When Pinterest started out, no one knew quite what to make of it. It seemed to be a random place where people could pin stuff they liked on the Internet.
That was then.
Now Pinterest is big, and your practice should be on it. Here are a few reasons why.
Lots of customers and potential customers are on Pinterest — Pinterest has over 100 million users, called Pinners. According to Ahalogy, 54% of women aged 34-55 are on Pinterest — 35% of them have a household income over $100,000. Can you say “target audience”? Those demos fit your customers to a T.
Pinterest isn’t as ephemeral — Unlike the feeds on other social media such as Facebook, which are constantly changing with old content being buried, Pins last forever. Discovery and search powers Pinterest, so quality content not only endures, but also fuels visits to your practice website.
Pinners don’t hate businesses — Two-thirds of the content saved to Pinterest comes from businesses. Pinners like to connect with their brands, and your practice is like a brand to them. Unlike Twitter, Pinners prefer to follow brands or stores rather than celebrities. While Kim Kardashian may be the queen of Twitter, the doctor and practice that performed her Brazilian Butt Lift would probably be of more interest to Pinterest users.
Pinners are influenced — Pinners are also advocates. By pinning and re-pinning, they are recommending products and businesses. And it has an effect. According to research by Millward Brown, a monstrous 87% of Pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest. And 93% have used Pinterest to plan a future purchase. Could that purchase be a procedure at your practice?
Pinterest drives referral traffic — According to Shareaholic research, around 5% of all referral traffic to other websites comes from Pinterest. This is second only to Facebook’s 25%, but dwarfs Twitter, Reddit, and Google+, each with less than 1% of web referrals. What does this mean? If you pin interesting content and make interesting boards on your Pinterest page, there is a good chance it will be shared.
Pinners keep up with trends — If you pay attention, you can spot emerging trends and other issues becoming popular in the aesthetic industry. Beauty issues are important to Pinners, so information about new products such as Kybella are always trending.
Pinners have more purchasing power — Again according to Ahalogy, active Pinterest users have a 9% higher average income than non-users. Plus, they say they spend less time consuming traditional media, so time you put into your page can pay off.
You can be a part of you’re their lives — Two thirds of Pinners say they use the service to save and collect things that inspire them. What does that mean for your practice? Include other boards beyond the mere scope of your practice: things like healthy eating, interesting exercise routines, or just a topic you think is fun and will engage your patients. By providing other pins that people will want to save and share, you move beyond simply being a practice to being a part of your patients’ lives.
Do you have questions about Pinterest and your practice? Ask your MyAdvice rep and you will have all the answers you need. We’ll even help you with your Pinterest page.
