What’s The Big Fuss About Pinterest?
It is rather unfortunate that Australian businesses tend to be a little slow when adopting and embracing new social networks. One to look out for, and set to be the “social network story” of 2012 is Pinterest. In just a few short months it went from virtually unknown social network to a viral success, they’re doing something right!
What Is Pinterest?
If you haven’t heard of Pinterest then you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Pinterest is a social networking and social publishing site based on photos. Basically the idea is that each user has a “theme board” where they can pin stuff they like from around the web. Each item “pinned” to the board is represented by a visual image and its visual appeal that has triggered its huge growth.
Pinterest is used by users to plan weddings, organize home decorating ideas, find your personal style and even save your inspirations. But those are the “users” actions, businesses are also seeing fantastic results. In fact in one recent report, advertisers on Pinterest were reporting Pinterest generated more traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace combined!
Now that’s an interesting fact that business owners need to consider, but it’s not the only one, here’s a few interesting facts that may peak your interest in Pinterest:
- Pinterest accounts for 3.6 percent of referral traffic, which is just below Twitter which is 3.61%. This is significant as in 2011 it accounted for just 0.17% so the growth over the last year has been staggering.
- American users of Pinterest spend on average 1 hour and 17 minutes on the site which is well ahead of Twitter at 36 minutes and Google+ at six minutes.
- 97% of Pinterest users are female with the largest demographic being women aged 25 to 34
These are just a few of the impressive statistics behind the massive growth of Pinterest. Now savvy business owners reading this post are probably already heading over to Pinterest to claim their space and tap into the growth early.
As you should, while Pinterest is new, and it’s uncertain how long they’ll stay popular it’s time to cash in on the traffic available and send some to your business. Leave a comment below with your Pinterest profile, we’d love to see what you’re doing!
About Samuel Junghenn
Serial Entrepreneur that LOVES helping grow medium sized business through the use of online marketing
Pinterest is definitely worth making a fuss about. I see new Pinners popping up every day and it’s so much more social than Facebook. With Facebook, you know everyone so they’ll all tell you that they “Like” your new product or slogan or idea, but Pinterest is a quick & dirty market sample that tells you whether your latest thing is hot or not!
Yes, check out how many “repins” something has gotten, very telling.
When I heard about Pinterest, I said, NOOOOOO, NOT ANOTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE…but it’s different than you think and it’s tons of fun. You gotta try it.
Don’t underestimate the power of pinning! It’s not only about cute photos and inspirational quotes — it’s about some powerful online marketing and natural networking.
jill, you are right about networking and pinterest, the people and businesses on there are super friendly, it’s online marketing without the hard sell.
With Pinterest being so popular and the marketing and sales possibilities being infinite, we need to tap into the Pinterest male market. If 97% of the users are female, then there must be a lot on there that women like but there must be money to be made from getting men on the site and expanding how men see Pinterest.
If I want to find the best writing ideas, then I head to Pinterest where I find all kinds of cool stuff. (Warning: It’s very easy to start redesigning your bedroom or planning a kids birthday party-even if your children are grown up). But you never know where the inspiration will hit!
Pinterest is the fastest growing website in history and the third most popular social media network right now. With over 12 million users, Pinterest continues to grow rapidly and is expected to continue to rise in popularity. Now is the time for you to get in on using Pinterest to grow your business.
Agree, there is a huge opportunity for businesses to still jump in on the good side of the bell curve