SOCIAL STUDIES: Pinterest

One of the more interesting social media platforms Pinterest (no pin, or pun, intended) has exploded into the social space. Originally a personal bulletin board of beautiful images used mostly by women, Pinterest has soared to the ranks of the third largest social network, and brands are not missing out on this opportunity to engage with customers through this visual phenomenon.
What is it? If you’re new to the Pinterest-verse, Pinterest is a site where users can create virtual pinboards of interesting items they find on Pinterest or on the web. Pins are images linked to outside content. Users can follow other user boards, re-pin, like and comment on pins.

Currently women are the primary users of Pinterest, 80% between the ages of 25-54 years old. Most users have a household income of $25,000 to $75,000 and 25% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. More than 80% of pins are re-pins, illustrating the incredible potential pass-along of content.

A few other interesting facts about Pinterest:

-1.36 million users daily

-crossed the 10 million unique visitor mark quicker than any other standalone site in history

-generates more referral traffic to websites than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined

-has a user base that spends an average of 98 minutes a month on the site, compared to 2.5 hours on Tumbler and 7 hours on Facebook

In November 2011, Pinterest launched business accounts with an alternate set of guidelines for businesses. Hundreds of brands are currently active on Pinterest using it to showcase their products, tell the story of their brands in a visual way, support causes and promote events. Brands are using Pinterest as another channel for content marketing, curating relevant content and giving people new perspectives on their brands.

U.S. consumers who use Pinterest follow an average of 9.3 retail companies on the site. Pinterest users purchase more items and spend more money more often than any users of the top 5 social media sites, 47% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from Pinterest.

Like all other social media, if you choose to include Pinterest in your marketing efforts you must have a plan. Some best practices for using Pinterest include:

1. Pin from various sources, including re-pins from within the site.
2. Create a few boards that cover a broad range of interests.
3. Show off different facets of your brand personality or values.
4. Share content that’s relevant, valuable & not overly promotional.
5. Include eye catching visuals in your digital assets.
6. Boards should contain enough content to make them worth following.
7. Be responsive.
8. Add new pins as much as possible.
9. Promote your presence.
10. Monitor. Search for pins about your brand and check what people are pinning from your site

At Saurage Research we find Pinterest to be very interesting and we are diving in to this visual wonderland. Yep, research can be beautiful. See for yourself at http://pinterest.com/saurageresearch/

 

(http://info.shoutlet.com/rs/shoutlet/images/ShoutletGetPinteresting_12.1.pdf)