Younger me - in love with fashion trends, home decor inspiration, recipe finding, and travel experiences - was OBSESSED with Pinterest. As someone who didn't get a social media platform until after high school and didn't start using them as a personal account (I got them for a team I was a part of) until the end of college, Pinterest was the tried & true social media platform of choice for me.
Fast forward, Western Insights Media runs a portfolio of retainer clients year around that focuses on all the major social media platforms you would normally think of: Meta, X, TikTok, etc. Following closely the court systems and legislations regarding major media and social media platforms in the past two years, I quickly realized two things:
1. YouTube is considered a streaming source, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. and not as a social media platform.
2. Pinterest is considered a search engine, such as Google, Bing, etc.
What does this mean?
It meant that if social media platforms started to get shut down, even if it was just one of them, than all of them would be next to follow. I invested time and money into courses, mentorships, podcasts, magazines and blogs regarding both Pinterest and YouTube.
Pinterest was the first line of my education and I spent the next six months, as I studied analytics, cross-layered analytics, and created a strategy, becoming as well-versed in Pinterest for events and the western lifestyle as I could.
Here's what I learned:
1. In 6 months, not posting on a single social media platform besides Pinterest, we grew our podcast over 20%. We also released only three new episodes instead of the regularly programmed 24 episodes that would have been released in the past. We still grew.
2. Content Shelf Life is Superior - Content not only has relevant traction, it also has a cyclical traction, and the lifespan of the content is engaged with your target audience in an ongoing manner versus for a short amount of time in a feed.
3. Pinterest Users are READY TO GO - and that can be in buying power, learning power, or in traveling power. People open Pinterest with the purpose of fulfilling a desired call-to-action. Having your content relevant and present, allows you the chance to be the action that they call upon.
As a digital marketer, my obsession with Pinterest continues to grow as I continue to incorporate the platform into the strategy of many of my clients whose main digital focus' have been OTT, geofencing, blogging, influencers, commercials, print mediums, Meta Platforms, X, and TikTok. This might be the key that you've been looking for in your business strategy.