I’m pretty vocal about my disdain for sites like Klout that create arbitrary scores for how we use social media and give us a false sense of the quality of how we interact based solely on numbers. So why am I writing about PinPuff which is clearly positioning itself as the Klout of Pinterest?
I love Pinterest. I said recently in a live chat on The CMO Site that I’m bullish on Pinterest as a potential valuable enhancement to one’s social mobile tool kit. PinPuff calculates your “Pinfluence” in several manners, and I’d advise you ignore that part or at least take it all with a grain of salt.
The one thing I found interesting and helpful about PinPuff was being able to see my actual stats in an easy-to-read list: Followers, Following, Pins, Boards, Likes, Liked, Repins.
And I can also see the three boards of mine that are most popular (I’m assuming because they get the most repins): Words and Whimsy, Infographic Addict and Yummy (but not gluten free darn it).
So why is this important to me? Knowing which boards of mine are the most popular is akin to knowing which pages on my website are most popular. I can then look to see where they are positioned on my Pinterest profile and determine if they are popular because of prominent positioning or if there are other factors. If positioning seems to be the case, I can experiment with moving boards that are more strategically important to me toward the top of my profile.
Checking my most popular boards may also give me a sense of the types of images that are getting the most repins. I have noticed through email notifications that my Words and Whimsy pins get great response, and PinPuff’s stats prove it. I’ve been contemplating creating some of my own word-oriented art with clever quips to see how they fare as pins. I’m also considering tapping into my inner crafter wannabe to see if I can create word art out of other media. Maybe even sell my creations on Etsy.
I’m inspired! And I have PinPuff to thank for that. Who gives a hoot what my score is? I’m getting tangible, personal – and professional – benefits from interacting on Pinterest. Tracking how I’m using it and how others are responding to how I use it is Analytics 101.
I’m definitely not advocating that you compete with others based on their PinPuff scores or that you value one person over another based on what PinPuff says about them. Repeat after me: “Social media is NOT just about numbers.”
What are your most popular boards? Why do you think they’re popular?
Also see my post on The CMO Site: 10 Tips for Marketing with Pinterest and Mitch Wagner’s followup to my live chat Get More from Pinterest Marketing.
