Pinterest is an
online bulletin board that allows users to organize and share their favorite
images and content from the web. Users “pin” images to their personal boards
that can be organized by common groups or themes. In order to join Pinterest
one must have either a Facebook or Twitter account.
So far, there is no
paid advertising on Pinterest, but there are still immediate opportunities for
brands to leverage Pinterest’s active and engaged user-base.
Pinterest Australian statistics – February 2012
- Unique Visitors to the site – 160,000 per month
- Total Visits = 970,000 a month
- Page Views = 8.9 million a month
- Average Time on site =14 minutes 20 seconds
- 57% female, 43% male
A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE
Pinterest enthusiasts love how Pinterest enables visual
discovery of new content consistent with
their own personal tastes and interests. Pinterest users can follow and pin content
from people in their Facebook and Twitter networks, as well as from other
recommended users with similar interests. In this way, Pinterest provides their audience with continuous
access to timely content recommendations from trusted sources.
Unlike Facebook and
Twitter which are better suited for communicating with and/or entertaining a
social following, the common motivations to use Pinterest are much more
personal in nature.
How Are People Using
Pinterest?
As with any new
social network, there are usability
challenges that Pinterest must address
in order to ensure continued growth.
- Privacy - New users are automatically opted-in to follow their Facebook and Twitter following, as well as “recommended” users from outside their networks
- Content Limitations - Include duplication of pins, incompatibility with flash content, and lack of consistent back-links to content source
- Search Functionality – Pinterest search results today rely solely on user-generated comments and categorization, making it difficult to reliably locate specific content.
IMMEDIATE RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Add
“Pin-It” Buttons to Brand Content
The “Pin-It” button makes it easy for users
to Pin content from your site
Much
like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, “Pin-It” buttons can be directly
implemented onto site content. This makes it easy for Pinterest users to “pin”
brand content onto their personal Pinterest board. Other Pinterest users can
then see the pinned content and either “re-pin” to their own boards or click
through to the brand site. Both are valuable opportunities to build product
awareness and consideration.
2.
Use Pinterest to Test New Content
Measure response rates to new content using
the “Pin-It” button
Adding
separate pin-it buttons to specific pages or content elements allows brands to
test and compare audience response. By measuring responses and then exploring
the Pinterest boards of responders, brands can create a virtual focus group to
better understand the interests and motivations of their customers
3.
Follow Four Best Practices for Maintaining Pinterest Boards
Maximize the impact of your Pinterest board
by following the tips below:
•Focus boards on content themes - not brands or
companies
•Align image comments
with categories
•Include “@brand” or
“#” in comments for easy brand identification and to facilitate searching
•Make sure content is
refreshed regularly to stay relevant and ensure reach
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS:
•Pinterest is Sitting on a Data
Gold-Mine
Remember, they access Facebook &
Twitter profile data too
Between
the data they collect from Facebook & Twitter profiles in addition to
Pinterest activity, it is an understatement to say that Pinterest knows a lot
about their users. If monetized wisely to enable audience re-targeting outside
of Pinterest, this data could enable
them to build an impressive revenue stream without even selling advertising on
their site.
•How Will Pinterest Handle Legal &
Privacy Concerns?
Retaining the trust of their users is
essential to Pinterest’s long-term success
Given
the vast amount of data they collect, Pinterest must go to great lengths to
maintain the trust of their user-base by avoiding mis-steps like their Feb
2012 admission to embedding tracking
links in content for purposes of affiliate marketing. There is also risk for users and brands alike
to create legal risks by knowingly or unknowingly pinning copyrighted content
•Will Pinterest Steal Search Engine
Volume?
It’s a very real possibility
By
providing users with relevant web content through images and peer
recommendations, Pinterest succeeds where Google and Microsoft have fallen
short, despite high profile initiatives like Google+ and Microsoft’s Facebook
partnership. Pinterest now presents a compelling alternative for users early in
their shopping experience who are seeking inspiration. If Pinterest continues
to improve their own search functionality, the search engines could stand to
lose significant upper-funnel query volume to Pinterest in categories such as
recipes, travel and retail.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Pinterest
has all the ingredients for long-term success in the social space: They have loyal users, multiple monetisation
opportunities, and bridge the gap between peer recommendations and content
browsing. As long as Pinterest continues
to improve their user experience and avoid privacy scandals, they will
increasingly essential platform in the social media realm.
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