Rashida
Everyone is familiar with the top three social media apps: Facebook, Instagram, and… Pinterest?
That’s right, Pinterest recently edged out Snapchat for third in the U.S. ranking for top social media apps. The platform – known for its unique way for users to save and share inspiration, DIYs, and more – has 82.4 million monthly users, and has grown twice as much as predicted. The report spiked up Pinterest’s stock by 12% and rightfully gained the curiosity of marketers around the country.
How Did Pinterest Beat Out Snapchat?
The primary key to Pinterest’s success is its ability to reach a more diverse audience. Snapchat absolutely dominates the monthly user analytics for the 12-17, 18-24, and 25-34 age groups, but they fall short in all of the other age groups. While Snapchat’s users are skewed toward the younger ages, Pinterest users are more evenly distributed across all age groups, ultimately giving them the edge. According to eMarketer junior forecasting analyst, Nazmul Islam, “While Snapchat has a young core audience that it caters to, Pinterest has a more universal appeal, and it’s made significant gains in a wide range of age groups.”
One big difference between the two platforms is that they offer very different functions. Snapchat is primarily used for communication and entertainment, making fun images and videos to share with friends and even challenging each other to games. Pinterest, on the other hand, allows users to browse styles, DIYs, product recommendations, and more, and then save the ones they enjoy for inspiration. The user goal of Pinterest is more suitable for a diverse age range of people, while Snapchat’s user goal was better suited toward younger users.
Pinterest’s Investment Opportunities
As a result of the new social media rankings, Pinterest has garnered a lot of attention. The company is convincing investors that their platform is a “visual discovery tool,” similar to popular search engine Google. This perspective has been very successful in gaining investors.
Moving forward in 2020, Pinterest is expected to account for 41.1% of all U.S. social network users and keep growing in the upcoming years.
What We Can Learn from Pinterest
Pinterest’s surge ahead of Snapchat teaches some important lessons and opens the door for some interesting marketing opportunities. Here are the top takeaways:
- Dominating one niche demographic is not always the best strategy for large-scale growth. There is a lot of value in transcending generations and demographics.
- Every social media platform has a slightly different goal and user experience. Tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
- Your brand can use Pinterest to capture the attention of potential customers just like you would with SEO for Google.
- Brands with visual products should put a special focus on Pinterest.
- Companies should consider the opportunity for social commerce using Pinterest buy buttons.
Pinterest has shown us the importance of catering to a broader audience and has established itself as an important marketing tool for the upcoming years. Especially if you’re a brand with a visual product, it might be time to see if marketing on Pinterest is a good fit for your business!
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