Pinterest recently announced that it will be giving third-party influencers access to its API. The move gives brands, influencers, and marketers a chance to collaborate more closely.

The company also said it would be adding a total of eight marketing platforms as part of its expanding Marketing Partners program. These include AspirelQ, HYPR, Influence.co, IZEA, Klear, Mavrck, Obvious.ly, and Open Influence.

The new development was announced on its blog post last Tuesday.

Starting today, we’re opening our content marketing API to third-party influencer marketing platforms to help brands and influencers collaborate more effectively and create exciting new things on Pinterest.”

David Temple, the head of Pinterest’s content and creator products, said that creators are vital to the company so they’re excited to be able to supply them with more tools and resources as they develop strong relationships with various businesses.

While influencer marketing on Pinterest isn’t new, opening up its API to third parties will give brands access to key metrics: https://t.co/rv35eDqEdc

— Marketing Dive (@marketingdive) September 19, 2018

Aside from connecting brands to influencers, the API will provide Pinterest’s partners with key performance metrics regarding influencer campaigns. It will also give insights into click-throughs, impressions, monthly views, and saves. More importantly, it will give companies a better chance at understanding how content developers can boost engagement and drive traffic to the app. This will go a long way in helping companies design their marketing campaigns for improved return on investment.

The lack of data has been a large stumbling block in working with influencers. While companies can get a baseline, it’s labor-intensive and time-consuming. By giving access to its API, Pinterest has given companies much-needed information. It’s also a strategic move on the company’s part as it opens them up to higher ad spending from marketers.

Eric Lam, AspirelQ CEO, revealed that it has also gotten very challenging for brands to attract consumer attention, making it imperative for them “to connect with consumers using the right message, at the right time, through the right channel.” Partnering with Pinterest gives brands another channel and more opportunities to engage clients in a personalized and meaningful manner.

Brands and content developers can find more information about Pinterest’s marketing API on the site’s Marketing Partners site or by emailing [email protected]

[Featured image via Pinterest]