As marketers scramble to figure out Pinterest for their clients and to add another service to their roster (Pinterest board strategy and creation), the buzz has been that Pinterest is a great way to reach women online. Well, yes and no. Women do make up a majority share of the Pinterest population. But as with any online site, network or forum, it really depends on who you are, who you’re trying to reach, and what you’re trying to get them to do.
Just because there are women on Pinterest doesn’t mean it is the right tool to use to reach them.
Another misnomer about Pinterest is that it is nothing but crafts and doilies and other fancy stuff, all feminine and pretty with a parade of Martha Stewart wannabes pinning away.
The truth about what you see on Pinterest really depends on who you follow.
I rarely see a fancy, pretty pin in my stream because I follow very few crafters or fashionistas. Like Twitter, who you follow – and how many people you follow – affects the stream you see which in turn affects how and with whom you interact.
I was checking out Repinly recently and saw their statistics from scraping the Pinterest site. “DIY & Crafts” isn’t at the top of Popular Pins. It’s “Food & Drink.”
This should be of interest to food and beverage companies or companies. That’s why companies like Chobani and Whole Foods are potentially in the right place. That’s why my client Wine Sisterhood is there now with some interesting plans for expansion. Being on Pinterest can make sense for these companies because chances are they have relevant lines of business with appropriate visual assets to share and stories to tell around food and drink.
Part of your Pinterest strategy does consist of pinning as well as knowing how to pick – and leverage – the right pins.
On the Boards side, “Food and Drink” isn’t as popular as “Home Decor” and “Other,” the catch-all category on Pinterest. Also, if you take a look at Popular Categories Activity, “Home Decor” is at the top with “Design” and “Art” ranking high as well.
Because pinning is at the crux of Pinterest, what is happening in Boards and Categories is relevant but may not seem critical. Still, this means there are potentially interesting opportunities to make an impact in home decor, design, even fashion. And remember: Not everybody categorizes their boards according to the limited ones set up by Pinterest, hence the large showing of “Other” in the stats.
Another thing to note right now about Pinterest based on Repinly’s stats is that while Pinterest users spend 87% of their time pinning, they are only spending about 12% of their time liking pins and a mere .09% are commenting. So if anyone is telling you that Pinterest is where you can ENGAGE with women online, double check exactly what they mean by that.
Pinterest continues to evolve quickly and under the glaring media spotlight and scrutiny of all of us who are looking to understand the opportunities.
Keep in mind that people who are using Pinterest don’t care about the same things that those of us who want to market on Pinterest care about. As usual, we won’t have success marketing on Pinterest if we try to slap our agenda onto it and expect it to do our bidding. We need to thoughtfully examine the opportunities, create some new ones, and be a respectful member of the Pinterest community.
What are your thoughts on Pinterest for marketing so far?
Got questions about Pinterest or other social mobile networks for marketing and communications? Feel free to get in touch.