The Fastest Growing Social Media Platform for Direct Referrals To Retailers’ Websites…
Pinterest could be described as the laziest and yet most effective social media platform there is.
Once you get the Pin installed as a bookmark, it is ridiculously easy to while away the hours pinning great photos from your favourite websites.
And the great thing is, because those photos link to their web pages, thereby driving traffic their way, the website owners pretty much love it.
There have been a few rumblings about copyright from the doomsayers, but the ethical premise to abide by is simply to pin images from their original source – not from Google images or other places, but to find the source and pin from there – as a common courtesy that’s great.
So, what is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a pinboard-styled social photo sharing website. The service allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections. The site’s mission statement is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” Pinterest is managed by Cold Brew Labs, a team based in Palo Alto, California. The website has proven especially popular among women. The site’s founder is Ben Silbermann, of Iowa. ~ Wikipedia.
On August 16, 2011, Time magazine listed Pinterest in its “50 Best Websites of 2011” column.
In December 2011, the site entered the top 10 social networks, according to Hitwise data, with 11 million total visits per week.
In January 2012, comScore reported the site had 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark.
What Makes it Better than Other Social Media?
– Pinterest is over 87% female-used, making it great for retailers who are selling fashion online.
– But also from an SEO point of view, Pinterest has not integrated “no follow” code, so the links to any websites are extremely active and useful.
– It matters less how many people are following you, and more how many are following your ‘boards’. This unique specialised following is fantastic.
– Many corporations have leapt on-board as it enables them to be seen to be at the cutting edge.
– Pinterest is invitation-only, so there’s a huge reduction in “white noise”. Unlike twitter (and increasingly, Facebook), you can hear yourself think.
– Pinterest provides easy access to its Tweet button, so as you “pin” you can tweet instantly too – it actually causes your twitter account to grow followers.
There are many more fantastic aspects to Pinterest – I recommend everyone get onto it! Not just business people or marketers … try it and you’ll most likely agree.