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Saturday, 12 May 2012

Why it’s time to cast your interest to Pinterest


Each day there’s another blog post, article or tweet about Pinterest. So after seeing the millionth update we cracked and accepted that it wasn’t just ‘another social networking site’ as it seems that the social platform is not planning on phasing out anytime soon.

If you’ve been living under a rock (or had no internet access) for the past few months then we’ll forgive you for not knowing what Pinterest is. In this post we provide a simple overview of the new social media platform and detail why it’s crucial for businesses to get involved. However, with any new social media platform, there are always implications and bugs so we’ve decided to pinpoint these issues to help you start ‘pinning’ with ease and efficiency.

The Rundown

Pinterest is basically an online scrapbook that allows you to select or ‘pin’ images and categorise them into ‘boards’.
It has been reported that the site gained popularity through females ‘pinning’ items they found around the web. The first female users were mainly brides-to-be who were creating boards filled with desired wedding dresses.
But why exactly is this site highly addictive? You seem to lose track of time whilst trawling through the different images. We summed up the main reasons why Pinterest is good for business and why you should be longing for the personal invite to show up in your inbox!

Why is it good for business?

1. Showcase your work – Pinterest is perfect for businesses that are image based, i.e. illustrators, freelance photographers, and graphic and web designers. The web based pin board allows you to categorise your images, enabling you to display your work
2. Pins can go viral – Your Pinterest account is linked to either your Facebook or Twitter account, and Pinterest allows users to either like, ‘repin’ or comment on images. Therefore your pins (which could be your products) have the potential to go viral if a whole bunch of people like them.
3. It’s only going to get more popular – People skim content online, and it’s well known that their attention span is reduced too. Also, social networking sites are becoming more visual over time. Therefore, the layout and content of Pinterest satisfies these needs for online users.
4. It can fuel creativity – Concentrating on design projects for a long period of time can be draining and leave you feeling exhausted. A quick skim through Pinterest can perk you up and boost your inspiration thus making you work more effectively.

Caution!

Like all new social platforms, there are rules and regulations to follow if you want your account to be successful. As long as you’re aware of the following cautions then you’ll be able to achieve Pinterest perfection.
1. Don’t self-promote too much – No one likes an egotistical buffoon so make sure some of your boards aren’t showcasing your work, but are linked to your industry. Therefore include categories such as good font types and web design inspiration if you’re a creative design agency.
2. Accept the bugs – It’s a rapidly growing website and app so expect the frequent crash here and there. As Pinterest and all the other social networks say, they’re ‘working on the problem’.
To conclude, if your business is visually appealing and you’re in the graphic or web design, photography, fashion or food industry, Pinterest is great for your business. It’s not just ‘another social network’ as the site has recently reached a staggering 10 million users and has also gained traction faster than just about any other site in history. Yep, Pinterest is here to stay, so get pinning folks….

Take a look at following infographic to see how many people are pining for Pinterest. Designed by yours truly of course….


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