Have you noted an excitement through world wide web for Pinterest ? After Facebook, Twitter, and Google +, a site never has gave rise to as much talks about it in such a short term… So how Pinterest has it become so trendy and popular in just a few weeks? The site will it arrive to bring over the brands and impose itself in their digital strategy?

Founded in early 2010 and chosen by Times magazine as one of the top 50 sites in 2011, Pinterest has already 13.7 million of unique visitors in January 2012 and is already valued $ 500 million. This network is very social in images that successfully seduced by its interactive and entertaining dimension. Pinterest allows you to create virtual and thematic (“boards”) to pin their favorite photos and videos (“pins”) or quotes via Pin A Quote as well. Due to this service, a user can classify his favorites as his sources of inspiration and share them with others.

In the middle of February it was announced that Pinterest was the third site in terms of commitment behind Facebook and Flickr, with 90 minutes on the average per user. And also the 5th provider of referral links on the web, generating more traffic than Google +, Linked In and YouTube togeather and more than Twitter!
In beta version the site runs only on invitation and waiting list. Very popular with women, representing 87% of users, the phenomenon is still highly concentrated in North America. But the number of visitors increased by 2702.2% since May 2011, Pinterest shows growth like never before as regards to website.

Pinterest how does it work?

Specifically, the user has many options to select and deliver content. He can:

– Copy the URL of a finding on the web
– Send a photo, link or video from his hard drive or from your smartphone due to the dedicated application
– Diffuse from the board of another visitor (repin)
– Install the favorites button “Pin it! ” on the browser to instantly add content to its board

Pinterest is primarily a social network: the site allows to connect users through their interest centers. All boards are public and indexed by categories in search engine. Once pinned, the content can be “liked”, commented and re-pinned (repin). The system is extremely viral: 80% of the pins are repines and each user can share pins on Facebook or Twitter. One of the main reasons for the platform success consists in knowlage that traffic to Pinterest grew by 60% due to its application integrated in facebook Timeline and OpenGraph 2.0.

What interest for brands?

By joining Pinterest, brands utilize this service to present their creative univers and highlight their inspiration sources, as well as their lifestyle through quality photos to encourage “like” and “repin”.

For brands, Pinterest is a tool for generating qualified traffic to their websites. Indeed, browsing the boards, the user is redirected to the official website the link of wich is systematically integrated into the content. Thus brands use it already to set up contests “Pin it to win it” to redirect their followers.
The integration of “pin it” and “follow” buttons on the pages of a web site allows users to capture Pinterest content brands to become an ambassador.

Finally, brands have also quickly understood that the site could be an observatory of trends and a powerful tool for understanding users through what they love.

How Pinterest monetizes there’s traffic?

Advertising has not yet been placed on the site; nevertheless Pinterest has already a source of income. Platform monetizes outbound links to commercial sites by using the process “Skimlink.” It is more or less an automated affiliate. Thus, each purchase made on a commercial site from a link added by a user on Pinterest gives rise to the payment of a commission.

Already controversy?

However, the success of this service has led to a controversy as regards to the copyright rules. There are two opposing views on the subject.

Some consider Pinterest as an accomplice of rights violations. In response to these criticisms, Pinterest offers sites that want a shortcode “no pin” aiming to block the appropriation of content by users. Sharing site Flickr, the third content provider Pinterest has also announced that the famous code added to all pages of photos not public and protected by copyright.

Others, including photographers who advocate the “fair use” recognized the site, allowing an increase in consulting regarding their artwork, gives new business opportunities. Others consider to answer his critics that the site installed a button notification of copyright infringement to the rights holders and submit a form to report illegal content.

In conclusion, Pinterest is a tool that can provide added value for brands taking in consideration high control of its functionalities. A crossroad of the audience in full interaction, this social network is a territory to conquer and tame. Today, already 10% of the top 300 U.S. e-commerce sites have embarked on an adventure, an eloquent figure! And here at the agency, we consider that this service should be visual and intuitive object of our attention regarding recommendations to our customers.