Started in March 2010 as a beta version, Pinterest is the latest social media network to take the world by storm. An invitation only social media network, that acts like a pin-up board, has already reached 11.7 million monthly active users.
It is also currently the internet’s fastest growing website of any kind and is gaining in popularity as a referral marketing platform.
As the figure above indicates, in January 2012, Pinterest generated more referral traffic than LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Reddit combined.
How does it work?
Pinterest is an invitation only social media site at the moment. You can sign up for a Pinterest invitation and they will email it to you after a few days. Once you receive your invitation, you have the option of signing in through your Facebook or Twitter account.
After signing in, you can select your interest areas and then start pining, following and looking at other pin boards.
Why is it so popular?
- Pinterest creates a great content experience. Unlike “traditional” social media network, Pinterest is more visually appealing and relaxing.
- With Pinterest you never know what you will find. Users of Pinterest don’t visit looking for something specific. They accidently find interesting content.
- There are no feeds, tickers or chat windows, only pictures with content.
- There are no “sponsored” Pinups. Its all user driven.
- It’s not about making friends and socialising, but about finding interests and sharing them.
How can it be used for business?
With Pinterest generating a large amount of referral traffic, it seems only feasible to use it to gain traction for your business. To generate traffic from Pinterest to your website : –
- You can create a board with pinups of all the products and services you offer.
- Become a popular pin by encouraging user comments
- Add a pinterest button to your website
- Use the keywords relevant to your business or industry to pin images to your board.
Of late Pinterest has come under heavy criticism for its Pin It bookmark button, which allows users to pin content from anywhere. The general concern has been copyright infringement; however the social media network has now introduced a no pin button to block users from pinning pictures.
Furthermore, Pinterest has been on the radar of tech analysts and media for using skim links to create affiliate links and generate revenue from user posted pins. But regardless of the negative publicity, everyone agrees that Pinterest is one social media network that has created a great user experience.
If you would like to leave a comment, ask a question or arrange a one-to-one consultation contact me on logan@logannathan.com or via one of my social media channels using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus.
Social Media Business Consultant | Internet (Web) Marketing Strategist Speaker | Trainer
Based in Sydney, Australia, Logan has been an avid & passionate social media user since the advent of Facebook. Logan runs his own workshops on the social media for business in Australia. He has also written a number of eBooks on the same subjects (Social Media Secrets for your Business, Twitter Secrets for Your Business and Social Media Startup Guide for Business), all of which are now published and available online. Logan is also a passionate speaker on the subject of using ‘Internet and Social Media for Business’ and spoken at number of Business conferences in Australia and overseas.
Watch testimonials from Logan’s latest workshops on http://www.youtube.com/logannathan
Book your seat at the upcoming workshops, refer http://www.ictsocialbusiness.com.au/social_media_education/social-media-training-workshop
