Did You Hear The One About The Marketer Who Didn’t Use Pinterest?

Ok, I admit there’s no punch line to that query or maybe there is now that I think about it. The punch line would be ‘they were soon looking for another job.’

Now I know what all you marketers and brand managers and brand marketers and everyone out there is thinking ‘gee Steve, a little over dramatic wouldn’t you say? Are you really saying a marketer who doesn’t use Pinterest could be out of a job?’
English: Red Pinterest logo

Alright I admit, I have seen too many after school specials and Lifetime movies (hey, Tori Spelling is one underrated actress) so perhaps I was a tad melodramatic in implying or flat out stating that any marketer who doesn’t use Pinterest may soon find themselves updating their resume but, I also don’t want to diminish the impact that Pinterest has had and continues to have on the respective bottom lines of companies and brands from sea to shining sea.

Back in March I wrote Why Brand Managers Need To Take An Interest In Pinterest in which I laid out the fact that the person who makes the majority of household decisions, AKA women, are heavy users of Pinterest and they also trust what they see on Pinterest.

A few months later in May, I penned Why Online Marketers Better Get An Interest In Pinterest, Fast. In that piece I referenced a study conducted by Shopify which revealed that that when a customer makes a purchase after coming over via Pinterest, they spend on average twice as much if they had come via Twitter or Facebook.

Add in the fact that, according to comScore, Pinterest grew to 10 million users faster than any other site, ever and you can see a) it’s popularity and b) why marketers better be on the Pinterest bandwagon.

But Wait, There’s More

No, not another set of steak knives but more proof of the power of Pinterest.

Also according to comScore, Pinterest has nearly 24 million members as of July 2012, which would make up roughly 10% of all Internet users which is not nearly as many as Facebook and Twitter but you have to remember these two social media behemoths had a head start.

Then there’s the trust factor which I mentioned earlier.

From a survey conducted earlier this year by BlogHer:

From my March article: “That’s right boys and girls: Pinterest (81%) ranked highest of all social media networks when it comes to trust besting Twitter (73%) and even – aghast! – Facebook (67%). Trust is obviously and quite naturally a very important thing to have so it’s not surprising to see that based on their trust re: Pinterest, women also identified it as the main driver behind all those purchases they make.”

Then there’s also the matter of influence.

From the same BlogHer survey:

Notice a trend? When it comes to trust and influence among women, the key player in the household decision making game, Pinterest outranks and outscores Facebook and Twitter.

And finally came this gem from the BlogHer survey: Close to half of US female Pinterest users had gone on to make a purchase based on recommendations received there, compared to around one-third of female users of Facebook or Twitter.

This Just In

As I writing this piece I came across another juicy tidbit and quite relevant nugget of information to support my contention that every marketer needs to be active on Pinterest.

The above comes courtesy of Bizrate Insgights via MarketingCharts.com from which this is gleaned:

“Among online shoppers using Pinterest, 70% said they do so to get inspiration on what to buy – that compares with just 17% of Facebook users who report the same. Similarly, Pinterest users are more likely to say they use the site to engage with retailers or brands with which they identify (43% vs. 24%). The results suggest that while both sites are used to connect with people who share common interests, Pinterest is more often used as a product discovery tool and decision influencer.”

Did you catch some of the key phrases in the above paragraph in addition to the very telling statistics?

“70% (of Pinterest users) said they do so to get inspiration on what to buy.”

“Pinterest is more often used as a product discovery tool and decision influencer.”

When you start using words like “inspiration” and “influencer” you better sit up and take notice for these words speak to the emotional quotient inherent in every one of us and when those emotions come into play re: a decision to make a purchase, chances are very good that, well, someone’s bottom line is going to very happy.

Is Pinterest For Every Marketer And Every Brand?

Well in an eMarketer article, it’s written “Pinterest offers a lot of promise for [marketers], assuming they can get users to link images with product offerings and purchases.”

I agree with part of that statement. Pinterest absolutely offers a lot of promise for marketers. But that whole ‘assuming’ thing? Forget assuming. Marketers need to and can get users to link images with product offerings and purchases.

They can do this by getting creative. Offer incentives for consumers who post images of your product or about your service or ware. You would be amazed what dangling the right carat to someone will do. Reward them for doing this. Create contests. Make it an exclusive perk for doing this and for following you on Pinterest.

Yes, Mr. Brand and Mrs. Marketer, you better have your own Pinterest page or board(s). Can’t ask someone else to do what you’re not already doing yourself. So in addition to pinning their own original content, ask them to re-pin yours and again offer them incentives and exclusives for doing this.

The bottom line in all of this is that marketers need to have their brands on Pinterest regardless of their industry – be they B2B or B2C. I truly believe that for the simple reason Pinterest is a visual medium and I don’t care if you’re selling blue jeans or peanut butter or rotary engines – the person you are trying to sell said merchandise to is a human being. And we humans like to see stuff; we like to take it all in visually. Otherwise, we’d all be listening to the radio all day.

Or something like that.

Source: eMarketer

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.