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Productively Pinning

Posted At: April 5, 2013 4:15 P.M.
by Casey B. Rogers

In a recent webinar hosted by Vocus, Jennifer Evans Cario, an industry leader in content-driven social media strategies, discussed “Pinterest: Marketing’s New MVP.” With so much hype surrounding the search for the latest and greatest in social media, it is not surprising that Pinterest has now emerged as one of the most useful media tools for today’s PR professionals.

Cario, author of “Pinterest Marketing: An Hour a Day” and founder of SugarSpun Marketing, discussed how to properly utilize the many benefits of the well-known Web-based inspiration board.

What’s the hype?

According to Cario, Pinterest is a visual component to bookmarking that is easy to go back to. Pinterest has completely changed how users gather ideas and has redefined Web searches because of its visualized interface.

The idea of Pinterest is simple: Low barrier entry and easy account management have made the outlet very user-friendly.

Pinterest allows users to share a lot of content without overcrowding. Users can also dig deeper into specific topics by following individual boards.

In contrast to Facebook, Pinterest serves as an inspiration platform versus a sharing platform. Facebook drives a destination conversation, while Pinterest acts as a starting point for collaboration.

Business Pinterest accounts are also now offering analytical data such as pin and repin activity, exposure activity and traffic activity. The measurement of Pinterest isn’t just about repins or likes — it has to be tracked back to a positive return on investment.

What’s the impact?

With statistics such as people being 10 percent more likely to make purchases from Pinterest as well as a 50 percent return on investment rate per pin for companies, Pinterest takes marketing to a whole new level.

As the third most popular social media outlet in the United States, Pinterest is also the fourth highest traffic source with the fastest growing social network of our time. A monthly growth rate between 10 and 20 percent per month places Pinterest’s growth above that of Yahoo, Bing and Twitter.

Pinterest content is brand-supportive, informative, inspirational and smile-inducing. Companies claim that customer loyalty is often gained through constant contact. Pinterest cuts through the commonly produced clutter of modern social media and allows high contact levels without being overwhelming.

Facebook’s impact timeframe is about seven hours compared to a 90-minute impact life of a pin on Pinterest. Facebook also engages fans, whereas Pinterest attracts fans. Cario said that Pinterest drives traffic by generating loyalty and giving companies the ability to understand consumers.

Martha Stewart, for example, has gained more Pinterest traffic than that of her Facebook and Twitter accounts combined. Chobani Greek yogurt representatives have also used Pinterest by pinning blog posts about weight loss and stories about why people love its products as well as creating a board on how to cook using Chobani.

Ultimately, I don’t think we’ve seen the biggest effects of Pinterest just yet. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this quickly emerging and ever-popular form of social media. But, until then — happy pinning!

Opinions

  1. Post comment

    Casey, I couldn’t agree more with you and the comments from others. It’s particularly engaging to Southern women who love feeding the souls of friends and family through recipes, inspiring home ideas and fashion… just scratching the surface here. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Post comment

    Exactly! This makes Pinterest an incredible opportunity to market to today’s women, especially those in our region.

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  3. Post comment

    Addison, I couldn’t agree more, Pinterest has an incredibly bright future ahead! It’s fun, fresh and relatively easy—three things PR professionals are looking for in today’s social media tools.

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  4. Post comment

    Whenever I have free time you can find me searching for new ideas and inspiration on Pinterest. It is such a fresh and highly addictive form of social media networking. It would be a mistake for any company not to utilize Pinterest for brand marketing. The fact that you can instantly find the link for a product or service that caught your eye is what makes Pinterest stand out amongst other social media outlets. This is a great post. It will be interesting to see the trend of “Productively Pinning” grow among PR practitioners.

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  5. Post comment

    Casey, I really enjoyed this read! Pinterest is one of the greatest social networking sites and I thoroughly enjoy repinning myself. I have actually even done some online shopping through Pinterest. Some of the most interesting and creative ideas can be found here. It also brings out my not so crafty side, but hey at least I try!

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  6. Post comment

    Pinterest is my go-to social media platform when I’m bored at home. You literally will never run out of stuff to look at. In my social media class this semester, we learned that the majority of Pinterest users are women (about 80%) and most of these users are from southern states. I thought this was an interesting fact, but not very surprising! Southern women love to craft, cook and shop! I agree with you; I feel like we have yet to see the full potential of Pinterest, and it will definitely be cool to see how businesses will use Pinterest as it continues to grow.

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    In my opinion, Pinterest is the ultimate social media network. I’m constantly on Pinterest in my spare time pinning useful and fun content. Over the past year, I’ve pinned more than 1,000 pins, and I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon. Where else can you find the recipe to Panera’s macaroni and cheese, while in a matter of minutes find the perfect top to match your favorite skirt? In addition, Pinterest is great tool for all age groups and businesses. I, like so many other people, have found numerous new products and stores through Pinterest. For me, Pinterest isn’t just hobby, it’s a necessity.

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  8. Post comment

    I have been pinning for over a year now and I have enjoyed every moment of it! Pinterest is extremely easy to use and has numerous categories to browse through. These categories include recipes, clothing, products, crafts and the list goes on. Just as Casey discusses, Pinterest is a great marketing tool. My friend recently started a jewelry business and has utilized Pinterest to display and brand her products. She has found Pinterest to be an easy way to keep in contact with customers. Bigger and better things are in store for Pinterest and I am excited to see where it will go next. In fact, I think I will do a little pinning now!

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