Known for its aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly digital ecosystem, Pinterest is more than just a social platform—it’s a brand dedicated to fostering creativity.

For businesses and marketers, Pinterest is a powerful tool for connecting with highly engaged audiences, and yet the right knowledge, skills, and understanding is necessary to leverage Pinterest as a marketing powerhouse. To make this “know-how” available to all its customers, Pinterest launched Pinterest Academy to provide a dynamic, robust program of educational resources designed to help users develop best-in-class Pinterest skills.

Through courses and badges, certifications, videos, and so much more, Pinterest Academy provides a comprehensive learning portfolio covering topics like how to optimize campaigns, leverage Pinterest advertising features, and engage audiences at every stage of the customer journey. This education is essential to help Pinterest advertisers create campaigns, drive conversions, and help maximize ROI on the platform.

Pinterest Academy initially operated on a standalone site and as the Pinterest vision expanded, the site’s limitations became clear:  

• Limited Scalability: The existing site couldn’t support the growing need for diverse types of content such as certification and webinars
• Lack of Tracking and Insights: It was difficult to track learner progress and measure the effectiveness of the program
• Suboptimal User Experience: Users lacked features to track their learning journey, leading to lower engagement
• Need for Localized Learning: Delivering cohesive and accessible educational content to a global audience would increasingly become a challenge

In order to achieve its vision of creating a scaled, impactful learning destination, Pinterest Academy needed a learning management system that could address these challenges and support future growth and innovation.

In 2022, the team was commissioned to rebuild, revamp, and reimagine what was possible for this powerful learning program. With many on the team who had previously worked at companies that were familiar with Intellum, they were confident in the platform’s ability to deliver a customized, user-friendly, scalable solution.

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In February 2023, Pinterest Academy relaunched on the Intellum Platform with a focus on delivering high-quality, engaging learning experiences tailored to a global audience. The Intellum Platform provided Pinterest Academy with:

• An Intuitive and Scalable LMS: The platform’s scalability allowed Pinterest to expand their program rapidly, adding new content and modalities.
• Advanced Analytics: Intellum’s robust analytics enabled Pinterest to track user progress, completion rates, program impact, and turn data into actionable insights.
• Seamless Learner Experience: Features like Single Sign-On (SSO), progress tracking, and a “continue where you left off” option enhances learner engagement.
• Comprehensive eLearning Tools: Intellum’s support for certifications, badging (integrated with Credly), and pre-recorded webinars provided a comprehensive learning ecosystem.
• Customizable Content Creation: The platform’s ease of use for instructional designers allowed Pinterest to standardize learning modalities and create visually appealing, interactive courses.

Since transitioning to Intellum, Pinterest Academy has seen remarkable growth and impact:

• Rapid Program Expansion: Pinterest Academy now offers multiple learning modalities, including certifications, video-based learning, webinars, and has seen a 170% growth in user base year over year.
• Engaged User Base: Learners share consistently positive feedback about the quality of the learning experience—customized, engaging, and far from the “dry” experience often associated with online learning.‍
• Improved Metrics and Increased Value: Advanced tracking capabilities allows Pinterest to re-engage users effectively, positioning Pinterest Academy as a go-to destination for marketers to learn and grow. In the last year, there’s been a 140% increase in badges earned year over year.

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Looking Ahead

Pinterest remains committed to growth and innovation as it builds on the success of Pinterest Academy. As they look to the year ahead, they’ll be focused on:

• Continuing to grow the user base: Converting registered users into highly engaged learners
• Global Reach: With plans to migrate to Intellum’s content authoring tool, Evolve, Pinterest is preparing for localization into additional languages to easily broaden their reach
• Targeted Marketing Campaigns: Leveraging nurture emails and paid campaigns to attract and retain learners

Pinterest Academy has transformed into a dynamic, engaging learning destination that empowers advertisers and agencies of all sizes to learn, grow, and thrive. Through scalable technology, engaging content, and measurable results, Pinterest continues to solidify its reputation as an approachable, innovative platform for marketers across the globe.