Photo-sharing site Pinterest is now the third most popular U.S. social networking site after Facebook and Twitter, said Experian’s PR manager of marketing services Jennifer Marshall.
Experian revealed the finding in its 2012 Digital Marketer Report, which also showed 91% of online adults use social media regularly.
“The research report ranked the top visited social network websites by US total visits. We pulled the numbers again today and Pinterest is still number three through March 2012,” Marshall said. A total of 158 sites were included, excluding mobile traffic, she said.
Pinterest, launched March 2010, is invitation-only and allows users to organize and share things they like by pinning photos to their “virtual pinboard.”
Experian’s study showed Pinterest traffic increased nearly 50% between January 2012 and February 2012. According to the report, Pinterest received nearly 21.5 million total visits during the week ending January 28, 2012—almost 30 times the number of total visits versus just six months before on the week ending July 30 2011.
“As communities become less about friends and more about common interests, retail brands in particular need to take note if they want to make more meaningful connections with their customers,” Experian’s report said.
Because, as Experian noted in its report, Pinterest is dominated by images featuring home décor, crafts, fashion and food, “visitors to the site in the 12 rolling weeks ending January 28 2012, skewed female (60%) and between the ages of 25 and 44 (55%).”
The data indicated the profile of the average Pinterest visitors was different from the average visitor on other social networking sites. The report stated Pinterest visitors have a high interest on hobbies and crafts and tend to be baby boomers and young adults who are heavy web users and spend time on house and garden, sports and fitness, and family-oriented websites. Experian categorized these visitors as “boomers” and “boomerangs.”
Pinterest visitors also over-indexed on visits from the states in the Midwest, Northwest and Southeast. “Social Networking and Forums” over-indexed on share of visits from Northeastern states.
“This information is useful to companies that wish to target their content to be ‘pinned’ by Pinterest users,” Experian stated.
The research report ranked the top visited social network websites by U.S. total visits and are current through March 2012, Marshall told Direct Marketing News.
These results arrive at a time when marketers are beginning to seriously evaluate the value Pinterest can bring to their brands, and as some companies, such as Kotex are launching early Pinterest campaigns.
