Just like the rest of the world, we have taken an interest in Pinterest! This invite-only website hit 10 million U.S. monthly unique users faster than any independent site in history and has increased their daily users by 145% since the start of 2012. And this mega hit website is run by just 16 employees. We hope their coffee pot is never empty.
So what exactly is Pinterest? Simply put, Pinterest is organized randomness. It is a random assortment of images and videos called “pins” that are shared by users who organize their own pins into categories called “boards.” Currently, the most popular topics in the U.S. are crafts, gifts and special event items, hobbies and leisure, interior design, and fashion designers and collections. The real genius behind this site is each photo is linked to a website where the pinner grabbed the photo from. If you click on a gourmet pasta dish, you will most likely be taken to a website that lists the ingredients and recipe. If you click on a gorgeous little black dress, odds are you will land on a website where you can add it to your shopping cart. Anything that you can imagine – from painting your house to organizing your wedding – is pinned and repined thousands of times each day.
Pinterest’s mission statement is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” and companies are starting to take advantage of this site to promote their own products and information about their company. For example, Chobani yogurt has 18 boards where they post everything from breakfast ideas to exercise inspiration to creative photos of Chobani-based dishes. It is like advertising without the overwhelming, “THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT” message and feel being pushed at you.
We decided to give it a try! Schifino Lee recently created an account and has created six boards to showcase our advertising and PR work across all media. Make sure to check us out! http://pinterest.com/schifinolee/