Pinterest & The Growth Of Visual Communications

INTEREST IN PINTEREST

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Pinterest.com has 4.2 million monthly users worldwide.
That’s up from practically nothing in January of this year.
The site launched in March, 2010.
Visitors spend an average of 16.4 minutes on the site.

THOUGHT: Pinterest, if you’re not yet familiar with the site, is the latest social networking phenomenon. It is based almost entirely on visual communications. 

Users share their interests by pinning content to their boards to share with their followers: Thus, Pin + Interest = Pinterest. 

The first thing you notice–or, at least, as a guy, the first thing I noticed–when visiting the site is the heavily female-oriented content. Google puts the gender breakdown of the users at 85% female; they skew younger, too, with 64% of the audience falling between the 25-44 age range. 

Much of the imagery is of food, fashion, photography and art. 

I think this new social network will have some staying power because it is very easy and obvious to use, all you really do is share stuff, so you don’t necessarily have to possess great language skills to get a lot out of it, and it taps into the increasing trend toward visual communications. 

Y’all know I’m a big fan of infographics but I’m not alone. I believe the reason infographics have taken off is that they present complex information in an easy- and quick-to-digest fashion. And the one thing that is at a premium for everyone is time.

I think Pinterest has the same appeal but adds visual beauty on top, thus, while the information is presented in an easy-to-consume format, the imagery is so compelling that people tend to spend a lot of time there.

Ironic, huh?

Anyway, yet more evidence that visual communications is becoming more important with every passing day. 

Think about your business and what visual appeal it has. Should you be playing with Pinterest? 

I’d say that if you’re a restaurant, you should be sharing the most flattering photos of your cuisine there and connecting with other food fans.

If you’re a retailer who sells clothes, get your catalog of merchandise pinned but be sure that what you’re sharing is visually compelling. A blouse hanging on hanger is not visually compelling. A blouse worn by an attractive model in an interesting environment with a unique camera angle is compelling. 

MINNESOTA MONDAY: Minnesotans were early adopters of Pinterest, according to founder Ben Silbermann.

Thank you for Christian Ponder.

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