A new report from Experian reveals that Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the U.S. – coming in behind Facebook and Twitter – based on the number of visits to each site. Pinterest is the social network to watch “for retailers in particular,” according the report, and is “the hottest social media start-up since Facebook and YouTube.”
The Experian “2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report” says that 91% of adults use social media regularly, and 15% of US internet visits are dedicated to social media sites, as of December 2011.
According to VentureBeat, “Pinterest surprised many last December when it was revealed as a top 10 social network.” Pinterest’s traffic grew 50% between January and February of 2012, overtaking Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Google+ in number of visits in February. Venturebeat also obtained the stats for March 2012 from Experian; Pinterest stayed firmly rooted in third place for number of U.S.-based visits.
Other Pinterest stats:
- 17.8 million U.S. unique visitors in February (comScore)
- user engagement is up to 89 minutes per month on the site (compare to Facebook’s 405 minute average)
- the site remains dominated by women (60%) ages 25-44 (55%) (Experian)
The report concludes that Pinterest’s rise to popularity is a result of online communities becoming “less about friends and more about common interests.” Which means “retail brands need to take note if they want to make more meaningful connections with their customers.”
Many major brands have established a presence on the site, and some are even conducting Pinterest-based campaigns. Is your brand pinning yet?
