Social Media Profile: Pinterest

Social Media Profile:

What is Pinterest?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Pinterest, it is a social media website where people can share ideas and things they find on the Internet. One way to describe it would be an electronic pin board. To use Pinterest you make a profile and then create boards. Boards are used to categorize the things you pin. For example, you could have a board entitled home décor ideas, one called favourite recipes and one called dream wedding. There are many categories that you can explore. Some of the categories include, food and beverage, holiday and events, wedding, health and fitness, home décor, gardening, cars and motorcycles, architecture, DIY crafts, animals, art and more.

As you can see there is something for almost everyone. The idea is that you “pin” something you like that you find on the Internet or you can “re-pin” something you like that you find on Pinterest. Other people can see what is on your boards and you can look at other people’s boards. Basically, the overall purpose for the site is to provide a positive space for people to interact and share ideas with each other.    

The layout of the website is a very simple concept. You can see pictures of everything and when something catches your eye you could click on the image to access the website it is from. 

Who uses Pinterest?

From the beginning of 2011 to now the amount of users on Pinterest went from approximately half a million to over 18 million (Websense, 2012). It has spread very quickly via word of month. It is predominately used by women (80%). 17% of users are between the ages 18 and 24. 25% of users are 35-44 and 30% are 25-34. Therefore, the majority of users are young to middle-aged women. This media website is most popular among Americans, as 68.6% of users are from the United States (Hussain, 2012). 

The image below shows some vey interesting statistics that help identify the type of people using Pinterest. 

click to see larger image (Hussain, 2012)

How Can Marketers Use Pinterest?

            Because of its growing popularity Pinterest is an excellent method for companies to not only advertise products, creating brand awareness but by also giving consumers ideas on how to use the products.  It is so effective because once something is pinned it can be repined over and over again with a link to the company website.

An issue with marketing on Pinterest is that there would be some restrictions in the market segment you could target. For example, most users are female so you would have to focus on appealing to women, which is not easy for all brands. Marketers would just have to make sure they get the right message across to reach their target market. The main way to do this would be to make sure the picture you post is representative of the this message and will catch the eye of the desired audience.

Below is a video that shows the benefits marketing on Pinterest.

(MDGadvertising, 2012)

Visit Pinterest!

Works Cited

Hussain, A. (2012, May 29). 10 Pinterest Infographics: Visual Explanations for a Visual Social Network. Retrieved October 2012, from HubSpot Blog: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33078/10-Pinterest-Infographics-Visual-Explanations-for-a-Visual-Social-Network.aspx/?utm_source=pinterest

MDGadvertising (Writer). (2012). Marketer's Guide to Pinterest [Motion Picture].

Websense. (2012, May 4). Pinning down Pinterest. Retrieved Oct 2012, from Security labs Blog: http://community.websense.com/blogs/securitylabs/archive/2012/05/04/pinning-down-pinterest.aspx

The Rise of Social Media Marketing

The rise of social media marketing has completely shifted the entire landscape of online marketing mainly because consumers now have a voice and the ability to communicate their input regarding the pros and cons, suggestions, and concerns of a specific product or service through social media. So basically due to social media being used as marketing tools for businesses, the online business world has developed from a monologue between brands and their consumers to a dialogue between brands and their consumers. Social Media Marketing is a relatively new form of online marketing where small businesses and large corporations use social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and LinkedIn as direct communication and marketing channels. Companies use these social media channels  to generate data and information about their target market and communicate information to their target market regarding their products and or services.


When did social media marketing begin?

In 1969 was when social media marketing began. The company CompuServe created the first ever commercial service online. 

What were some monumental events that impacted the growth of Social Media Marketing?

 

• In 1971- first Email
• In 1978- BBS Bulletin Board Systems were created.
• In 1989 the world Wide Web was created.
• In 1994 the first blog was created by links.net
• In 1999 blogger was launched
• In 2002 the social media network site Friendster was launched. This social media network racked up 90 million registered users and over 60 million visitors every month.
• Facebook was launched in 2004 initially for Harvard student use only. As the word spread so did Facebook. The Facebook network eventually expanded into other schools, then to secondary schools, then to businesses, and then to everyone.
• Youtube was launched in 2005.
• Twitter was launched in 2006.
• Social media networks go mobile in 2007. Friendfeed and tumbler were also launched in the same year making the mobile use of social media more convenient and efficient for the users.
• In 2008 viral video proves its power due to a video clip of a Burger King Employee bathing in a company washroom sink(gross). The video sparked awareness of social media by users regarding videos uploaded on social media sites like youtube and vevo.
• The movie "Bruno" dies three days following the release of the film in 2009 due to negative reviews, comments, and word of mouth via social media networks. This event was an eye opener that showed the power consumers have over brands by using social media.
•   

Here is a short video clip of a 2010 NFL Superbowl ad for Old Spice Deodorant. I know many of you have already seen the ad numerous times and can agree it is absolutely hilarious and makes no sense at all, but this specific ad is a perfect example on how effective social media marketing has truly become. Within 24 hours over 5.9 million Youtube users responded to the video through comments and "likes".

I have discussed with you guys some of the key events that have impacted the rapid growth of social media marketing. It all began with  slow working ineffcient blogs and has grown into an instant ability for users to network with friends and families and for corporations to alcommunicate instantly with their desired consumers. So where do you guys think social media marketing is heading? What do you think the online landscape for social media will look like even 5 years from now?

 

Thanks for reading my post guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

Article Links

• http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/836942--how-old-spice-campaign-changed-social-media
• http://www.findandconvert.com/2012/02/40-year-history-of-social-media/
• http://www.techi.com/2012/08/the-rise-of-social-media-marketing/

 

 

 

 

Brand Evaluation - Task #4

This week we discussed email marketing.  Does your brand use email marketing?  How did they do?  What do you think is the objective of their email marketing?  Can you identify a communication schedule? Do their email campaigns follow some of the design best practices discussed in class? 

Earlier, you evaluated how they use their website to collect data.  Has this data been used in their email campaign?

How could they improve their use of email marketing? 

This task is worth 10 points.