Pinterest Now Drives More Magazine Referrals Than Facebook or Twitter
That’s the line that jumped out at us from this weekend New York Times profile of the network, though it should come with a qualifier: it applies to publications like Self, Better Homes and Gardens and other lifestyle pubs that also drive a lot of both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce for relevant clients.
Still, it’s a pretty big deal: obvious cliches aside, if you want to sell stuff to women then Pinterest is the way to go.
The company knows this: yesterday brought news of the appointment of former Google media relations specialist Robert Macdonald to perform the same role at Pinterest.
Facebook and Twitter may win the headlines and the attention of investors/journalists, but Pinterest is winning the valuable traffic:
“While Pinterest attracts one-third of the number of visitors that Facebook does, the number of unique visitors to Pinterest jumped 49 percent between August 2013 and August 2014 to 64.22 million”
Strangely, the same data set tells us that Pinterest users are watching less TV and reading fewer magazines thanks to the service — but the same readers who aren’t purchasing print copies of top titles are visiting their websites thanks, again, to Pinterest. Also:
“Many stories in women’s magazines are considered evergreen content, meaning that they have a longer shelf life and can attract readers well after their publication.”
This week also brings confirmation that Pinterest is working with potential advertisers to develop a targeted product that goes beyond its existing promoted pins. Said product will also include a tracking tool to measure the performance of those paid placements.
It’s unclear whether promoters will be as frustrated with Pinterest as they have been with Facebook, but this much: Pinterest is a great source to drive sales for lifestyle/decor/beauty products.
Just get ready to pay up.
