Social Media Trend Assessment – Pinterest

Marina BarrettMKTG 7546Professor BreyApril 10, 2012

The Pin-Basics

Pinterest is a new social media platform that has exploded over the last six months. Pinterest allows its users to share and collect pictures and videos which link back to the original source whether it is a corporate website or a blog.5 The mission of Pinterest “is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting…[Pinterest believes] that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.” The whole concept of social media and social business is to connect and build relationships with the people you share a common interest with; Pinterest does this with ease. According to comScore, in “January 2012 Pinterest attracted more than 11 million unique visitors, more than double the 4.9 million who visited the site in November 2011. Those who visited Pinterest spent nearly 100 minutes on the site in January, compared to the [average] 19 minutes on professional social networking sites like LinkedIn.”8

Pinterest is notably popular among the female demographics however that is not the case around the world. Data compiled by Visual.ly sheds light on the interesting differences between U.S. and UK Pinterest users. Using anonymized, aggregated opt-in data from various Google products (including Toolbar and Analytics), DoubleClick Ad Planner has drawn some conclusions about pinners on both sides of the pond. The infographic below depicts the difference among unique visitors, age, gender, and interest of the Pinterest users in the United States and the United Kingdom.

While this data illustrates the differences between the users, the most important data to look at is the audience interests. While the US seem to be interested in crafts and interior design, UK users

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are interested in using Pinterest for SEO and marketing information along with analytics and content management. This is important because Pinterest started out as an online scrapbooking site where users collect and share recipes, fashion and home decor ideas, however, it has now evolved into a prime marketing tool for all types businesses.

Sports Score on Pinterest

Since the hype of Pinterest has been centered on women, the sports industry has used this digital scrapbooking website as a tool to reach and engage their female fans. Many professional teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, and a few colleges have joined the Pinterest bandwagon in order to showcase content from fans, display merchandise, and create boards of photos from the past and present of the organization. The Celtics have the largest following on Pinterest so far with over 1,500 followers. Pinterest is a great way for sport teams to engage with the female demographic and offer them a different type of content that cannot be found on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

In college sports, the University of Washington uses Pinterest to flaunt what it offers prospective student athletes. Boards called “Best 4 Years of Your Life” and “Seatown Swag” show off student culture and the university’s prime location. Assistant athletic director Carter Henderson said the school created those boards in part because they noticed that collections themed around travel destinations were already popular on the network.7

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Whole Foods Market Spices it up on Pinterest

Whole Foods Market was one of the first brands to join the social media platform in July 2011. The global online community manager for Whole Foods, Michael Bepko, explains, “[Pinterest] allows us to curate images from across the web that really speak to who we are as a company, images that reflect our core values and essentially communicate the essence of who we are.” While most brands can be found on Facebook and Twitter, Bepko pondered the necessity of having the Whole Foods brand on Pinterest as well. He came to the conclusion that the main difference between the Pinterest and other social networking sites is the curation of images. Pinterest is image-based, as opposed to message-based which fills a niche that has been left empty by other platforms.

Pinterest fits into the Business Model of Current Social Media Trends

Pinterest is a mystery that businesses are eager to solve and determine if their presence is necessary or needed on the site. This section looks at current social media trends that businesses have already implemented into their social media strategies and how Pinterest can enhance those trends.

Social CommerceSocial commerce is the social interactions and user contributions that facilitates the buying and selling of products. Businesses who use Pinterest have the capability to display their products on social platform other than the brand’s website. Creating different boards with different content, products, and categories allows you to connect with customers based specifically on their interests.11 The fact that you can add the price of an item to a pin by typing the £ symbol followed by the amount in the description is a sure way to increase the selling of products and leading to the direct revenue from the site.6

Social Rewards ProgramsThe core of social media has been to engage and interact with consumers, and reward programs have been a key factor in that connection. Pinterest is another venue for customer interface, interaction, socialization, and connection. Contests on Pinterest can reach far beyond the typical “Pin It to Win It”. The engagement of fans and consumers can be started on Pinterest by asking their opinion on the next marketing strategies of the company, comment on the new office designs or vote on the trends they most want to see in the brand’s next collection. The winner can be chosen based on awarding points through likes, comments and re-pins.1

