There are many interesting things about Pinterest, the hot new visual social media discovery network, which allows users to “pin” beautiful ideas captured in images or videos onto virtual pinboards. From home décor tips to restaurant suggestions to bucket lists, more than 10.4 million registered members of Pinterest create and curate visually stimulating content that they share via their Pinterest boards. A recent report found Pinterest drives more referral traffic than three of the largest social media sites, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn, combined, so brands need to heed the call of the pin and learn how the site can help increase business.

Currently, Pinterest users are predominantly women (90 percent), although men will likely soon catch up. Given the types of Pinterest boards users create, consumer brands have curation tie-ins that make joining Pinterest a good option for many products and services. Below are five reasons why your brand should get active on Pinterest:

1. It offers a platform for window-shopping: Unlike Facebook and Twitter, users visit Pinterest to discover ideas for interests as broad as travel, home décor, cars, sports, etc. As people visit other people’s boards, Pinterest becomes a platform for window-shopping and often leads to a sale through Pinterest’s “pin-it” function which links back to a picture’s originating site.

2. It functions as a vehicle to showcase brands: For companies, it is a platform to showcase new products and services, introducing users to new and existing brands.

3. It provides an instant call to action: The ability to pin images and videos from an e-commerce catalogue directly to Pinterest boards allows users to instantly purchase the products they like. This is one of the most distinguishing and financially rewarding features for companies. 

4. It delivers an instant user reaction: It is also a platform for conducting quick market research. For example, a home décor company can post a few creative ideas and note which designs and colors people are drawn to and which products are being re-pinned.

5. It boosts SEO: Linking back to your website through Pinterest can increase search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Google now indexes personal Pinterest profiles, so adding keywords to your boards can increase your site’s ranking when users re-pin your post(s).

At the same time, Pinterest does come with a few challenges. For example, there have been some questions around image copyrights. Our suggestion is for companies to upload images they have rights to use and distribute, expecting those images will be re-pinned and spread around the site and Internet. If you’re worried about preserving image rights, then Pinterest may not be the platform for you. 

Is your company ready for Pinterest? Email your comments to pr@graham-associates.com.