The 411 on Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest is an American image-sharing and social media service designed to enable the saving and discovery of information on the internet using images and, on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos in the form of pinboards.

With your Pinterest account, you’ll be browsing, exploring, pinning, and interacting with other users, but this is only possible with a registered account. This can be done by downloading the Pinterest application or going to Pintrest.com on the browser of your preference. Here you will select the sign-up option, where you will be given the option of signing up with an email address and password or signing up through your Facebook or Google account. Enter your email address, create a password, select continue or continue with Facebook, and log into your Facebook account; the same applies to Google.

Doing this, you will receive a Welcome to Pinterest message and select next, where you will answer the setup questions, select areas of interest, and complete it by selecting done. Then, give it a few minutes before checking your email, where there will be a message asking you to confirm your email. Once this is done, you can be sure that your Pinterest account is fully set up and ready to start browsing and pinning.

Just like Reddit, Pinterest is like a virtual bulletin board that allows users to find and select images and videos. However, the focus of this app is not on your content storage but rather on the discovery and curation of others’ content. Here you are allowed to use visual assets, as said earlier, as social currency gaining likes and repins acting as supplements to blogs, posts, web pages, and other text-based media.

Under each Pinterest account, you can create multiple boards, like having one account serving various interests. Unrelated boards can be liked and arranged as per the account holder’s preferences. The format is such that you can follow a particular user’s boards or just one – the content most relevant to you.

Pinterest has seen significant growth over the last year, gathering an additional 100 million users over the previous year. Over 85% of pinners use the mobile app, coming as no surprise as most people like having images or ideas of things they want in the palm of their hand. This is a more diverse user demographic, with  50% or more of their users living outside the U.S. This increases the audience that sees one’s content. Additionally, 60% of its user ratio are women. However, this does not discount the influence and activeness of men on this app with a 50% yearly increment. To further increase the app’s credibility, 50% of U.S pinners frequently shop on Pinterest; this comes with a 50 % increase in 2020.

Apart from the known and standard features Pinterest users are aware of, there are chances of missing out on hidden features and cool tricks that may enhance the Pinterest experience. Here are some of the app’s unique characteristics;

• One can use the Pinterest browser extensions to save links to their boards.
• One can use the app’s visual search feature to find and even buy specific items.

Not only is Pinterest a social and entertainment app, but for those toying with the idea of using it to market their business then, you need to weigh the pros and cons involved. Pinterest is a powerful way of growing your business, and below, we will list some of the benefits of using it;

• Pinterest drives traffic, and lots of it. Pinterest is an excellent tool to help increase links back to your website, which drives more traffic. This uptick in traffic relies on good content; if you’re creating and sharing content your audience likes, they’re more likely to follow your links.
• Pins get you more inbound links. Because every pin includes a link, it makes it easier to lead back to the source of the image. The amount of people you can attract to your website by posting images of your product is incredible, leading to the phrase that you should never underestimate the power of an image.
• User engagement and interaction are very high. Users on Pinterest are more likely to interact with your post and share with a small group of people, offering intimacy and the business a chance to be touched, seen, and shared by a large group of people.
• You are discovering what your audience likes. Pinterest offers a chance for someone to see what is trending; another way is following your followers and seeing their likes and interests, getting an insight into their minds and inspirations.
• Pinterest is integrated with your website, Facebook profile, and Twitter account, although many people don’t like cross-platform posting. Nevertheless, it is a good thing as it enables users t automatically post their new pins on their news feed for others to share.
• Beginner friendly algorithm

It is to be noted that just as it offers its benefits, so is the supply of cons and disadvantages associated with the app, as discussed below:

• Confined to a few niches and audience types.
• Copyright infringement is an issue to deal with
• Time-consuming process for the traffic conversion process.

You can make money on Pinterest by displaying ads on your blogs using Google AdSense. You can also verify your business account, enable rich pins, and decide who sees the pin. With this, you can pay for play and track and optimize.

Pinterest is a fast-rising app with over 2 billion monthly searches, with 77% of weekly pinners discovering new products or brands. The misconception is that it mainly comprises women, which is not true, as over 40% of men use it. All in all, it is a rising app to be checked out. Try it out and see how Pinterest skyrockets your business, blog, or company online. It is an excellent source of traffic.