If you’ve not heard of Pinterest, then chances are you are probably of the male variety. This social media platform has been creating a buzz since 2010 and at last count in 2013, had around 48 million users. Pinterest employs a visual form where users create virtual pinboards for different interests and then pin images to them. So Pin+interest = Pinterest! Kind of clever really. The only thing is, pinboards are seen as sort of…well, girly and, therefore, this social media site has traditionally found a home with female users. In the US, it is estimated that 70% of the Pinterest ‘pinners’ are female. Now compare that to Twitter and Facebook where the percentages are higher and Google+ where the male species actually dominate, and it’s clear to just about everyone that while men are using social networks, what they don’t seem to be big on are pinboards which are usually centered around arts and crafts, cutesy images and diets.
However, Pinterest has also been considered as one of the best social media sites for businesses. It has proven to be more effective at driving sales than other sites, even topping Facebook. It can be used in so many different ways that its adaptability is ideal for marketing use and here are some ways you can use it too, regardless of gender:
- Create engaging and eye-catching content: Pinterest has a ‘re-pin’ function which means that they can pin to their board something that they may have seen on someone else’s board. So this give you a chance to get truly creative and put things out there that people will want to re-pin.
- Be kind and re-pin: You’re more likely to get recognition if you get into the community and show some camaraderie. Re-pin other people’s posts and you’re likely to get people to share your stuff too. Don’t forget, Pinterest offers links to Twitter and Facebook, so you can drive traffic from one social media platform to another simply by linking them all together.
- Create images that lead blog posts: Whenever you create a new blog post for your business, you can create an image as a ‘front’. When people click on the image, they will be directed back to your website.
- Get everyone to use Pinterest: If you are an owner of a business and you have other members of staff, get them to use Pinterest too. Not only does it create a friendly and fun impression to others, it also provides you with numerous opportunities to get seen.
- Pin it to win it: Some of the ways businesses utilize Pinterest is by offering competitions whereby people have to re-pin certain things to win prizes. You can get in on the action too by using the same idea. Everyone loves to win freebies, so this is an easy way to create exposure for your business.
So, there you have it. Some real easy ways for you to get your business seen by others using Pinterest (and it honestly doesn’t matter if you are male or female). Although the male audience is smaller on this social network, it does however seem to be there, and as successful businesses are generally plugging more into Pinterest than Facebook, it certainly seems to be working. If, however, in your spare time you decide you’d rather post more manly stuff about mustaches, cars and toilet humor, then you can always depend on the testosterone-driven versions of pinboarding provided by sites such as Gentlemint and MANteresting.