Collaborative ConsumptionCollaborative consumption is the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, and swapping, redefined through technologies and peer communities. Pinterest is a peer community that has redefined the concept of sharing ideas and interests. One of the best things that Pinterest offers to its users is the ability to have multiple collaborators on boards. When a company allows its employees to contribute to boards it adds to the personalization and humanization of the business and it also builds an office unity. Pinterest goes beyond featuring a company’s product and establishes an opportunity to interpret the lifestyle of their clientele.1 Whole Foods is an excellent example of this. Out of the approximately 30 boards that Whole

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Foods have on their Pinterest account it is hard to find an actual Whole Foods Product. Instead the Whole Foods Pinterest team searches the Internet for bloggers and writers on other social platforms who offer an array of content that is relevant to the Whole Foods’ core pillars, then they pin those images to their boards. They also attract a much wider audience by offering niche board topics such as their “Super Hot Kitchens” board, which is entirely devoted to immaculate kitchens. This allows the users interested in topics such as home décor to follow this specific board and avoid consuming content from all of Whole Foods boards; yet Whole Foods name is still associated with the board and reaching that wider audience.4

Share ButtonsYou see the share buttons almost everywhere now, and Pinterest is not only joining this trend they are also redesigning it. There is the “Pin It” bookmark, “Pin It” share button, and the Pinterest “Follow Button”, with the instructions on how to use and implement all of them located on the Pinterest website. The “Pin It” bookmark was developed by Pinterest to make pinning new content easy. To install you drag and drop the button from the Pinterest website to your bookmark tool bar on your browser. This allows users to pin new content from any website to one of their boards. By clicking on this bookmark button, images found on the particular page are displayed and the user can choose their favorite photo to pin to their desired board. When pinning from a website, Pinterest automatically grabs the source link to credit the original creator (to be discussed further later). The instructions to add the share and follow buttons to a business’s personal website are also listed on Pinterest.com. These buttons allow consumers of a business to share their content with their followers on Pinterest, just like they can on Facebook and Twitter.10

Job SearchSurprising enough, LinkedIn is no longer the only place to showcase your personal resume; Pinterest provides the ability to share with the world a visual resume of oneself. If you are a graphic designer, you can pin samples of your work. If you offer other services, such as consulting or writing work, you can use Pinterest to share photos that inspire or that share a message about your work. For example, financial consultants could pin photos that represent client goals, such as financial independence or financing education. Non-profit groups can share photos of the clients they are helping.11

Managing ContentAnalytics, analytics, analytics! Integration of a social media strategy is not enough anymore, monitoring and analyzing the data from that content is now just as important. Many tools have been developed to analyze social media data for companies, now those developers are creating tools that are made specifically for Pinterest. Examples include, Pinstamatic, Percolate, Pinpuff, and (my favorite) PinReach, which offers a personalized analytics dashboard. Since the pictures on Pinterest are embedded with a link directing the users back to the original source, tools like Google Analytics have been able to track Pinterest for referral traffic to ones website. Want to see what pictures from your website are being pinned with the “Pin It” bookmark? Typing http://pinterest.com/source/ “yourdomain.com” and replacing “yourdomain.com” with your own website URL, you will quickly see what images have been pinned directly from your site. This reinforces the importance of having images that are eye catching in order to prompt the user to pin it to their board. This link not only gives you a look into what pictures are being pinned but

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also the ability to understand how your customer perceives your product by viewing comments and board titles.1 Pinterest is also SEO gold, giving you a constantly renewable source of solid, meaningful incoming links for a company’s website.2

The Future of Pinterest

A few years a go the hype surrounding social media was centered on the newest social networking site called Twitter. What is it? What is the point? Who is using it? Should we (brands/people/products) join the revolution of Twitter? Those same questions are being asked today about Pinterest. To stay ahead of competition it’s important for businesses to engage in the most current trends and social media platforms. “Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined, according to Shareaholic’s January 2012 Referral Traffic Report.9 With these statistics it is obvious that Pinterest is a platform that should entice businesses to rearrange their current online marketing strategies. Pinterest does appeal to a specific demographic (females) however, as it continues to grow its reach to a more divers set of users (i.e. men) will make Pinterest a better place for more unique companies to participate.3 Kelly Carney, Associate Commissioner of Marketing and Television for Conference USA, is a Pinterest user and states that the men she follows on Pinterest have “boards for cars, home, sports, and work related topics (i.e. marketing or a specific school/team)”. Carney also stated that she sees Pinterest moving forward by targeting the male population, hopefully without loosing their female demographic and their current business practice of sharing thoughts and ideas. Nicole Cartier, Director of New Media for Conference USA, believes that Pinterest creates the perfect “supply and demand” economy for virtual sharing. Overall, Cartier sees Pinterest as the best tool for all types for products and businesses as it allows consumers to share their opinions on what they are interested and it can be shared all over the world with those interested on the same type of product. For more information on Kelly and Nicole as well as their thoughts on Pinterest please see below. In conclusion, Pinterest has started off the same way other successful social media sites have, surrounded by buzz and becoming a key factor in a businesses online marketing and social media strategy.

