Pinterest has been around for three years. It’s still shocks me to learn how many brands are missing out on a huge opportunity to leverage this platform in their marketing. I will admit there are a lot of misconceptions out there about Pinterest. When you add in the confusion on how to use the network to gain traffic and revenue, it is easy to understand why there isn’t a higher adoption rate. But don’t worry; I’m here to help you understand why you shouldn’t count Pinterest out when it comes to your social media marketing strategy.
Misconception #1: Pinterest is a network for women. With over 70 million users, the majority of its audience is female, however, men are joining in on the fun. In 2014, the male audience grew 41% and their average time spent on the network tripled to more than 75 minutes per user.
Misconception #2: Pinterest can’t generate revenue. Pinterest users spend more money, shop more frequently, and purchase items more often and in larger quantities than users on any other social network. In fact, a recent study showed that 47% of U.S. online shoppers bought something as a result of a Pinterest recommendation. Last year, Martha Stewart’s boards brought her 10 times more traffic than her Facebook account.
And now for the facts…
Fact: Pinterest kills it when it comes to site traffic. According to a report by Shareaholic, Pinterest drove approximately 7.17% of all social media referral traffic to websites in March 2014 – second only to Facebook. What’s even crazier is that Pinterest brought three times the traffic of Google Plus, YouTube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Reddit combined.
Fact: Pins outlast tweets and Facebook posts. Ben Silberman, Co-Founder and CEO of Pinterest, explained, “You never see a tweet older than 48 hours, unless it’s ironic. I wanted to create a service that’s a bit timeless.” According to WebpageFX, the average lifespan of a Pinterest pin is 3 ½ months, which is 1,600 times longer than a Facebook post and 6,300 times longer than a tweet.
Fact: You can advertise on Pinterest. In 2014, Pinterest rolled out its own advertising unit called the Promoted Pin. It is very similar to Facebook and Twitter advertising where you can pay for additional impressions of organic content. Recently the network has announced that they will begin adding additional targeting options, a new test ad format and animated ads. These advertising opportunities will really allow organizations to focus on channel growth and website traffic.
Okay, there you have it. Hopefully it is clearer why Pinterest needs to be incorporated into your marketing strategy. The potential is really limitless. If you are looking for help setting up your Pinterest page or implementing a Promoted Pin campaign, let us know!
