This may or may not be new information to you.
Pinterest is the best and most addictive site ever!
Really.
I’ve mentioned it; you’ve mentioned it, and now?
Mainstream is catching up to us.
Months ago I made the prediction that Pinterest is going to be the next big way for bloggers to work with corporations.
I talked at length about this to a family member as well as Melisa.
And now?
I say this is only the beginning.
How will Pinterest connect companies and bloggers?
It’s all about advertising and influence.
We all know that Pinterest is highly photographic. We “pin” items based on how they look, work, wants, desires, or how they make us feel.
Companies already put a lot into marketing products to hit a number of these “triggers”. A large part of their marketing is through photography placed into ads. There is a risk (even if small) of paper media becoming extinct. Many catalogs and traditional paper outlets are rushing to get their media on apps that can be downloaded onto iPads and other tablet forms.
With mainstream media adding digital to their foundation, Pinterest becomes a major player in the game of advertising.
Pinterest allows these online versions of their advertising to go FARTHER than just that reader.
For example: say I read an online version of the Real Simple magazine. I see this great piece on organizing my pantry. I then decided to “pin” this story and place it onto my organization “board.” I’ve now just shared this with over 1000 MORE people.
Not only that, a certain percent of the people following my board will then “repin” this story on their own boards. This is then distributes it to THEIR followers. An item being “pinned” 500 times is actually:
(500 pins) X (number of followers of each of those pinners) = Total Views of that pin.
Even if each of the 500 has only 5 non connected people it = 2,500 MORE views of that item.
And just because an item wasn’t pinned, doesn’t mean it wasn’t seen.
This my friends?
Is the beauty of social media.
Stuff can travel and be shared quickly.
The next thing you know this article is getting a lot more traffic and it’s even possible that the items shown in this article will be purchased by more people.
So what. That’s great for the companies involved you say.
But wait. This is where early adopters and successful users of Pinterest come in.
Many sites have tried to quantify ones online influence.
Klout and Empire Avenue are just a few of those.
Whether you like them or hate them, they exist.
As far as I know, there is NO program being used to quantify a “Pinners” influence:
The amount of views a specific pinner gets on a pinned item, the amount of times an item gets repined.
Pinfluence, if you will. (Oh, you know I should make like 1.5 mil for that right?)
Anyways.
Once someone DOES figure that out, it will start.
Real Simple will then be able to see who has the top Pinfluence or Pin Power for their articles and/or products. They might then hire them as “Product Pinners.”
This here friends, in lies the opportunity.
If you really think about it? It’s genius.
Oh, and you companies interested in this?
Call me.
Oh, and follow me on Pinterest.
(Side note: As far as I know I have originally used the word “Pinfluence” and totally created the “Product Pinners” title. I have not been paid or hired by any company name used in this but should be. Obviously.)
(Update, so I decided to google “Pinfluence.” You know, research 101. Though it does come up in a few ways, not in the way that I intended here as defined as “One having influence in Pinterest.” So there. )