Is the Web's Interest in Pinterest Right for Your Brand?

IS THE WEB’S INTEREST IN PINTEREST RIGHT FOR YOUR BRAND?

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Pinterest is the hottest social network since twitter. It’s the fastest site ever to break the 10 million unique visitors mark, and a recent comscore report from january 2012 shows the site is attracting nearly 12 million individuals a month and driving more referral traffic to retailers than linkedin, google+ and youtube. This begs the question–is it time for your brand to hop on board?



Pinterest describes itself as a virtual online pinboard that allows users to organize and share all the beautiful things they find on the web. It’s being used to plan weddings, decorate homes, share favorite recipes, find new fashion inspiration, and celebrate lifestyles and interests. Users that see a pinned image have the ability to “like” it, comment on it and/or “repin” it, which then reposts that image into one of their own pinboards for their followers to see.

Data shows that Pinterest’s audience is overwhelmingly female (over 80%) and its most popular age group is 25-34 (30%). 85% of Pinterest’s audience is college educated and 57% earn over $50,000 a year (fig.1). This highly sought after demographic is ripe for many brands.

Some brands were quick to create a presence and test the waters. Unfortunately for many of these early adopters, they are struggling to find the appropriate way to integrate Pinterest into their communications and marketing mix. Put simply, Pinterest is not for everyone.

PINTEREST’S INTEREST

Pinterest discourages self-serving content on its site, so simply “pin-ning” one’s products is a huge no-no. One way that brands are making Pinterest work for them is to create pinboards that capture the essence or lifestyle of its customers.

+ $50,000 / YR57%

30%

25-34YRS. OLD

80%FEMALE

85%COLLEGE EDUCATED

(fig.1)



The visual nature of pinterest is a perfect fit for the retail industry and it’s why brands are finding such high referral traffic from it3 so if your brand is one that uses aesthet-ics to peak the interest of potential custom-ers, pinterest may be very beneficial. If your brand is not one that relies on visuals to sell products or experiences, you’ll need to get very creative in order to make an impact.

A great example of this is Whole Foods4, whose pinboards consist of collections of innovative kitchen gadgets, creative ed-ible art, recipes and images of gorgeous kitchens. By promoting the beauty of food and the inspiration and technology behind cooking, Whole Foods is promoting an es-sence that goes well above that of any other grocery store.

One doesn’t need to be strictly in the retail business to use Pinterest effectively. The popular social media news website Mash-able.com has pinboards on its profile5 that highlight infographics, web humor, tech gadgets and other visual content that aligns closely with the editorialpieces readers have come to expect from them.

(fig.2)



Pinterest can also be a wonderful complement to experiential organizations, such as a college or a fitness center. Colleges can create pinboards that highlight school sports, dorm life, nature, nearby entertainment and other images that capture the essence of campus life while a fitness center can pin images of workout

technology, muscular bodies, healthy recipes and fashionable athletic apparel.

Visible content curation has been the hottest trend in social media over the past year or so and is the primary reason that Tumblr has seen such success. Pinterest, which is sometimes referred to as “the next Tumblr,”

is taking bite-sized sharing to a whole new level and allowing the right brands a new way to connect with prospective customers. While the networks fostering these connections may be in a constant state of flux, one constant is the fact that creativity rules all.

Another way for visual brands to capitalize on the Pinterest momentum is to include a “Pin It” button on their web-site. Social sharing buttons provide users with a one-click method to pin their content and can be a simple way to increase referral traffic.

SOURCES1. Pinterest Hits 10 Million U.S. Monthly Uniques Faster Than Any Standalone Site Ever –comScore

http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/07/pinterest-monthly-uniques/

2. Pinterest Demographic Data: The Marketers Guide to People Who Pin http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-networks/pinterest-demographic-data/

3. Pinterest Rivals Twitter in Referral Traffic http://www.briansolis.com/2012/01/pinterest-rivals-twitter-in-referral-traffic-pinteresting/

4. Whole Foods Market http://pinterest.com/wholefoods/

5. Mashable http://pinterest.com/mashable/

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

David Herrick Chief Operating Officer 212.704.9727 | [email protected]

Mitzi Emrich Chief Social Media Strategist 646.837.9418 | [email protected]

MWW 304 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor New York, NY 10010

212.704.9727 MWW.COM

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Is the Web's Interest in Pinterest Right for Your Brand?

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