Pinterest, the social sharing site that allows users to create collages of ‘pinned’ pictures of what they like, gathered 11 million viewers last month and it’s growing at a rate of knots yet there are relatively few mentions of it in the Press, hardly anyone talks about it on social networks and if you are a retailer who ignores it you will be missing out on a huge slice of the pie.
There are three questions here which are of interest: 1. Why have you not heard about it? 2. How is it being used? 3. How can you utilise it in the marketing of your business?
The reason you have not heard much being written about Pinterest (except for the fact that it is growing) lies in its very set up. It is a picture-driven micro-blogging site like Tumblr whose thumbnail driven home page idea it has even pinched and it appeals to those interested in pinning their favourite sites, buys, interests on a digital storyboard (or two or ten).
Pictures you pin there have links to sites and can be re-pinned by others onto their storyboards so, in effect, you can create a vertical connection through dozens, if not hundreds, of parallel ones. In plain speak what you post is seen a person at a time but if it finds resonance and gets re-pinned (i.e. re-shared) then you amplify its impact.
The scenario is not radical where social media marketing is concerned but where Pinterest, right now, is different is in the depth of engagement it generates. Its audience are really interested and when they are they work with the information you post, adding further value, generating greater exposure and making sure that those who see it are wowed by it.
Still hesitating? You shouldn’t be.
