Many of you may have become aware of a new social media site that has been getting a lot of press recently. The site is called Pinterest and aims to allow you to create a virtual Pin board of sites that you find interesting. It then has the usual social media functionality allowing you to comment, share etc. The question is, should you devote time to developing a presence on it? As usual, there is no simple answer. On the face of it, Pinterest has potential, especially if you make significant use of images and videos in your business/marketing, as the site is very visual. However the big question is will people in your market use it? The early signs are promising, as (according to wikipedia) earlier this year it became the fastest site to reach 10 million users. but compare this with facebook’s 900 million (31million UK ) and Twitters 140 million (10 million UK ) and it still has a long way to go. Another thing to consider, is that it has been suggested that the vast majority of Pinterest users are women (techcrunch.com). As with most of these things I am certain it is not going to change the world. But could it be a useful SME marketing tool? In some cases yes I am sure it will, but as with all these things, it’s about knowing your market, and understanding whether this new tool has a place in your marketing mix to reach them.
