DIGITAS PERSPECTIVE

Piquing Marketers P-Interests

Pinterest Emerges as the Hot New Social Network

What is it?
Pinterestdescribesitselfasaplacethatletsyouorganizeandshareallthebeautifulthingsyoufindonthe web.Peopleusepinboardstoplantheirweddings,decoratetheirhomes,andorganizetheirfavorite recipes.Bestofall,youcanbrowsepinboardscreatedbyotherpeople.Browsingpinboardsisafunwayto discovernewthingsandgetinspirationfrompeoplewhoshareyourinterests. Thisisahighlyvisual,invitationonly(throughacurrentuserorthroughthePinterestsite)networkthat resemblesothercontentcurationsiteslikeTumblr,DiggandevenappslikeFlipboardandInstagram (althoughInstagramputstheemphasisoncontentcreationratherthancuration). Userscanpincontent(primarilyimages)tothematicboards eitherbasedonPinterestssuggestedtopicsortheirownwhims. LikeDiggandDelicious,Pinterestcanbeintegratedintothe browserwithaPinThisbuttonoraBookmarklettoallowfor easycontentpinningwhilebrowsing.Userscanalsorepin contentfrompeopletheyfollow,orfrompresetcategory streams(seebelow)thatPinteresthasidentified. ThereisnoadvertisingonPinterestandthecompanyiscurrently notinterestedinworkingdirectlywithmarketersastheyare focusedontheuserexperienceexclusivelyandseethesiteasstill beinginbeta.
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However,DigitascontinuestobeinclosecontactwithPinterestandwillkeepclientsuptodateasthe platformevolves. Pinterestalsohasamobileappbuttheoptimaluserexperiencecurrentlyisonthedesktop,asmobilehas noequivalenttothePinThisbuttonandisnottabletoptimized.

Why Do Marketers Need To Know About Pinterest?

Shouldmarketersreciprocatethelackofinteresttheplatformhasshownthem?Notnecessarily.Twitter andFacebookalsolaunchedwithoutanydevelopedoutreachtomarketers.Marketersdoneedtotread carefullyasemergingplatformsaretrickyandoftenlessforgivingofmissteps. Herearekeyreasonstolookattheplatform: RapidGrowthPinterestisgrowingincrediblyquickly.Uniquevisitorsincreased429%from September11December11accordingtoCompeteandPinteresthassaidthatdailyusershave grown145%sincethebeginningof2012,bringingitintotheTop10ofSocialNetworks.Pinterestis thefastestsitetoreach10millionusersever,accordingtoCompete. TrafficReferralPinterestisalreadybecomingakeytrafficdriverforcertainbrands,thoughstill eclipsedbyFacebookandsearchtraffic.TherehavebeenclaimsthatPinterestisnearlyasbiga referrerasTwitterbutmanysiteshaveaverydifficulttimeattributingtraffictobothTwitterand Facebook,sothismaynotreflectatruepicture. UserFriendlyPinterestsintuitiveuserinterfaceandcleandesignallowforaquicklearningcurve, makingitaseasytoconsumecontentasitistocreate.

Why Might Marketers Want To Wait and See or Take a Pass Altogether?
1. Pinterestthrivesoncontentthebrandsthathavedonewellthereareabletogeneratedozensof newandcompellingimagesweekly.Ifyoudonothaveasourceforthiscontent(suchasquarterly catalogsorotherinhousepublicationsorarichandconstantlyrefreshedwebsite),Pinterestisnot foryourbrand. 2. Brandswithlimitedresourcesshouldaskwhetherthischannelisflexibleenoughtowarranttime andattentioncomparedtochannelswithbiggerandbroaderscalesuchasFacebook,Twitterand YouTube. 3. Pinteresthasverylimitedfunctionalityanddoesnotincludedistinctbrandchannelsorany advertisingoptions. 4. Outsideoftravel,fashion,foodandhomedcor,mostverticalshavelimitedongoing interestamongPinterestusers.

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Who is Using Pinterest and Why?
AstheearlierquotefromPinterestsuggests,therearetwomaintypesofrelatedbutdistinctPinterest users: 1. VisionBoarders:Theseuserspinstufftheyactuallyaspiretoownormake,oftentiedtolifeevents suchasweddings,newhomes,etc. 2. Pinesthetes:Theseuserspinthingsbecausetheyexpressapersonalesthetictheywanttoshare withothers(i.e.MostBeautifulSteampunkFurniture,RiversSeenFromSpace,ThingsThatMake MeGiggle)buttheyarentnecessarilythinkingoftheseasthingstobuy.

Non-Tech Elites
PerhapsthemostintriguingnuggetaboutPintrestersisthattheyarenottypicalcoastaltechgeeksthe crowdthatusuallyanointsthenexthotsocialnetwork.InsteadaccordingtoComScore,thetypical Pinteresterisan1834yearoldwomanfromtheMidwest.

Source:TechCrunch

Is Pinterest Making Money?

Pinterestismakingsomerevenuebutitsunknownwhetherthisisoffsettingthecostsofdevelopment, serversandimplementationofthesite.Inessence,anycontentpinnedbyauserthatlinksbacktoasite thathasanaffiliateprograminplaceisdetectedthroughPinterestspartnershipwithSkimlinks.Thelinks areautomatically(andinvisiblytotheuser)augmentedwithatrackingcodethatallowsthemtosharein theaffiliaterevenuethatsgeneratedfromecommercedrivenbythatlink. Pinterestdoeshavelowhangingfruitthatcouldbemonetized,namelytheEveryonetabfornewcontent thatuserscanseeandthecategorystreamsthatPinteresthassetuparounddifferenttopics.Itseasyto imaginespromotedpinsbeingusedineitherspace,oneverygeneralandtheothertargetedbyvertical.

Does Pinterest Have An API?

PinteresthasanAPIthatallowsaccesstoauthenticatedusersprofileinformation,pinsandpinboards.It alsoincludesanumberofmethodstocreateboards,pin,repinandaddcommentstopins. TheseAPIendpointswilllikelybeintegratedintosocialmediamanagementtoolstoallow communitymanagerstomanagetheirsocialpresenceonPinterestinmuchthesameway astheydoonTwitterorFacebook.
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ItalsoopensuppossibilitiestocreatebrandedappsthatfacilitatepinningcontentonPinterestandbring conversationontoownedproperties.

The Five Things a Brand Must Have to Succeed on Pinterest

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Compellingvisualcontentandlotsofit.Seriously,lots. Apersistentfootprintinthehomedcor,traveldestination,recipe,design,orfashionspace. Resourcestoidentify,curate,anddistributecontentonanongoingbasis. Clear,relevantdestinationstodrivetrafficbackto. RealisticgoalsandKPIscurrentlytrafficreferralmaybethesimplestandmostdirectoutcome fromaPinterestpresence.

Measurement, Analytics and Reporting

Pinterestcurrentlylacksanyanalyticsandreportingcapabilitiestodeliverinsightandinformationabout consumerusageoftheplatform.Alldataandusagereportingtodatehasbeenpulledasanaggregated estimatefromthirdpartyanalyticsproviders,suchasCompete.com.Brandsshouldplanaheadanddevelop anapproachtomeasuringPinterestreferraltrafficusingtheirexistingwebanalyticstoolswithunique campaigntrackingcodesorlandingpagesforPinterestcontent.

Brands to Pin
Gap WholeFoods Birchbox MarthaStewart RentTheRunway RealSimple WestElm Etsy BergdorfGoodman Today TravelChannel

Contact For More Information

NoahMallin,VP/GroupDirectorofSocialMarketing,Digitas Noah.Mallin@digitas.com

February2012