This may be a silly question…but have you heard of Pinterest?

Yeah, I thoughts so.

Maybe the better question would be ; do you LOVE Pinterest??

Of course you do! But that\’s all fine and dandy is you are using for Pinterest for fun and crafts ideas, but how does Pinterest benefit writers/authors?

First, let\’s recap the meat-of-the-potato on what Pinterest is.

Summary of What Pinterest Is:

Pinterest is a unique, photo-based social network that has over 11 million users. Users create folders of photos called “Pin Boards.” Users can then roam the internet and use Pinterest’s easy to use interface to “pin” different images to their pin board.

For example, if you’re a jewelry designer, you might create a pin board called “Jewel Styles I Love.” Any time you find inspiring jewelry, you can pin it to your board. Your customers can come to you and request custom jewelry to be designed like any pin on your boards.
Users can browse pins, “re-pin” pins on Pinterest to their own pin boards as well as “like” pins. It’s a highly interactive experience.

Traffic & Statistics
Pinterest gets over 11.7 million users a month, according to an exclusive ComScore study provided to TechCrunch. It’s also the fastest website in history to break the 10 million users a month mark. For many months Pinterest was experiencing over 400% month over month user growth.
On average, Pinterest users spend 98 minutes per month on the site (if you can only spend 98 minutes per month on this site, you are more disciplined than me!). According to Alexa.com, Pinterest reaches about 2% of global Internet users on a daily basis. While this is a much smaller number than Facebook or even Twitter, it still shows a decent than Facebook or even Twitter, it still shows a decent reach for this very unique network.

Pinterest Demographics

• Pinterest users are wealthier than most other social networks, with 28.1 percent having a household income of over $100,000. Most other users have between $25,000 and $75,000 users.
• Pinterest users tend to be women. 97% of Pinterest’s Facebook likes come from women. 68.2% of Pinterest’s user base is women, though the bias towards women is even higher in the United States.
• The largest age demographic on Pinterest is between 25 and 34.

How Does this Benefit you as an Author?
If you’re targeting women, especially women between the ages of 25 and 35, you should probably be on Pinterest. The fact that you sell a physical product (books) would be a huge on Pinterest. Pinterest users are much more likely to buy after clicking the link that leads back to your website or purchase page,  than users who come from Facebook.

Pinterest also has their \”gift\” category with more and more user are using as a \”go-to\” site for shopping for special occasions and birthday. One the \”$\” is added within the description of your Pin, Pinterest puts a dandy price banner across your image and automatically makes it available withing their Gift category.
Pinterest Pros and Cons
Pro: Pinterest has a very specific demographic audience. If you’re targeting their audience, it’s the perfect platform. If you’re not, you don’t have to risk wasting your time trying to reach the wrong audience on the wrong platform.
Con: Copyright issues. If you pin an image, you take the risk of copyright infringement. Keep in mind that many sites will have specific requirements for using their images. Amazon for instance lets you use images on Pinterest, but you must link to Amazon from the pin. If you link to a review of the Amazon product on your own website, you’re violating copyright laws.
Pro: Pinterest is extremely easy, fast and simple to learn. It’s also fun to use! Many marketers find it easier than setting up a Facebook page or using Google+.
Con: It’s not a standalone marketing platform. It’s very, very hard to use Pinterest as your primary marketing strategy. Pinterest can be very powerful when combined with other social networks, offline strategies and paid strategies. But on its own, it’s hard to build an audience from scratch.
Pro: You get to showcase your products in a much more visual and tangible way than other social networks. A Facebook post just can’t make the same emotional impact that rows of images of your best dresses can.
Con: The “No Self-Promotion” rule. Pinterest is designed to “curate and share things you love.” If you come across too promotional, you could get your account shut down. It’s not built to be a marketing channel.

Tips for Success
First, learn a little bit about photography and image editing. Being able to create attention catching, professional looking photos is crucial on Pinterest. You don’t need a $1,000 camera or a degree in Photography. Just a few hours online to learn the basics of lighting, camera angles and color correction will take you a long way.

K.I.S.S.Keep your Boards and your Pins simple and whenever possible, brand to your image or company. Separate different kinds of Pins into appropriate Boards instead of trying to shove too many different things in one Board. Try to use images that capture something simply and elegantly, instead of trying to express complex concepts.

\”Dribble, Don\’t Dump\” This catchy phrase is a great reminder to work on adding and sharing Pins a little everyday as opposed to dumping 20 Pins, then disappearing for a week. Consistency is key.
Connect The Dots: Integrate your other marketing avenues with Pinterest. If you are an author promoting your new book, create a Board with the Pins that \”inspired\” your creative process. Make sure all of your Pins lead back to your website when clicked so Pinners aren\’t lead to a dead-end. Then put that Pinterest Board URL on your email signature, share on Facebook, or even add to your marketing materials. Periodically do announcements to your Twitter list using pictures on Pinterest.
Analyze: Use Google Analytics or statistics program to analyze the performance of the traffic that comes to your site from Pinterest. How much traffic are you getting? How long do they stay? Are they more likely to buy than other kinds of traffic? What kinds of pins send the most traffic and generate the most revenue? Answering these questions will provide a treasure chest of information you can use to inform your future marketing choices and how much time should be set aside for Pinterest.

Please check out our sister site Jump Into a Book\’s Pinterest Boards here. Leave your Pinterest links in the comment box below and we will follow back!