Facebook has a new app called Hobbi for photo sharing. This may seem familiar to anyone who is fluent on Pinterest. Hobbi in fact, seems to have been born to compete. The new application was launched on February 13, 2020 and comes from the technological giant’s New Product Experimentation Team.
The nascent and experimental group within Facebook launched in an awkward silence the platform that resembles Pinterest in its functionalities. This is for saving and sharing photos of activities such as cooking, sports, and home improvement projects.
Aimed at hobbyists, Hobbi allows the app user to organize images of their personal projects into various collections. The new application is intended to ” help you document and remember the things you love to do ” as stated in the description in the App Store where it is currently available . You can also access it in Google Play Store if you are in the United States, Spain, Belgium, Ukraine and Colombia.
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Hobbi, how does it work?
Although Hobbi takes obvious cues from Pinterest, it’s not just an inspiring idea board. Instead, the app is designed to help fans organize photos of their own projects into thematic collections like gardening, cooking, crafts, decorating, and more.
The idea is to track the progress you are making over time. There is no social media component in the app beyond being able to create featured videos. Although these could be shared externally with friends once their projects are complete.
It is also a very simple app with limited controls or editing options. Especially compared to the editor of Stories or Stories of Instagram , for example. In that sense, Hobbi is more like an editor and organizer than any new type of social network.
Where does Hobbi come from?
The group, which debuted in July and is tasked with creating new consumer-focused apps. If the apps don’t work, the team will quickly shut them down and move on to the next big idea, Facebook says.
At first glance, Hobbi appears to be a photo-saving app that lacks Pinterest’s discovery, search, and recommendation capabilities. As described on the App Store, it is intended to help you document and remember the things you do, which is about the past, while Pinterest is about discovering inspiring ideas and actions for the future, ”said Zuckerberg’s team spokesperson. .
The statement, however, acknowledged that any similarity to other apps only validates the work Pinterest is doing to build a community around a visual search engine .
“As we see companies try to copy items from Pinterest, it validates the importance of a personal online place to explore their own interests, something we’ve been working on from the beginning ,” the spokesperson said.
For Arounian, Hobbi shouldn’t be a “big concern” for Pinterest investors. “It is a separate application, making it more difficult to build that user base. It does not automatically have 2.5 billion potential users in the same way as Facebook Dating, ”she said, referring to how Facebook Dating is part of the Facebook application. “However, they could always put it back in the app . “
Why is Facebook worried about Pinterest?
Pinterest does not directly compete with Facebook as it focuses primarily on hobbies and interests rather than personal information and social connections. However, it is gradually becoming a threat to Instagram. This social network is Facebook’s central growth engine, reaching over 1 billion MAU.
Facebook is monetizing Instagram through ads and “social buying” features. As an example are the affordable publications and payment functions in the application.
This strategy could turn Instagram into an e-commerce platform , but only 10% of Instagram users used the app to search for and buy products according to Cowen & Co. Much lower data compared to 48% of Pinterest users .
Pinterest recognizes its strength in product searches, so it expanded its ad offerings beyond promoted pins with multi-pin carousels, affordable pins, app install pins, and collection pins, which allow merchants to add up to 20 pages of text and links.
What differentiates Hobbi from Pinterest to boost your brand?
As announced by some spokespersons, while Hobbi is an application that due to its characteristics can be used for more personal purposes, such as reminding you of that DIY project that you started and that you have not yet completed, Pinterest proposes new strategies to position yourself as a brand .
The social network that seemed to be created to collect photos of impossible things like the perfect wedding and hairstyles taken from medieval movies, is one of the most incipient strategies of brands that want to take their sales to another level.
Pinterest launched a marketing campaign called “Shop the Look” in late 2019. This campaign demonstrates the type of reach the site has in terms of monetizing its users. And, although promoting your brand on Pinterest is a little different from the most common content networks, there are a number of benefits that Hobbi has not counted on so far, that you could use to your advantage:
A.- On Pinterest everything looks easier
People go to Pinterest to get inspiration and visualize their ideal self. Smart brands create content with that in mind. Show off an ideal and then let people know how to easily achieve it. Therein lies the magic: Pinterest is about making something possible and simple to accomplish. If it’s too complicated or not engaging enough, people will be distracted by other posts and leave their content behind.
B.- Partnering with the best increases visibility
One way brands can leverage Pinterest for marketing is to partner and / or seed their products with the best Pinterest bookmarks.
Consumers go to Pinterest for inspiration on home decor, parties, hairstyles and more. If you partner with a top pinner to get your brand and products featured on their boards, Pinterest users are much more likely to discover your brand.
As with any social platform, certain people have optimized the way they communicate with users. By creating truly native content from that platform, it’s easier to reach the public . These “influencers” offer brands a very effective way of attracting the public.
When it comes to Pinterest’s “Shop the Look” ads, brands need to be cautious when putting pressure on influencers to create looks and content that is leveraged for ads.
C.- Presenting your products as your users experience it is possible
To achieve this you need to investigate how your customers use Pinterest. Then you can create “Shop the Look” ads that place your products in posts that are naturally attractive to their audience.
This feature allows marketers to tag up to 25 items per image. This is why business owners can organize photos so that they can subtly include their items. Or even promote items in partnerships with other brands. Not bad, huh?
D.- Label to reach more people
By having your brand on Pinterest, you can reach bookmarks or Pinterest fans with a discovery-minded mindset. You can start by uploading your catalog to a Pinterest business account.
Thus, you will convert your products into pins. And these can later be converted to “Shop The Look” pins using the automatic labeling tool. Each product within the image will be linked to your website as a retailer.
Here, users can buy what motivated them in your account. While Pinterest can be used primarily by business-to-consumer organizations to provide visual insights and inspiration, B2B organizations (even those in industrial or data analytics) may benefit.
With the appropriate keyword tags and descriptions added, images can appear in Google search. This can help drive organic traffic to a company’s website. Whether it’s B2C or B2B, take advantage of these tags on Pinterest.
E.- If it’s so simple, make it quick
The “Shop the look” feature on Pinterest competes with “Buyable Ads” on TikTok. In the same way, it does so with the “Payment button” on Instagram .
Still, Pinterest leads on TikTok and Instagram. When it comes to the percentage of consumers who buy or find products on the platform, Pinteres is superior.
Therefore, brands can shorten the journey of their potential customers from the ” look casually ” and ” narrow the options ” to the ” buy now ” mode using this function on Pinterest.
