Marketers want more from Pinterest's metrics

Regional - That Pinterest has a new analytics tool is a great step for the platform, but it must look at offering more depth, say marketers.While most digital agency executives have lauded Pinterest's long-awaited move to launch its own analytics tool, marketers themselves seem to be expecting more from Pinterest. Pinterest made the announcement a few days ago on its blog.Veronique Meffert, head of group digital marketing, group marketing and distribution, Great Eastern, said that the tool was a good and much awaited step that would help marketers understand what type of pins are driving brand awareness.But she added that it needed more depth. "Yet we still would welcome deeper insights that go beyond reach into a more qualitative assessment of the business impact made. So we look forward to the announced next set of analytics," said Meffert.Daniel Lee, director of digital projects APMEA, Mcdonald's said that while existing third party reports already show marketers referral traffic from Pinterest, the new analytics tool forms the foundation on which they can begin to charge for generating traffic."At the end of day, we need greater insight into what types of content are capable of triggering a response and creating a social amplification effect, as well as understanding influential pinners," said Lee.Ultimately it would help marketers and media agencies feel more comfortable about making a buy, knowing that it can be tied back to a measurable conversion action, he continued.But he added that it was still a step in making Pinterest's proposition more attractive.Lee echoed Meffert's sentiment that the analytics at this stage is "basic" and one area he would like to see depth in is Pinterest statistics from user generated content that gets pinned from 3rd party sites and ultimately leads to measurable conversion.He compared it to Facebook's offering. "Facebook has recently launched a conversion tracking pixels to close the loop from a Facebook ad to the final conversion, so it's conceivable that Pinterest will need to do the same, considering they need to monetize to keep operating."At this point, Pinterest allows brands to see how many people are pinning from the site, seeing the pins and clicking on the content. Companies can also choose a timeframe to see how the numbers trend over a certain period.It also allows these to see which pins get the most re-pins, who pins them and what else people pin alongside these, which is aimed at helping brands tailor their sites and Pinterest boards.