A few years ago I remember being asked to do some research into the pros and cons of using Facebook within our organisation and write a report based on my findings. My marcomms team desperately wanted me to find in favour of Facebook, keen to bring our communications into the 21st Century. At the time it seemed like a big ask as there were so many internal challenges to overcome – mainly a hierarchy who were not part of the Generation ‘I’ mindset. However, as it turned out I did outline my recommendations in favour of using Facebook as part of our communication strategy, and the company still uses Facebook very effectively today.
More recently I found myself in a similar position when a client asked me whether their company should be using Pinterest. I sensed resistance at the point where they said they themselves felt it was a ‘niche’ social network. Hmm …
Of course, as I found with Facebook, it really depends on the type of business you run, and whether Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest is really suited to the product, solution or service your company provides and whether your audience or demographics use Pinterest at all.
Here are some interesting statistics about Pinterest for those who are not familiar with it.
- Pinterest was launched in March 2010.
- As of November 2013 there were 70 million users … yes 70 million!
- The majority of Pinterest users are women. The male/female ratio is roughly 80/20.
- Pinterest is not just for fun. There are over 500,000 business accounts.
- The iPhone app for Pinterest is downloaded 200,000 times per day.
- The average user spends approx 14 minutes per day on Pinterest.
Now think about these statistics in business terms and what that could represent to your business. Fundamentally, Pinterest represents a massive opportunity for both consumer-focussed and business-to-business companies. Any business that relies on driving a high volume of website traffic to increase sales should consider joining Pinterest.
Pinterest will help your business:
- increase brand presence and authority
- expand your reach and build more leads. Marketers can use Pinterest to engage users early on in the buyer’s journey. Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often, and on more items than buyers on any other of the top five social media sites — so marketers should use this to their advantage
- drive traffic to your company website. According to eBiz, Pinterest receives an estimated 85,500,000 unique monthly visitors. A number of companies have openly shared the increasing amounts of traffic Pinterest has sent their business.
If you’re using the ‘Pin It‘ button on your pages, every single one of your pins will include a link back to the original source. This allows ‘pinners’ to encounter your content and visit your website and landing pages in just one click.
Of course, measuring the success of social media is key. Pinterest Pin Count Tool and Pinterest’s free web analytics tool are just two methods to help determine which of your pins provided most click through to your site.
If you would like more information on whether Pinterest would be suitable for your business, send an email to info@eviemcrae.com. Alternatively why not visit my Pinterest Page.
http://www.pinterest.com/eviemcrae/evie-mcrae-communications/
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