A weekly roundup of small-business developments.Dashboard
In this week?s Dashboard, we quoted from a guide to using Pinterest prepared by Jay Ehret, a marketing specialist. As you may have heard, Pinterest is a fast-growing new Web site where users can create sites of photos ?pinned? from other parts of the Web. We went back to Mr. Ehret with a few questions about how small businesses can use Pinterest.
Q: Why do you think Pinterest has become so popular?
A: It?s brilliant in its simplicity. Users just collect things they like. Simple. Their Pinboards are passively shared with their Pinterest friends, and they can peek in on anyone else?s Pinboards. Another big reason is that Pinterest is visual. People are attracted to pictures more than they are words.
Q: Which businesses should consider using the service??
A: First, those businesses that appeal to women. That doesn?t mean a female-oriented business, but businesses that sell to women. This could be an interior design company, or it could be a car dealership. The demographics of Pinterest are so female-skewed that it just makes sense. I would caution you not to limit Pinterest by industry. O.K., maybe funeral homes wouldn?t be a great choice, but most businesses would.
Q: Is Pinterest just for women?
A: Of course not, but it?s mostly for women. It?s estimated that 70 percent of Pinterest users are female. Some guys are jumping in now, but it will remain mostly a female platform for the near future. Women just tend to use social media more than men. Even as Facebook has matured, 55 percent of Facebook users are female.
Q: How do you determine if Pinterest may be right for your business?
A: Can you answer yes to these questions: One, do you have, or can you create, interesting and sharable content on your Web site? Two, do you have products to sell that can be presented visually? Three, are you willing to devote the time that it takes to market on Pinterest? Businesses are lured into social media marketing because it?s free. But the primary investment in social media marketing is time, not money. If you are not willing to devote the time to Pinterest, or any other social media, it?s not right for your business. It must be a scheduled business activity, just like opening the doors or doing payroll.
Q: What are the risks of using Pinterest versus other social media sites?
A: Everyone keeps talking about copyright issues. So I guess the big risk is that Pinterest might be shut down one day because of copyright violations, or Pinterest would be forced to change the functionality and severely limit the way Pinners use the service. The other risk is that, like Facebook, you don?t own your Pinterest account. So you are at the mercy of a third party. This is why it?s always good for a business to have their own Web site and own real estate on the Internet.
Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.
Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/what-small-businesses-should-know-about-pinterest/
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