In this Social Channel Selection for Revenue growth series, we are dissecting each major social channel to help you assess whether it is the best place to position your business to connect with customers and grow your revenue.
Time is at a premium for the average Entrepreneur, you need to be strategic about where you invest your resources whether that be time, money, or staff. Joining every available social channel is counterproductive and leveraging the wrong platform poorly can harm your brand reputation and image. Whether you run an Etsy Store, an e-commerce website, a service business, or all of the above, you need to be strategic about how you select your social channels.
Is Pinterest the right social channel for my business?
The Stats:
Pinterest is a visual dream where you can pretty much find inspiration for anything. A powerful tool to help you push your product to the forefront, over 300 million people visit Pinterest globally each month. It is the fourth largest social platform behind, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.
Age & Gender
15% of men use Pinterest
42% of women use Pinterest
80% of mothers in the USA use Pinterest meaning 8/10 mothers are pinners
38% of 18–24-year-olds use Pinterest
28% of 25–30-year-olds use Pinterest
35% of 30–49-year-olds use Pinterest
27% of 50–64-year-olds use Pinterest
15% of 65+-year-olds use Pinterest
Regional breakdown
More than 50% of users are from outside of the US
US users account for more than 87 million users
30% of those living in an urban area use Pinterest
30% of those living in a suburban area use Pinterest
26% of those living in a rural area use Pinterest
Education & Income
19% of those with high school education or less use Pinterest
32% of those with some college education use Pinterest
38% of those with more than college education use Pinterest
18% of those making less than $30k use Pinterest
27% of those making $30k–74,999 use Pinterest
41% of those making more than $75k use Pinterest
According to Pew Research, the majority of Pinterest users earn more than $75,000 USD a year. That means more often than not, people who use Pinterest have disposable income.
Devices & Usage
Users perform more than 2 billion searches on Pinterest each month
Individual Pinners perform 8 searches each month
Users perform 600 million visual searches per month which involves the user uploading an image to conjure up similar pins
Related pins account for 40% of engagement
85% of Pinners use Mobile to access the platform
97% of searches are unbranded meaning that Pinners are open to discovering new brands
78% of Pinners find brand content useful,
75% of Pinners are interested in content from brands they don't know, far higher than the 55% on other social platforms
48% of Pinners use the platform as a shopping tool or aid
Source: (Sprout Social, Hootsuite Pew Research & CNBC.com).
What can Pinterest do for my business?
Pinterest can put your product in front of customers who are interested in discovering your brand and eager to shop
Pinterest is a remarkable organic traffic-driving tool
It is best suited to visual product-based businesses
Content creation can be time-consuming and competitive but strong imagery will generate traffic and sales
Now that you've got some insight into Pinterest, you should assess whether this works for your business. Think specifically about your audience and customer. Do the above demographics match up and does it sound like it can help you meet your specific business objectives.
And finally, how do I select an impactful channel?
Narrow down which social channels you chose to be a part of, be selective about what channels serve your business best.
Avoid copying competitors and peers using whatever channels they use.
Play to your strengths and think about what channels you can create the best content for. If you're a great writer and your brand has a strong tone, perhaps you can leverage text-based posts on a word centred platform the best.
Go strictly where your customers are, do proper market research (surveys, reports) to find out the truth around this, then prioritise the channels they are most active on.
Don't simply join the most popular or trendy social channels, or the ones people seem to be talking about the most. Again, prioritise where your audience goes to be entertained, informed, shop, connect and learn.
Unsure about where to go from here?
Here at Superlative we've worked with hundreds of businesses, just like yours. We specialise in helping them to take their business online and generate more revenue than ever before. Speak to us about Consulting and coaching, Web design and Marketing Strategy services or try our Courses and Workbooks to empower you and your staff to generate more revenue than ever before.
We would love to hear from you, Get in touch.