Please note that recent updates from Pinterest suggest that they are moving away from Idea Pins. Soon all features available for Idea Pins will be available for any type of Pin. As of now, if you upload a video on the mobile app, you need to upload it as an Idea Pin. However, if you upload a video on the computer, you can choose between a Video Pin and Idea Pin. We are closely monitoring the platform and will provide updates as changes take place.
Social media platforms are constantly updating and changing, and it can be exhausting to keep track of those updates to stay current. Pinterest is no exception to this rule! They announced Idea Pins in the spring of 2021 and have been tweaking them ever since.
Love it or hate it, Pinterest is an important traffic driver for food blogs. And based on advice from our Pinterest Expert, Kate Ahl, we know that using a variety of pin formats (Static Pins, Idea Pins, Video Pins) on Pinterest can help improve your performance on the platform and result in greater growth than using Static Pins alone.
So… what are Idea Pins? I’m so glad you asked!
What are Idea Pins?
Pinterest developed Idea Pins to provide creators with a new way to connect with users beyond the standard Static Pin. These Idea Pins are “multi page video format” pins from Pinterest in which you can include up to 20 slides per pin. In other words, each Idea Pin appears as a set of multiple vertical videos, static images, lists, or custom text, all in a single pin.
You can think of Idea Pins as Pinterest’s response to Instagram Stories and TikTok, and users view them in a similar manner. Unlike Instagram Stories, however, Idea Pins don’t disappear after 24 hours – they stick around!
This means that a user might search for, and save, your Idea Pin months (or even years!) from now. Users can find Idea Pins in their Home Feed, or via search, and you can spot an Idea Pin by the small time clock in the upper left corner.
You can also add music, text overlays, voiceovers, stickers, and people, product, and topic tagging to your Idea Pins. Looking for more information and specifications on how to create your first Idea Pin? Pinterest has you covered.
How can food creators use Idea Pins?
Creating Idea Pins is a great opportunity to reach a new audience on Pinterest and share more in-depth, creative content than you might be able to with a Static Pin. But don’t worry, you don’t necessarily need to develop brand-new content for your Idea Pins — repurposing recipe videos you’ve already created for other social media platforms is an easy way to get started with Idea Pins!
If you’re sharing a recipe in an Idea Pin, the Detail Pages feature allows you to add information like ingredients, instructions, serving size, and other notes for your recipe right into the pin.
And… links are coming to Idea Pins so that you can bring traffic back to your site! This is a recent addition to Idea Pins and is currently only available to some users. Pinterest will be rolling out this feature to all users in 2023 — great news for food bloggers everywhere! You’ll see the link in the upper right-hand corner of the Idea Pin — check out this example from The Foodie Takes Flight!
Need some inspiration for Idea Pins as a food creator? Try:
- Teaching a kitchen skill
- Making an easy recipe from start to finish
- Sharing a quick tip
- Doing a taste test
- Rounding up a collection of recipes featuring a different recipe photo in each slide
- Compiling your favorite kitchen tools and including shoppable tag
Kate Ahl, our Pinterest Expert, has shared that Idea Pins are one of the most effective ways to grow a new Pinterest account, so if you’re a new food blogger… what are you waiting for?!
Want to learn more about Pinterest?Best Practices for Idea Pins
Now that you know what Idea Pins are and how to use them, we wanted to share a few best practices (once again with help from our Pinterest Expert, Kate!) to keep in mind when creating Idea Pins for your Pinterest page:
- Add up to 10 Topic Tags (like ‘vegan desserts’ or ‘slow cooker recipes’) to your Idea Pins to help users discover your content!
- The best image aspect ratio for Idea Pins is 9:16 or 1080 x 1920 pixels.
- Videos in your Idea Pins should be between 3-60 seconds each.
- Make 2-3 Idea Pins for each Static Pin (i.e. for every new recipe you create).
- Don’t pay too much attention to the metrics for your Idea Pins for at least 6 months – give them time to gain traction.
And that’s a wrap on our Idea Pins deep dive!
Now we’re curious… have you tried using Idea Pins on Pinterest? What has worked well for you?
So excited that they finally added links! Although, I’m not seeing the feature on my account. I wonder if it’s something they are slowly rolling out?
Hey, Ashley!
I just checked in with Kate Ahl (our FBP Pinterest Expert) about this, and she said that idea pin links are only available for a select number of people so far. However, Pinterest has said they will roll them out to more people in 2023. We’ll add a note to this post with that info as well to help clear things up!
The content was not only informative but also exceptionally well-structured, making it easy for readers to grasp the concept and understand its practical applications. What sets this article apart is the author’s ability to blend insightful information with practical tips, allowing aspiring food bloggers like myself to see the immense value of incorporating Idea Pins into our social media strategies. Moreover, the article’s positive tone and encouragement throughout created a sense of enthusiasm and motivation, making it an absolute joy to read. Overall, this article is a fantastic resource that has left me feeling inspired and eager to explore the possibilities of Idea Pins as a creative way to engage with my audience and grow my food blog.
So glad you found the post useful!