By now, everyone understands that any successful business must have a robust social media presence. Every savvy business owner has already asked themselves the question: “Which social media platforms are right for me and my company?”

The answer is probably not as obvious as it may at first appear.

While it might seem like basic common sense that the answer depends entirely on the type of business being run, the real answer is that, regardless of the category of products and services you may offer – or even who buys them – should you choose to ignore any of the major social platforms, you do so at your peril!

So, you don’t think your business needs a Pinterest page? You’re wrong. It doesn’t matter if your business deals in pretty little pieces of chachki or industrial machinery. It doesn’t matter if you are a service-oriented company or a retail operation. It doesn’t matter if your customer base is predominantly men or women. You belong on Pinterest – period.

While people that use Pinterest also – almost invariably – use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and the whole gamut of social media sites, Pinterest is truly unique among that group. While the other networks focus mostly on the display of text copy with a little bit of imagery mixed in, Pinterest focuses almost entirely on the visual, with text included only as a secondary feature.

Pinterest is ridiculously popular. In just a few short months, it has seen growth that could only be described as meteoric, and there is no indication that this is even close to reaching a plateau. There are just too many people using Pinterest to ignore its potential for engaging your target audience. It is an investment of time well-spent for business owners to become familiar with the platform and devise a way to use the site as a way to mingle with their customers.

Because of its explosive growth and the virally social aspects of the site, Pinterest has already managed to sneak right up to the top of important SEO strategies. A recent study showed how getting content “pinned” on Pinterest is actually more valuable to optimization than getting it “liked” on Facebook. More adults use Pinterest than they do Twitter! In fact, 20 percent of all adults in the United States are Pinterest users.

All of the top search engines have algorithms devised to account for the use of social networking platforms, with each being assigned a weight – and Pinterest is among that top tier right across the board. It offers more exposure and inbound links than Youtube and content submitted there travels farther than it does on any other social media portal, including reddit and Facebook. It’s no wonder that SEO strategies place so much emphasis on Pinterest.

Now, let’s take a moment to talk demographics.

The vast majority of Pinterest users are women ranging in age from their mid-20’s to mid-50’s, which just so happens to be the largest single group of consumers on the planet. By engaging their user base on Pinterest, a business is exerting influence on people who are likely to be in a buying mood. That’s obviously great if your business is e-commerce or brick-and-mortar retail selling to women, but it’s also important for manufacturers, construction companies, and other business types whose products and services don’t fit the traditional notion of what appeals to women.

You don’t have to be posting pictures of the latest fashions or the cutest pets (unless, of course, that is the nature of your business); any eye-catching photo related to your business will perform on Pinterest. With so many users, even an insignificant percentage of them can make a huge impact on your business. Someone sees a photo you post and, because of the incredibly effective viral nature of the platform, that photo is re-pinned many times. While the initial pinner may never be considered a potential customer of yours, several “downstream” users viewing a re-pin may very well be.

Best of all, the effect Pinterest has on your business can be accurately quantified using analytic tools that help track activity. As every good business owner already understands, knowing how any group of people feels about your product, and being able to nimbly adjust your marketing to address those factors, means more quality traffic and actionable leads – and more profits – for your business.

In any case, Pinterest might seem like the last place you would think to have a presence, but it’s critically important that you do.

Contact us today and let us show you how it’s done.