If you’ve been hearing the buzz surrounding Pinterest’s unique and growing presence online and you would like to cut through the noise and get to the facts then this article is for you. There is an endless selection of articles online regurgitating the same set of often obsolete facts and figures. The purpose of this list is to provide a comprehensive yet succinct and up to date overview of Pinterest.

1. As of august 2012, Pinterest became the fourth largest traffic source in the world
This puts Pinterest directly behind Google, direct traffic, and Facebook. Pinterest also drives more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. This puts Pinterest ahead of Yahoo organic traffic (source: Shareaholic).
2. 25% of Fortune Global 100 companies have Pinterest accounts
This is still relatively low in comparison to YouTube and Facebook. However, if you consider Pinterest’s age and rate of growth, this number is expected to climb. (Source: Burson-Marsteller)
3. After Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is ranked as the 3rd most popular social networking site
(source: Experian) This shouldn’t be too surprising considering that Pinterest hit 10 million unique U.S. monthly visitors faster than any stand-alone site in history (source: TechCrunch). Pinterest currently gets well above 20 million unique monthly visitors.
4. As of February 1st 2013, 59 of the Interbrand Top 100 Brands are on Instagram, versus 69 on Pinterest
(Source: marketingcharts) This puts Pinterest directly behind Google+ which is currently at 70, yet still trailing behind Facebook and Twitter which are at 99 and 97 respectively.
5. 79% of Pinterest users are Women
This statistic confirms Pinterest as a prime avenue for reaching the female market. The imbalance between the sexes is starting to correct itself; this number is down from 92%. According to a Pew Research study, 67% of Americans currently use social media. According to the same study, out of the total internet users, 25% of females and 5% of males use Pinterest.
6. 81% of U.S. women online trust Pinterest as a source for information and advice
(source: socialmouths) This number is especially interesting when you consider the relative trustworthiness of competing networks; Facebook and Twitter lag behind at 67% and 73% respectively. Blogs match Pinterest in trustworthiness at 81%.
7. Mothers are 61% more likely to visit Pinterest as compared to the average American
(source: Nielsen) To get more insight on this and related matters you may want to review Pew Research Center’s ‘Demographics of Social Media Users.’
8. 11% of Pinterest pins are in the Food & Drink Category
Food & Drink has become the most popular category on Pinterest (source: Replinly Stats, Jan 6th 2013). According to Compete’s Online Shopper Intelligence Survey, 57% of Pinterest users have interacted with food related content. This makes it especially critical for companies in the food industry to regularly update their boards with new photos. DIY & crafts and fashion are the next most popular categories.
9. Shoppers referred by Pinterest are 10 percent more likely to follow through with a purchase than visitors from other social networking sites
(Source: Sprout Insights)Facebook’s share of social media referrals to retail stores dropped from 88% to 60% from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 while Pinterest’s rose from 0.68% to 26% in that same span of time.
10. Zappos shoppers are 13 times more likely to share a purchase on Pinterest than they are on Twitter
(Source: Bloomberg) This number should make you strongly consider including a pin it button (or other Pinterest buttons and plugins) to your website to help grow your online and social presence.
11. According to a comscore survey, Pinterest users follow an average of 9.3 retail companies on the site
(Source: allfacebook) This compares to an average of 6.9 retailers on Facebook and 8.5 on Twitter.
12. As of May 2012, Pinterest referrals account for 17% of social media driven revenue on Shopify
(Source: Shopify) This number is up from 1% in 2011
13. Shopify Customers referred by Pinterest place an average order of $80, compared to $40 for customers navigating from facebook
(Source: Shopify) Yet another interesting ecommerce related Pinterest stat from Shopify.
14. Pinterest generates over 400% more revenue per click as Twitter and 27% more than Facebook
(Source: VentureBeat) Connecting with customers through social media is a great way to increase sales revenue; Researchers at Aalto University found that customers who participate on a company’s social media site contribute 5.6% more revenue and visit the business about 5% more than customers unconnected by social media. (Source: Aalto University) It’s important to remember what the strengths of each Social media site are; Facebook is for connecting with friends, Twitter is good for disseminating news and Pinterest shines at sales.
15. An estimated 47% of U.S. online shoppers have made a purchase based on a recommendation from Pinterest
(source: BlogHer) This estimate beats out both Facebook and Twitter, which stand at 33% and 31% respectively.

Written by Nick Steeves

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Leverage Pinterest for your Marketing Campaigns with Wishpond’s Pinterest Contest app. Run a Pinterest contest to engage fans to submit and vote on Pinterest boards, on Facebook, Twitter, Websites, and Mobile Devices.

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