Pinterest isn’t just for pretty pictures: It’s where your brand should be

If you still think Pinterest is just a place for hanging out and organising weddings, you’ve had your head buried in the sand. The fact that directs more referral traffic than Twitter, Google referral and Bing should tell you that it’s more than just the little social network that could.

New research published by online analysis company eMarketer gives another reason that it’s the best social network for your brand to be on. According to the study, people follow more retailers on Pinterest than they do on any other social network. The average Pinterest user, it says, follows 9.5 brands, while the Facebook and Twitter users follow an average of 6.9 and 8.5 brands respectively.

The study also cites a survey by blog network BlogHer, which suggests that it’s far more influential when it comes to guiding women’s purchasing choices than Facebook and Twitter.

Close to half of US female Pinterest users, it claims, made a purchase based on recommendations received on Pinterest, compared to around one-third of female users of Facebook or Twitter.

eCommerce solutions provider SteelHouse meanwhile reckons that the percentage of Pinterest users who had clicked through on a link to make a purchase was as high as 59%.

What this means is that if you’re looking for reach, Pinterest might not be the best place for you. If however, you’re looking to get people clicking through and buying your product then you absolutely have to have a presence on it.

According to eMarketer:

Pinterest has not reached Facebook’s or Twitter’s level of penetration, but its users are valuable. When Pinterest users buy, they tend to spend more per session and purchase more items. They also like to share, which is at the crux of social commerce.

The brands doing well at the moment tend to be the ones selling home goods, apparel and accessories, so you’re probably going to see the most value if you have some sort of connection to those sectors. There’s no reason that can’t expand to aother areas however, especially if what you’re selling has a visually appealing hook.