字和營銷業(yè)務(wù)的喬安妮?布拉德福德?lián)魏献麝P(guān)系部門主管。布拉德福德將負(fù)責(zé)Pinterest與廣告商的業(yè)務(wù)聯(lián)絡(luò),建立“全球性商業(yè)與內(nèi)容的合作關(guān)系”。《舊金山紀(jì)事報》發(fā)表聲明稱,布拉德福德計劃與母公司赫斯特國際集團(tuán)(Hearst Corp)密切合作,以建立其與Pinterest的內(nèi)容合作關(guān)系。而一旦Pinterest網(wǎng)站啟動廣告銷售業(yè)務(wù),作為合作關(guān)系部門主管的布拉德福德也將領(lǐng)導(dǎo)Pinterest的廣告銷售團(tuán)隊(duì)。布拉德福德曾經(jīng)在Yahoo!、迪蒙德傳媒(Demand Media)以及微軟公司的市場和銷售部門任職,她的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和技能將幫助Pinterest開發(fā)更加穩(wěn)固的數(shù)字營收渠道。 |
????Digital scrapbooking site Pinterest is stepping into the spotlight in a big way. In recent months, the company has drawn attention through large funding efforts, high-level hires, and international expansion, but still has yet to reveal a proper revenue strategy. But the startup's recent actions signal not only that it is serious about growing its already impressive audience but also tackling that thorny monetization issue. ????Pinterest raised $225 million in October, valuing the company at $3.8 billion. In September, Pinterest also launched an experimental (i.e. non-revenue generating) version of its "promoted pins" campaign. Promoted pins will eventually advertise brands by incorporating company-sponsored pins -- images that display crafts, fashion, recipes, etc. --into the regular content that appears on a user's home page. This is Pinterest's second attempt at monetizing its content after an experiment in 2012 with affiliate link software Skimlinks. Then, users were upset by the lack of transparency in the affiliate links system. This time, Pinterest has plans to label more clearly which areas of the site are revenue-generating. ????As of Thursday, Pinterest also made available some of its real-time data software to developers who work for e-commerce sites. These tools will allow those sites' marketers to know which of their products' pins are trending, and they can use that data to display their popular pins to their customers on the partner's own site. So far, partners include such big names as Disney (DIS), Random House , Target (TGT), Nestlé, Wal-Mart (WMT), and Zappos. Pinterest spokeswoman Malorie Lucich said in an email that one benefit of these partnerships is a seamless user experience on the sites. "While you're browsing, you can pin directly from the site, so there's no need to interrupt your shopping, reading, or browsing." Pinterest is giving these tools away free to developers, but Pinterest's Steve Patrizi, head of partner marketing, told the Wall Street Journalthat for users, this move is "good exposure ... to see what Pinterest does." ????Building partnerships seems to be a current theme of Pinterest's. On Nov. 6, Pinterest announced that Joanne Bradford, San Francisco Chronicle president and overseer of its digital and marketing efforts, will join as head of partnerships. In her new position, she will be a liaison between Pinterest and advertisers, forging "both commercial and content partnerships globally." According to a statement from the Chronicle, Bradford already has plans to work closely with its parent company, Hearst Corp., to develop a content relationship between it and Pinterest. As head of partnerships, she'll lead Pinterest's sales team once the company starts selling advertising. She held previous positions in marketing and sales at Yahoo! (YHOO), ????Demand Media (DMD), and Microsoft (MSFT), so her skill set will be useful in helping Pinterest break into more established digital revenue channels. |