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Is Pinterest Right For My Company?

Pinterest is the new social media obsession, and this ever popular phenomenon has climbed its way up to being the third most popular social networking site, following Facebook and Twitter. The premise of Pinterest allows users to “pin” pictures of things they love to virtual categorized corkboards. These pictures often include a link to a website where the image originated.

Individuals are loving the information and ideas they can gain from using Pinterest. From clothing to photography to humorous sayings, Pinterest has a little bit of everything for everybody.

Because of its appeal, many businesses are wondering if they should start using it for their business. While it can generate traffic to your website and provide you with an uncanny amount of exposure, Pinterest is not right for every business. Use the following tips to determine if Pinterest is a tactic to place your marketing dollars.

1. Can I reach my target audience on Pinterest?

While Pinterest has a great following, your target demographic may not be on Pinterest. According to a Modea.com infographic, 68.2% of Pinterest users are female and the most popular age demographic is between 25-34 years old. On top of that, 50% of Pinterest users have kids.

If your target demographic is female and fall into the other popular Pinterest user categories, then Pinterest is a great place to reach your target demographic. On the other hand, if you’re audience is male, or if you’re targeting a younger or older demographic, it’s not to say that Pinterest isn’t for you. You can still reach your audience through this platform, it just won’t be as easy. You can always try to put a little effort into Pinterest to see where it gets you. If you don’t see much success, you won’t have wasted too much time and effort.

2. How do people use Pinterest?

People use Pinterest as a virtual corkboard. Rather than bookmark a bunch of different websites, users pin things they love to their board, and Pinterest keeps it all in one centralized location. For example, a user can create a “food” board and pin all their favorite recipes to the board. They can also create a “vacations” board and pin getaways they’d love to take on the board. There’s really no limit to what can and cannot be pinned, and users like having one place to keep their information.

3. How will my business benefit?

If your business creates an account, you can use it to place images of your products and links back to your website. For example, if you own a clothing store, you can add photos of your attire to the general Pinterest board for clothing, and when visitors look at this board (or your personal board), they’ll be able to see your products. If they click on your image, they will be redirected back to your website.

Assuming that you have products that people like, you will now gain a great amount of traffic to your website. If a user repins one of your products, it will now be placed on their board for their followers to see and click on, ultimately increasing your audience.

Along with traffic to your website, Pinterest allows users to be brought directly to your site where they can purchase this item that they love so much. If they make a purchase, Pinterest will have increased your profits.

4. What do I have to offer?

Since Pinterest tends to rely on images and links, it is most beneficial for companies that have physical products to offer. A product can easily be captured with an image and shared across the board. And since products can easily be purchased via a website, companies that sell products may see greater success with the platform.

On the other hand, businesses that offer services may also benefit from Pinterest, you’ll just have to get creative with your imagery. For example, if you’re a hair stylist, you can take pictures of great hairstyles or cuts that you did and post them to Pinterest for the world to see. If a user likes your picture, they may visit your website to see if they can visit your salon. The problem, though, is that your service cannot be performed across the globe (unless you plan to jet set to every client’s location). Though Pinterest can benefit your company by generating traffic to your website, it may not increase your sales.

If Pinterest’s most popular user is your demographic and if you have something to share with your customers that will increase website traffic or increase sales, then Pinterest is a platform you quickly need to consider. Happy pinning!

M. Brown-Martinez is the social media lead for several business networks in Chicago.

Image Credit: online-clock, o5com

 

Posted on: June 4, 2012