CRUNCHY NUGGETS: Clients are asking about. A button just appeared on the etsy website to share it. I have my own account to try it out hands-on. And now I’m passing along the nuggets. It’s Pinterest. What is it? How do you use it? Why should you care? All excellent questions! Following me on the Pinterest path…
WHAT: Pinterest is a social web site. If you want to get fancy, it’s actually a social curation site. It’s much like the “like” button you often see for Facebook, e.g., read an article and then “like” it, and that articles then gets referenced or posted onto your Facebook wall and news feed. Same for Pinterest. Only this is more visually based. So think “virtual bulletin board.” Become a member. Set up your board themes, e.g., Things I love…Things I want to try…Trends…Really cool stuff…etc. Your choice of titles. And then pin images to the boards as you wish. It’s free and anyone can use it…even brands. You can add a pin button to your browser to capture the images. And sites are now just slowly starting to add the button to their share options. You can also use their mobile app and snap shots of real things you wish to pin. You also can follow other members’ boards (ala Twitter).
WHEN: Did this web site start? Actually in 2008. But in the past few months it’s gained tremendous buzz and traction.
WHO: A December report by Experian Hitwise indicated that the site’s total number of visits for the week ending December 17th, 2011 was at 11 million. To show you just how much it has grown, this is 40x the amount of visits Pinterest had experience just in the comparable period six months before, wow. comScore has profiled the user as 70% female.
WHY: Should you care when you already have so many other social obligations?! Well…as marketers, it’s a great, emerging (and free) means of reaching your consumers and sharing interesting content. Mashable had a terrific slide show this week, sharing 10 brands and how they’re using Pinterest. It’s an informative, inspirational article for marketing-types to read: http://mashable.com/2012/01/09/the-top-brands-on-pinterest
You know, as with every new vehicle, it comes with caution in throwing your resources at pursuing the latest “shiny object” in emerging media. And this is certainly “shiny” — but it’s also free, and it makes a whole lot of sense for female-targeted, visual-centric brands. Mashable didn’t include Threadless as an example in their slide show, but do check them out too as you play around with Pinterest. Why? Because Threadless links it to eCommerce and selling stuff — which for a marketer, is a cool and financially-fulfilling place to bring your consumer. Again, I encourage you to try it out for yourself and learn hands-on. You can even follow me, too: look for Lisa Fritts : ) ! TASTY TREND: Social Curation; Socially Acceptable
