Pinterest is no longer the niche network it started as. The social bookmarking site has skyrocketed overnight into one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Wondering what the hype is about? Here are 8 reasons why Pinterest is irresistible for small businesses.
1. Wildfire Growth
Pinterest gained international attention when it became known as “the fastest-growing website in history”. Worldwide, there are more than 11 million unique users who log into Pinterest every month. Locally, 160,000 Aussies visit Pinterest each month, and that number is growing exponentially.
2. Users Spend Serious Time There
Total user stats aside, one of the most important aspects of Pinterest is that its users are actually spending time there – and lots of it! In the United States, Pinterest users are spending an average of one hour and 17 minutes on the site, compared to only 36 minutes on Twitter or 17 minutes on LinkedIn. While Australian users aren’t quite as dedicated yet, they’re still spending an average of 14 minutes 20 seconds on the site.
3. Links! Links! Links!
Any good web strategist will tell you, one of the best things you can do to help build your website’s reputation and search engine rank is to get other, quality websites to link back to your site. One of the most important parts of Pinterest is that every “pin” that someone shares count as an additional link back to the original source.
4. Your Content, Gone Viral
Pinterest makes web content to look for your business there, and look for easy ways to share their favorite things – like your content – where they’re already hanging out online. Make it easy with Pin It buttons on your site. (If you’re a Web123 client, you already have this!)
5. People just can’t stop talking about it.
As of February this year, there were over 50 million blog posts about Pinterest – and that number just keeps climbing. Everyone is talking about Pinterest! And with that healthy ongoing buzz, that means your customers also talking about it and thinking about how to connect with you online.
6. Pinterest Drives Sales
Shoppers referred by Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who arrive from other social networks — including Facebook and Twitter. They’ll also spend an average of 10% more than other online browsers. 21% of Pinterest users have gone on to purchase products they’ve discovered through the site, so get pinning!
7. Your Business Might Already Be There
You might not be using Pinterest for your business yet, but did you know your content might already be there? Find out whether your content is already being shared by using this simple trick. In the address bar of your browser, type in: pinterest.com/source/YourBusiness.com.au (where you’re replacing “YourBusiness.com.au” with the address of your website – minus any www’s.) You might be shocked at what you find! Any image that’s on your website that has been pinned will turn up, showing you exactly which pieces of content are already popular and who has been sharing them.
8. Ladies Love it
Stats vary as to what percentage of Pinterest users are female, but depending on the country the numbers range from 52-90% with above-average incomes. No matter how you look at it, Pinterest is dominated by female shoppers. Online retailers, get excited! Always keep your audience in mind as you’re positioning your online content. If your target market are females, then chances are that they’re already using Pinterest.
Convinced yet? Join Web123 on Pinterest for more tips & advice.
Sources:
http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/439744/pinterest-part-v-100-brands-pinterest
http://socialmediatoday.com/briansolis/438550/pinterest-rivals-twitter-referral-traffic-pinteresting
http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/pinterest-statistics-australia/
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32362/35-Statistics-That-Fuel-the-Battle-Between-Pinterest-and-Google.aspx