By now, you’ve probably heard about Pinterest. The online scrapbook-like site that allows for an online image to be “pinned” from websites onto pages that can be shared and viewed by people with mutual interests. I’ve been watching a lot of e-commerce blogs and forums and there were a lot of people discussing whether or not they should invest the time and effort into another social platform.
I’ve been on the fence about whether or not an online software company could benefit from having a presence on Pinterest. After looking into it, I would say that it’s definitely a niche site and it’s not for everybody. But with over 70 million users and over 1.5 million active daily users, it is definitely something that should be considered for companies looking for a good way to tell their story visually.
As I predicted earlier this year, image sites are going to continue to become more and more popular. According to Shareaholic, Pinterest now drives more referral traffic to websites than Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit and Google+ combined. The 3.68% of referral traffic is second only to Facebook’s 10%. Users also spend an average of almost 16 minutes a day on Pinterest. That’s more than Facebook and second only to Youtube. Those numbers look great, but before you jump headfirst into a Pinterest account, there are a couple of facts that you should know:
• Pinterest’s audience is roughly 70% women.
• 70% of users are also between the age of 18 and 44.
• 28% of users have an average household income over $100K.
• Majority of users on Pinterest access from tablets
If any of those people are in your target audience, then Pinterest is for you. If not, maybe check back next year to see if the demographics have changed.
Are there software companies on Pinterest?
Yes. Don’t worry, you won’t be the first software company to venture onto Pinterest to tell your story. Many B2B and B2C software companies already have a presence. Such household names as Microsoft, Adobe, Animoto, Dell, Hubspot, Wacom and Skype all use the site. And they all use it in a different way. Microsoft uses their page as a way to highlight new apps, software and their latest products and services while at the same time posting interesting pieces about their corporate culture. Not only does this provide important marketing information, but it also helps to connect people with the brand on a personal level. Adobe’s page expands beyond their immediate software in an attempt to connect with their customers. Being that their software is for very visual people, they have created boards that paint a picture of the company in touch with all things spatial.
Is it for you?
So we’ve established that there are a lot of people on Pinterest and there are other active software company pages, but is it the right place for you to be as well? There are hundreds of social media sites out there, and between creating content, interacting with people and all other marketing activities, you may not have the bandwidth to take on another site.
There are two reasons it is essential for you to have a Pinterest page. One, if your target audience is primarily female. With over 70% of users on it being of the fairer sex, Pinterest provides a golden opportunity to reach them. Two – if your software products are related in any way to something visual as Pinterest is a visual platform. A good example of product types that would do well on Pinterest would be photo and video editors, games, design programs and any consumer use programs.
While every e-commerce business is looking for ways to expand their reach, not every social media site is worth the time and financial commitments. Having a presence on Pinterest can be extremely beneficial for the right businesses. There is a huge audience that is incredibly active. However, many software businesses are just not suited for that market. If a business wanted to expand its presence to a niche social network, they’d be better off spending their time and money someplace else.
Are you an e-commerce software business on Pinterest? What has your experience been? Let us know in the comments section below!
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