Pinterest recently moved into the Number 3 spot for social networks, which means a newbie like Pinterest is actually doing better than a giant like Google+. Aside from the fact that it is one of the fastest growing websites to ever hit the interwebs, why should you care?
1. The studies are still rolling in, but Pinterest does an amazing job at driving traffic back to web sites. The whole point of Pinterest is to bookmark web sites, but bookmark them in a much more visually interesting way. Whereas Facebook tends to work inside its own eco-system and Twitter tends to link to more news sites and blogs, Pinterest is there to capture more of the lifestyle links. We aren't necessarily learning about the latest volcanic explosion as it happens, but we are able to see a really enticing recipe or cute new spring dress.
2. The visual world is becoming more important. We've seen that Facebook posts with images tend to perform better than text-only posts, but on Pinterest if you don't have a good visual, you really don't have much. Remember if you want people to be driven to your site, you have to host interesting visuals on your site. If you're a clothing store who is constantly updating new images and styles online you are set. For the rest of us, that's something to think about.
3. The big dogs are already jumping on board. Quite often you'll see these new networks that never go anywhere, but Pinterest was smart enough to leverage what is already working to gain a mass quantity of users quickly. (In order to create an account you are prompted to use your Twitter or Facebook log-in which then allows you to see which of your friends/followers are also on Pinterest). You'll also see that some companies, like Lowe's, have begun using the "P" logo on the bottom of their ads. It's fresh, it's new and it's very relevant to women in their 20s and 30s.
4. Facebook and Twitter have been very popular for a very long time, at least "long" in terms of the tech world. When you see a network explode in the way that Pinterest has, it is something to take notice. Inevitably, things are going to shift. I'm not saying Facebook is going away tomorrow by any means, but I do think Pinterest has made a big enough splash for you to think about the ways your business could leverage it.