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Expert Interview Biography

Kelly Carney – Associate Commissioner of Marketing and Television

Kelly Carney joined Conference USA in 2004 as the league re-located from Chicago to Dallas. As Associate Commissioner of Marketing and Television, Carney manages the majority of C-USA's external affairs. Her responsibilities include serving as liaison to the league's marketing directors and executing television agreements with FOX Sports Network, CBS Sports Network and ESPN, as well as the website agreements with CBS Interactive. Carney also works directly with the FOX staff that manages Conference USA's sales and marketing rights. Prior to joining C-USA Carney worked for Host Communications. Her arrival at Host in

1996 coincided with the organizations acquisition of the rights to the Big 12 Conference. Carney served as Director of Marketing for that property for two years, and then was promoted to General Manager. After four years working with Host's collegiate division, Carney was hired by the events division to work with the NCAA.In that capacity, she managed the logistics and operations of the NCAA Hoop City Fan Festivals at the men's and women's Final Four. In addition, she managed the annual SBC Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma. Before her tenure with Host was complete, she was promoted to Vice President of Events and oversaw all of Host's event business.

In addition to her Conference USA responsibilities, Carney also serves on the NCAA Football Special Promotions and Brand Marketing Committee, and has done so since February, 2005.

Carney began her professional career with DelWilber and Associates - a sports marketing company in St. Louis, Mo. She was promoted from intern to administrative assistant after four months and in the next six years held the titles of Event Coordinator and Event Director.

While at DelWilber, Carney worked with Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, major sponsors such as Seven-Up, IBM and Alka-Seltzer and the USA Baseball Olympic Tour. She also coordinated and managed collegiate events such as the 7UP Shootout and the Las Vegas Bowl.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Carney graduated from Marymount University in 1988. She and her husband Drue have son A.J. (14) and a daughter Megan (11).

Biographyhttp://www.conferenceusa.com/genrel/carney_kelly00.html

Websitehttp://www.conferenceusa.com

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Interview Questions and Responses with Kelly Carney

1) How do you think Pinterest has or can impact the business landscape?  Based on popularity, Pinterest is a great way to promote products and more importantly, drive traffic to websites since only a photo is available on the Pinterest website.  If an item is popular the website traffic driven by Pinterest users could be unbelievable.  I currently see retail and the blogging sites getting a ton of publicity. 2) What specific industries and consumer segments may be impacted?  Initially, I think female consumers and female consumer segments are the target since the majority of pins have to do with style, décor and food.  I do, however, see more and more males coming on board each day and I find it interesting to see how they categorize their boards...how they are using Pinterest.  The majority of males I have started following have boards for cars, home, sports and work related topics (i.e. marketing or a specific school/team) 3) How do you think Pinterest itself will change moving forward?  Not sure exactly how they will change moving forward, but I do have opinions on what I don’t want to see.  Moving forward, I think they will start to target more males, hopefully without losing their current female demographic. If this happens, they could sort between the two genders (Pinterest for Males/Pinterest for Females) as I would not want to search through pins targeted specifically to males.  Same goes for kids.  My daughter joined and should that demo grow – I don’t want to be looking at a bunch of tween pins.  Will Pinterest want to monetize the site??  How is the site funded?  Will we start seeing advertising – or advertiser’s product being pushed on the site?  Will people have to pay to “see” everything down the road…similar to the LinkedIn concept?  I think Pinterest needs to make sure the site continues to promote ideas, interests and best practices…not people promoting themselves. 4) What will Pinterest need to stay a head of competition? Grow the categories, grow their uses…but still find a way to not junk it up – keep it simple!!

