Pinterest – what is it? Who uses it? How can it help your brand?

Since launching in 2009, Pinterest has evolved into one of the internet’s fastest growing social platforms. As such, more and more businesses are choosing to get creative and jump on the Pinwagon. Whilst many companies can utilise this image-based channel with the help of a little brainstorming and some creativity, it is worth understanding which markets work best on Pinterest and what they are doing to gain popularity.

Who is the Pinterest User?

When planning a Pinterest strategy, it’s important to understand who you will be reaching with your content, and considering whether your own target audience fits in with the active users on the social platform.
According to TechCrunch, the average Pinterest user is an 18-34 year old American female in the upper income bracket.  In the US, the audience consists predominantly of women with 70-80% of the demographic being female; whereas in the UK there is a more even split of 56% male and 44% female.
These users dictate exactly which brands are popular on Pinterest and which images are re-pinned most frequently.

Who are the Best Brands on Pinterest?

Pinterest is predominantly user-generated, but that doesn’t mean that a company can’t establish a strong presence; a good brand can make their mark on pinners and increase their reach. As expected, the brands that are currently most popular on the photo-sharing platform are those that have the capability of being more visual. However, your business shouldn’t avoid Pinterest, even if you are less visual; a lot can be learnt from the brands that work best on Pinterest – just apply their ideas to your own social strategy, whatever your market.

Repinly, which provides insights into what’s most popular on Pinterest, reveals that food and drink, home décor, DIY and crafts, art, design, and hair and beauty are currently among some of the most popular categories on the social channel. All of these categories are aesthetically pleasing and many businesses will have the potential to tap into these already successful areas to expand their reach. The most popular categories feed into the brands that are currently doing best on the platform; Mashable revealed the most successful branded boards based on the most followers, the most repins, the most likes and the most comments:

L.L. Bean, which sells outdoor apparel and equipment, has topped Mashable’s list of ‘Most Popular Boards by Followers’ for its Woodland Creatures board which has attracted an impressive 4,689,706 followers. It also currently holds 5^th position for ‘Boards With the Most Likes.’ This just goes to show that no matter what your business is, you can still have Pinterest success with a little creativity (and perhaps a dose of cuteness!)

Better Homes and Gardens has also fared really well with some of its boards appearing in the top 5 for ‘Most Repins’, ‘Most Likes’, and ‘Most Comments’ with their ‘Blogger Recipes We Love’ and ‘Blogger Faves From BHG.com’. This reinforces the fact that popular pins revolve around food and home décor. And while you may not be able to take advantage of the home décor trend for your business, you can certainly produce some tasty images to appeal to new audiences; take snaps of office cakes, interesting lunches, or just re-pin food that you love and you’re sure to get some followers!

Our top tips for popular pins

So we now know how popular Pinterest is, but how can you adapt your business to suit it? Here are our top tips:

• Be Creative: Whatever industry you’re in, you can still find a way to make your mark on Pinterest. You can add personality to your brand by creating boards based around food, things you like, TV/music you’re hooked on in the office or popular spots in your city – just let your imagination run wild and the followers will soon be re-pinning at will!
• Get Everyone Involved: Use Pinterest to get all of your team involved; ask them what they would like to see on there, post snaps of the team to show the faces behind the brand, and pop photos of any company outings on there.
• Pin Infographics: If your industry is a little on the dull side, then you may be wondering how you’re going to generate images. The answer lies with infographics – you can take dry, hard-to-digest information and liven it up in an infographic. These are becoming incredibly popular on Pinterest, so if you can create a strong, eye-catching infographic, you have a good chance of it going viral!
• Get Repinning: If you’re struggling for image-based content, then scour the popular boards for cool images to repin – this can win you likes and new followers.
• Use Your Services: Whether you are an e-commerce website or a business that provides a service, you can take some interesting snaps that represent what you do best and pin them. Read more about PPC for Pintrest.

So now you know how valuable this social outlet can be, we want to see you pinning! Follow us on Pinterest to see what we are up to and read more about our social media marketing agency