Businesses are beginning to have a presence on Pinterest…and with good reason.  The social media site is the perfect medium for businesses with visual appeal and a primarily female audience.  And now that there are “Buy” pins, businesses can make sales directly from Pinterest!

Knowing whether or not Pinterest is good for your business starts with knowing who uses the site and – more importantly – how they use it.

Who Uses Pinterest?

According to Pinterest demographic data, almost 70 percent of their users are women between the ages of 25 and 34, and about half of them have children. Pinterest users spend about 15 minutes using the service every single day. Pinterest users share a variety of “pins” and create pin boards or collections to share with others. The pins that get the most shares are visually pleasing and often shopping related.

How Do They Use Pinterest?

Men and women use Pinterest for the same reasons – to get ideas, to make wish lists or “vision boards”, and to keep track of resources they might want to look at later. But, women tend to wish more than men, who actually tend to buy more due to a pin. In other words, men generally pin things they will buy, while women pin things they want to buy or wish they could buy.

I find this to be true for myself.  For me, it’s a fun resource…but to date I haven’t made any purchases through Pinterest.

Why Do People Use Pinterest?

* Bookmarking – People use Pinterest to keep track of items they plan to buy, or things they want to read or try later such as recipes or do it yourself projects.  (Does everyone have a HUGE collection of recipe pins…or is it just me? I haven’t made many of the recipes, but I can highly recommend these Spicy Garlic Brussels Sprouts!)

* Inspiration – Looking at other people’s pins is a fun way to become inspired about something you want to do such as redecorate your home, cook a new recipe, or even get organized.  Like many brides, I used a (secret) Pinterest board for inspiration for my wedding/elopement and got ideas for everything from the ring to the dress, venue, flowers, photography, and even the honeymoon.  (TIP:  If you’re connecting to the wedding industry, you NEED a presence on this site!)

* Self-Promotion – Many people use Pinterest to promote their business (and any business which has visual content should). On Pinterest it doesn’t matter if you’re a big business or a small business; you can use it for promotion.  It’s all about the images.

* Social Interaction – People love being social, especially online. Even introverts are social online. Part of the fun of pinning and re-pinning and commenting is that it’s a social activity that you are doing with others.

Why Should I Use Pinterest?

* Conversions – Compared to other social networks, Pinterest converts better. It’s something about seeing a product or solution visually that makes people want to try it. If you can convert some of your content to visual content in the form of infographics you’ll have more conversions.  Whether your goal is to gain followers, subscribers, or sales, Pinterest does the trick.

* Traffic – Due to the highly visual nature of Pinterest, people are more likely to click through to see what’s behind the picture. The more traffic you get, the more conversions.  So use images that are compelling, creating interest and curiosity.

* Backlinks – You still need links to your site. Google Search still values links pointing to your website in its ranking algorithm. By creating valuable pins that link back to your site and having others share the pins, you’re creating good backlinks that show the search engines that what your site is valuable.

* Engagement – Users on Pinterest love to comment on pins as much as they love to share them. User engagement is fun and easy on Pinterest.

* Research – Pinterest is a fabulous research tool. You can find out what your audience is into by looking at the kinds of things they pin. You are likely to find many different solutions you can offer your audience using it as a research tool.

* It’s Easy – Pinterest is really simple to understand and use. Plus it enables you to be more creative with images, infographics and content by helping you think of everything in a new way.

Go to Pinterest and find out if your audience is using it and set up a Pinterest for Business account. It’s free.

Just curious…how do YOU use Pinterest, and what are your favorite type(s) of boards to follow?  Let me know!