Pin Me Pretty: What is Pinterest?

Hello there!

I’m back after a loooong silence that has been mainly caused by extreme busy-ness, no inspiration and a general drought when it comes to ideas. Today, I’ll do my comeback with a new social network that has been stealing a lot of my time lately. The talk is about Pinterest, a social photo sharing network that enables users to collect their favorite images by ‘pinning’ them on ‘Boards’ as they surf the web. The concept is very similar to scrap-booking, just in a more social, trendier and digitalized version.

Hmm.. OK, Pinterest may not be big news, as it has been around for quite some time now. The first closed beta launched exactly 2 years ago. Nevertheless, I heard of it and discovered its potential only lately. Maybe because I have had so much free time on my hands, so it came as a perfect pastime for my days. The main audience for Pinterest is Women who make up the majority of the site’s users (unconfirmed sources claim it’s due to its similarity to scrap-booking). An interesting infographic about the users can be found here. But the gentlemen shall not worry, cause there is even a competitor targeting men, welcome Gentlemint.

Pinterest (Photo credit: stevegarfield)

All of the great publicity Pinterest has been gaining lately, its skyrocketing number of users, its target group as well as its sleek, visualinterface; all lead (me) to one question: How can we use this new tool for marketing? This in my opinion poses a great challenge for marketers, who all of a sudden need to communicate without the ease and convenience of words they so much love. Of course, this (might) exclude a few industries and companies with unappealing products, but it definitely leaves an unanswered challenge for the rest of them. Some companies are already on board and doing it well, e.g. Whole Foods and Elm Street. Of course, many have realized this potential, so tutorials and tips are popping all around the web. Here a beginner’s guide for marketers, from Mashable. While marketing strictly with visual material might be tricky, it also holds a tremendous potential because if it is done right and is RAN (Relevant, Attractive and Non-pushy), it will be welcome and remembered.

So whatcha waitin’ for? Follow me: http://pinterest.com/elenmilen/ 

Pin Pin Pin!