Pinterest, the social network based on sharing your virtual 'pinboards', has now been crowned the fastest growing independent website of all time.
It’s eclipsed Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to hit ten million monthly unique visitors in the US. And it’s still invite only.
The escalation of Pinterest has been labelled 'unprecedented' with growth of more than 4000% in the last six months and over four million users registered worldwide.
Considering that CEO and co-founder Ben Silbermann worked for Google before going it alone, Pinterest had a better chance than many of making its mark.
Re-Pin Me like One of Your French Girls, or Your American Girls, or Your English Girls
Since the 2009 beta launch in Palo Alto, California, 'Pinners' have popped up in every corner of the globe.
The breakdown in these users is unusual for a social network.
As of spring this year, 84% of global Pinterest users were female, they formed a wide age group and a varied socioeconomic scatter. On average, Pinners spend almost 90 minutes per month on the site, which is second only to Facebook and Tumblr.
The US is the biggest source of Pinterest’s traffic at nearly 50% of visits and users.
To fit in with the American crowd, you will need to be female with an interest in fashion, interiors, clothes, birthdays(?), cooking and desserts.
The top company profiles here are Etsy (an international website for buying and selling handcrafted and handmade goods), Whole Foods (an organic and natural produce retailer) and Better Homes & Gardens.
Hop across the pond to the UK and the difference is stark. The average British user will probably have a business degree and a pen, as the top subjects over there are blogging resources, crafts, web analytics, marketing, SEO and venture capitalism.
In China, Pinterest is having some challenges keeping its crown. Since gaining massive popularity in the country, thousands of Pinterest clones have been flooding Chinese web space.
According to the BBC, these 'wannabes' are totally focused on eCommerce, aiming to avoid the hard-sell by using look books and social sharing to gain interest and conversions.
So money and age doesn’t matter, it’s the content that gets people 'pinning'; and as we all know, content is king.
You’ve Got to Pin It to Win It
Research by some of the world’s leading social marketing agencies has found that Pinterest referrals now equal Twitter’s at 3.6%.
These referrals have one of the highest conversion rates among social networks: the average 'Pinner' is one of the most likely to purchase online.
Coupled with the largest basket size by a country mile at $80 (£51), the fastest growing user base and a unique way of marketing your products, Pinterest becomes a very attractive prospect indeed. Or should that be pin-deed?
To learn more about the Pinterest basics, take a look at this short video:
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