Pinteresting or Not?

It's the newbie of the social media world but it has most definitely got people talking!

Pinterest is a social photo sharing website designed in the style of a pin board; allowing users to tell their story through images. The networking sites popularity has slowly but surely grown across the world with brands now asking if Pinterest can become another, just as crucial marketing tool?

From Lindt Chocolate, People Magazine and UNICEF to Michael Korrs, Yoko Ono and even Mashable; celebrities and brands alike have jumped on the Pinterest band wagon but does it work?

The beauty of social networking for brands is that they are given instant access and communication to a vast client base and hence are provided with the ability to alter their image and improve customer relations but does Pinterest achieve this on the same level as Facebook and Twitter? Our answer…not exactly.

The success of Pinterest in an online marketing strategy all depends on the business. Nothing interests and entices the public more than images, people love having a snoop but the odds of receiving click through success depends on just how much the images reveal about your business.

The official Pinterest statistics state that the site drives more traffic then Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined but we can't help but question its effectiveness.

The success of sites such as Facebook lies in its ability to teach a company about its customer through questions and feedback and it is this engagement level that improves brand image, encourage click throughs and in effect improves sales. With Pinterest success can only be achieved by posting a selection of images that truly say something about your brand hence encouraging feedback; great if you're a designer showcasing your latest work…not so great if you're a lawyer or accountant with nothing to show. If a business has no graphical elements then Pinterest becomes nothing but a waste of time.

Unless you can truly give your customers something Pinterest won't give you anything back and may just open you up for negativity which is a definite no no.

With Google announcing that the influence of social networking on SEO will increase tenfold; fully integrating social media platforms into an online marketing strategy is crucial but just how you do that all depends on just what you can offer your audience.

Use it right and use only what will work for you and your brand, overdo it for the sake of it and you could risk wasting time, money and resources for nothing