Don’t Forget About Pinterest, Which Is Still Growing Strong | Social

In the rush to spend all of your marketing budget on Instagram Stories, or hole up in your office and figure out how to crack Facebook’s algorithm, you may be overlooking a major social media network that is still adding millions of active monthly users: Pinterest.

In September 2015, Pinterest had 100 million monthly active users. In September 2017, it had 200 million. Last week, it announced that it reached 250 million.

That’s an incredibly steady pace for a platform that many have forgotten about after an initial surge of excitement.

While growth still lags behind Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest is well ahead of other platforms like Twitter and Snapchat, and appears to be pivoting towards the lucrative world of e-commerce while FB/IG do the same.

In fact, Pinterest is exploring a lot of the same niches as Facebook, including forays into augmented reality for its Lens tool.

Pinterest’s growth is no accident

Pinterest has seen lots of action over the last few years, with billions of new pins added by its growing user base.

But the company’s growth is not luck: The company has been hiring away top engineers and planners from Google, and has some innovative new tools for users to try out in the worlds of fashion, decor, and DIY projects.

It’s possible that Pinterest will fall victim to its larger competitors and see its “Lens Your Look” tool copied (in fact, Google also has a tool called “Lens”), much in the way Snapchat did, and see growth slow. But for now the company appears to have a plan in place to use AI and other new technologies to boost the platform’s value.

What can Pinterest do for me?

It’s easy to focus on social media platforms like Instagram for your marketing spend. Instagram is the hottest thing in social, and their Stories are earning rave reviews.

But we’ve recently seen the value in using smaller social media platforms tactically.

Take Apple. The tech giant doesn’t even use Twitter (their @Apple feed is completely empty) but they smartly targeted Twitter in the days and moments leading up (and during) their recent #AppleEvent, pouring money into sponsored tweets and custom builds and even a “hashflag” because they knew that’s where the conversation would start.

If you’re able to target a smaller demographic which is ready to buy, you need to jump on that opportunity. That’s the value in keeping your eye on platforms like Twitter, Snapchat, or, in this case, Pinterest.

So for now, do your due diligence when shopping around for the best platforms to place ads, and keep in mind that it’s not all about the behemoths. The smaller, more niche sites still have plenty of value to offer.

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