Apr 3, 2012

Have You Heard About Pinterest?

[caption id="attachment_393" align="alignright" width="275" caption="Have You Heard About Pinterest?"]

[/caption] Do you have an afternoon to spend feasting your eyes on visual delights? Then, Pinterest is for you. Pinterest is an online sharing platform on which users create pinboards containing photographs, videos, cartoons, and other graphic items. The site gets more than 10 million unique visitors monthly, according to TechCrunch, and 90 percent of Pinterest users are women. PCMag.com reported that Pinterest is “...driving more referral traffic to other sites than Twitter¹." That’s not surprising, considering how visually captivating Pinterest is. Looks-wise, Pinterest is like an array of finely decorated cakes at a bakery. Twitter is like day-old bread on the discount shelf. Pinterest still doesn’t drive as much referral traffic as much as Facebook does, however². Could you help your business by starting your own Pinterest board? Pinterest usage is by invitation only, but you can request an invite from the site or be invited by someone who is already a member. However, you don’t have to be a member to look. Here are some of the pinboards we like:

Infographics: Claudiu Florea’s pinboard is a collection of infographics from around the Web, such as “Do You Need a Social Media Detox³,” “When Are the Best Times to Buy?⁴” and “Understanding Viral Content Marketing⁵."

Branding Daniel Bear Hunley, a social media coordinator out of Nashville, maintains this board of graphic delights designed to sell⁶.

Mashable The Mashable boards contain gems such as “Meat Baby⁷” (on the “Weird Pins” board) and “5 Things Your Business Can Learn From a Rapper⁸” (on the “Tips and Tricks” board).

How about you? Have you spent time on Pinterest? Have you found a way to use it to market your business? Let us know in the comments below. For more information, visit: 1. PC Mag: "Pinterest Drove More Referral Traffic Than Twitter in February" 2. PC Mag: "Infographic: Why Should Brands Use Pinterest?" 3. "Do You Need a Social Media Detox?" 4. "When are the Best Times to Buy?" 5. "Understanding Viral Content Marketing" 6. Branding by Daniel Bear Hunley 7. Weird Pins by Mashable 8. Tips and Tricks by Mashable Further Reading: Entrepreneur: “How Pinterest Is Becoming the Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business” TechCrunch: “Pinterest Hits 10 Million U.S. Monthly Uniques Faster Than any Standalone Site Ever” “How Businesses Can Benefit From Pinterest” “Should Your Business Be on Pinterest? Find Out [Infographic]” “56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest”