All this fuss about Pinterest

You would have to be a bit of a hermit to not have seen an article in the last few weeks talking about how Pinterest is the next big social media phenomenon.

At DBD Media we are impressed with the uptake of Pinterest, especially as it is still in closed beta. The site is also being seen as a decent referrer of traffic to websites – reportedly better than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube.

However a word of caution – most of the uptake of the platform is happening in the US – 66 million of a total 73 according to Google Doubleclick Adplanner. The UK traffic is estimated at 860k – so yet to be significant when compared to other more established social media channels.

Pinterest’s usage is being driven by creatives and other early adopters – sharing things that interest or inspire them – e.g. things they want to buy, food, great photography, fashion, quotes, wedding ideas, designs, books, videos etc. This certainly makes the platform interesting from a content curation perspective.

Companies need to be aware that details about them (such as individual products, venue photos etc.) are being shared. It is worth finding out what is specifically of interest to people and which people are “pinning” them. These people might hold some degree of influence on the platform itself or even wider afield (e.g. on Twitter, bloggers etc.).

The site also presents an opportunity for brands to curate their own content (i.e. pinning things themselves) and I’m sure this will evolve as the platform looks to monetise itself. Right now, the lines are a little blurred – the platform asks for people to “avoid self promotion” and unsolicited advertising is not allowed. That said, some companies are already experimenting with Pinterest with some good success. Please read this article on MyCustomer.com which highlights a couple of brand examples and has some of my thoughts on why they work.

UPDATE 14/02: here’s a nice infographic comparing US and UK Pinterest usage. Food for thought…

by visually.

UPDATE 15/02: Here’s an article on Pinterest on New Media Knowledge with me quoted.