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Expert Interview Biography

Nicole Cartier – Director of New Media

Nicole Cartier began her duties at Conference USA in August of 2010. Her main duties include producing video content for the Conference USA Digital

Network with video and written content such as features, interviews, weekly shows and Championship events as well as serve as support for the live events on All-Access of all 12 of C-USA's institutions. She also serves as the Host of the C-USA Digital Network and main writer of Don't Forget the Hyphen, C- USA's official blog.

Prior to joining C-USA, Cartier was the Broadcast Coordinator and Associate Producer for the Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx from September 2008 to August 2010. Here, she regularly worked with NBA and WNBA head coaches, players and executives conducting interviews and gaining content for feature stories and breaking news that aired on Timberwolves.com, KSTC-45 and WolvesVision, the in-arena pregame show. She also served as producer and director of Lynx games that aired online at WNBA.com. Additionally, Cartier was also the main coordinator for spots and promotions on all radio and TV broadcasts.

Before her arrival at the Timberwolves, Cartier began her career in sports as an intern with the Lexington Horsemen Arena Football team as Media Relations assistant during the 2007 summer season and then was promoted to Office & Ticket Manager and Game Coordinator in November that year. During her time as an intern with the Lexington Horsemen she wrote feature stories on the team regularly helped with writing scripts for TV spots. After her promotion, Cartier took on three roles where she handled all ticket requests, promotions and sales, she coordinated game promotions and produced live in-game elements, and also oversaw all office duties and the hiring of interns.

A native of Abingdon, VA, Cartier followed her mother and father's footsteps and attended the University of Kentucky. She earned her BA in Journalism and French and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Biographyhttp://www.conferenceusa.com/genrel/cartier_nicole00.html

Websitehttp://www.conferenceusa.com

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Interview Questions and Responses with Nicole Cartier

1) How do you think Pinterest has or can impact the business landscape?            In a sense, Pinterest is essentially the perfect sharing tool for Businesses. Whereas Facebook and twitter rule the social media world--connecting people to other people, Pinterest is devoted specifically to commerce and sharing those tangible ideas and inspirations--be it fashion, recipes, event planning, art, technology, etc-- for other people to see and get inspired to try out that specific "pin." This creates the perfect "supply and demand" economy by virtual sharing.  2) What specific industries and consumer segments may be impacted?            I feel Pinterest specifically targets the consumer industry--stores, restaurants, name brands-- as it's allowing people to share all of their opinions on a specific product all in one page. Those start-up brands can easily benefit by Pinterest because as they are just starting to get their name brand out, one person can share it on Pinterest for others to see and share themselves.-- the "snowball" effect can then take place. A person in Maine can see a certain product on a "pin" from a complete stranger who shares the same interests in California and easily that product has become popular across the country in a single second.  3) How do you think Pinterest itself will change moving forward?            I think it's important to maintain Pinterest as a tool for sharing marketable brands and ideas. This will keep it from becoming a "Facebook" where people just post their general thoughts. Pinterest can directly impact the economy by promoting those corporate brands and start-ups and allowing everyone to share what they like to other people who may share the same interests all over the world.  4) What will Pinterest need to stay a head of competition?             For me, it's important for Pinterest to stay organized. With something like Pinterest that encapsulates and easily promotes anything and everything, it is easy for someone to get lost in the entirety of the whole website. From someone who has just joined Pinterest after the fact that it has become so popular, it's easy for me to become inundated with too much information on how to create and share "pins." It is in this sense that Pinterest needs to stay easily navigable and simple to enjoy.

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6. Johnson, A. (2012, February 9). Pinterest: 10 reasons why it will be bigger than Twitter. Retrieved from Social Media Today: http://socialmediatoday.com/adrianjohnson/442950/pinterest-10-reasons-why-it-will-be-bigger-twitter

7. Laird, S. (2012, February 24). Pinsanity: How Sports Teams Are Winning on Pinterest. Retrieved from Mashable.com: http://mashable.com/2012/02/24/pinterest-sports/#5032914-A-Retro-Look

8. Needleman, S. E., & Tam, P.-W. (2012, February 16). Pinterest's Right of Web Passage - Huge Traffic, No Revenue. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577225124053638952.html

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10. Sanchez, S. (2012, February 17). How to Leverage Pinteres in Your SEM Strategy - Part 2. Retrieved from SEO.com: http://www.seo.com/blog/leverage-pinterest-sem-strategy-part-2/

11. Sandorford, B. (2012, February 1). 7 Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business. Retrieved from Business 2 Community: http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/7-ways-to-use-pinterest-to-promote-your-business-0127686

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