What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is the newest phenomenon in social media and it is undoubtedly one of the most popular.

Here's an inside look at this trendy new site for those who are not familiar with it as well as business owners who are wondering how they can capitalize on this exciting and innovative social media site.

Read on to learn more about Pinterest ....

Pinterest is one of the newest and fastest growing social media sites. The so-called "Pin It!" button is joining the requisite Facebook and Twitter icons that decorate many top-performing web pages. This interactive platform allows users to curate galleries that highlight their favorite visual features from across the web.

The site is half pinboard and half inspiration gallery. It allows users, including businesses, to curate their own collections. On the social media side, users can track collections and follow curators that fit their personal style. Pinterest has a comprehensive variety of categories that are ideal for featuring home decor collections, showcasing beautiful products and promoting health and wellness services. Current images featured on the site's front page include art, breathtaking landscapes, outdoor spaces, chic clothing, hairstyles and elegant interiors.

Pinterest is not even three years old, yet it has earned a top spot in the world of social media sites. The story of Pinterest began in 2010 when several entrepreneurs and investors developed the idea. For personal interest, you can visit Wikipedia to view the whole story.

Originally, members should only join Pinterest if they received an invitation. This policy changed sometime in mid-2012. Today, there is a link to join immediately when you arrive on the page. As of April 2012, Pinterest is the third most popular social networking site after Facebook and Twitter. This is according to statistics from the UK's Daily Mail.

Nordstrom, WholeFoods and West Elm are a few of the up-market brands that have the largest presence on Pinterest.

There are several benefits of using this service and placing the "Pin It!" button on your webpage. From a marketing perspective, Pinterest has several important features. It creates an interactive environment where users can pin and re-pin their favorite images. When a photo is pinned, it creates a link back to the webpage where the image originated, which is great for generating traffic and increasing your clout.

Company representatives and independent accountholders can use images to create collections that promote specific products, looks and websites. "Pin It!" buttons can be added to virtually any page on the internet. Pinterest allows businesses to promote their own images, but it also encourages passive promotion through users who visit your webpage or find your images online. With so many companies already using the site, now is a critical time for businesses to get on the Pinterest bandwagon.

Establishing a presence, gaining followers and appearing credible are challenges are Pinterest. Jo-Anns craft stores recently launched a promotion to gain followers. When users follow the company's collections, they are automatically entered to win a $50 gift card. There are plenty of other strategies that companies can use to give their products, services or projects a lot of exposure.

Pinterest generates interest in your business and promotes products and services, but there's one caveat. When content is pinned, users grant a royalty-free license that permits Pinterest to display and to reproduce images that you might own. This is important to know. However, the site allows intellectual property owners to dispute this license and to have the content removed.

• As of April 2012, Pinterest received 104 million unique visits in one month.
• Pinterest receive more than 1.36 million users eavery day.
• Pinterest in the third most popular social networking site after Facebook and Twitter
• When survey, more than 70 percent of Pinterest users said they visited the site to view food-related content and recipes.
• According to estimate, roughly 80 percent of the site's users women, which makes Pinterest a top site for brands that market products to women.
• Pinterest users a well-off. More than 28 percent of users have an annual income exceeding 100k.
• Approximately 47 percent of women purchased something that they saw on Pinterest.
• Women between 25 and 54 are the key demographic on Pinterest.
• Male users typically visit Pinterest for marketing purposes.
• Between March 2011 and march 2012, the site's traffic increased by a whopping 2,700 percent!
• Pinterest receive more traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined!
• Phewf! How can keep up with Pinterest if the site keeps breaking its own records?!