Pinterest: Marketing boon or bust?

Today’s top question; if Pinterest was your friend would it be the kind of friend who will drive you to the airport at 5 am or the kind that invites you out for a good time then leaves you to pay the bill?

Nate over at Forrester has put together some pros and cons of Pinterest in his own attempt to decide: is Pinterest a boon or a bust for marketers? Let’s talk about his findings.

The best news about Pinterest is that it’s mostly populated by young women who love to spend.

The median age on Pinterest is 35, six years younger than Facebook. 84% of those women have ordered something online in the past 3 months.

And these aren’t bargain hunters, either. These are women who want the very best for their homes, best fashions and top quality make-up products.

Forrester’s Social Technographics® Score tells us that Pinterest users are more likely to engage with brands than Facebook users.

Super. Now where’s the bad in that?

The bad news is at the end of the time + effort = ROI equation. Even with all of the pluses, building a successful following on Pinterest isn’t that easy.

As Forrester points out, marketing powerhouse Coca-Cola has less than 5,000 followers on Pinterest and rarely updates their page. The company does seem like a good fit for the audience but it’s not happening.

High-end fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has more than 150,000 followers but even they have less than 20 repins on most of their pins.

So maybe free isn’t so good, but what about paid ads? Pinterest says that their Promoted Pins beta has been going very well. They say companies have seen a 30% bump in earned media and a residual effect even after the campaign is over.

But Forrester says that Pinterest isn’t doing all they can to help marketers reach the right customers. For example, they only allow marketers to choose from a small selection of interests when targeting ads. Silly when we know that Pinterest is sitting on a huge pile of specific data that could help marketers get a higher ROI.

Now it’s time to answer the question; is Pinterest a marketing boon or bust?

The answer is, we don’t know. There’s potential and lots of it but right now it’s only working for a select few. Will it work for you? Won’t know until you try.

Pinterest: Marketing boon or bust?