CDL 037 – The One Social Media Platform I Plan to Use More Than Ever in 2015

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What Social Media Platform Should You Dig Into in the Coming Year?

We are all constantly looking for ways to build our audience and drive traffic to our wonderful websites. The question is, where should you drive that traffic from?

In this week’s episode I discuss my thinking of how I’m planning on using Pinterest more this year.

I’ll wait here as you laugh. “How can you as a ‘Crazy Dad’ have any time to embark on this journey into the nether regions of Pinterest?”

Point taken…more on that later.

I guess you could call it a New Year’s resolution since we are near that time of year…and it’s questionable how long my commitment will last. But, I’m going to give it a go and see what happens.

Here are some of the reasons why I want to explore Pinterest more, why I don’t want to explore it, and how I’m going to set out on this adventure.

Why I Should Get Into Pinterest

Why in the world would I, or anyone, want to get into Pinterest? Check out some reasons why you should!

Growing Driver of Traffic

In a recent study conducted by Shareaholic, Pinterest continued to show growth in the amount of traffic it is driving to websites. In fact, it remains the number 2 source of social media driven traffic.

At the end of the 3rd quarter 2014, Pinterest was pushing 5.5% of the traffic while third place Twitter was only giving websites .88%!

Here is the chart from the Shareaholic study…

Untapped Market

A recent Forbes article discusses how Buzzfeed has made a conscious effort to leverage Pinterest more in their online marketing. In this episode I talk about the findings and what it means for you.

There are a number of bloggers out there, yours truly included, that are not using this growing and powerful platform.

Timeline of Your Content is Greater

Your content lives longer on Pinterest than it does on other platforms like Twitter. This could be huge for your long term strategy for content sharing

Opens New Markets

The majority of Pinterest users are women. In fact, according to an article on MariSmith.com 80% of Pinterest users are women!

Given the fact I talk “dad stuff” along with online business, this may expose me to a new audience. With that said, I do have quite a large female following (and they are friggin awesome), but this may allow me to reach a new set of folks.

Level of Engagement

Pinterest users spend time on Pinterest…real time. In the same Mari Smith article this stat stood out to me…”average American Pinterest user spends 1 hour and 17 minutes on the website.” Wow.

Shares More Likely

According to a Harvard Business School case study on Buzzfeed, removing the Twitter share button and increasing the size of the Pinterest button doubled the shares! Doubled.

Why I Might Not Get Into Pinterest

Ok, everything seems wonderful right? Well, maybe not. Here’s why.

I Don’t Know What the Hell I’m Doing

Yes, I have no shame in admitting I don’t know something. I find that to be an admirable character trait by the way.

This is definitely the case with Pinterest. I need to learn more about it in the coming weeks to really see how I can leverage it for my online brand.

It Doesn’t Align with My Target Market

I touched on the positive aspects of finding new markets on Pinterest, but there’s also the risk that my content won’t resonate with Pinterest users.

Time

Time continues to mock me every chance it gets. It’s in full blown mock mode at the mere thought of me launching any sort of engagement on another social media platform.

If I engage more on Pinterest, something has to pay the price. Maybe I’ll cut back on working out since I don’t do that anyway.

How Am I Going to Do This?

There has to be a method to the madness…some sort of plan.

I Need Help

I’m going to dig into tips and trick on the internet and filter through what I should and should not implement. Like anything online, you have to determine what makes the cut and what doesn’t.

If you have tips or feedback related to Pinterest, leave a comment below or contact me with your awesome sauce.

Post Effective Content

Like any social media channel, your content has to be solid. Hopefully mine will live up to my self professed hype.

Be Consistent

I think Time is mocking me again.

Optimize My Site for Pinterest

First and foremost I’m going to fix my stupid Pinterest button on my Digg Digg share bar. It always has the audacity to hover over the neighboring button. Not nice Pinterest button, not nice.

Your turn

I would love to hear from you. What are you doing today on Pinterest that is working? What do you love about it? What is one thing I should do when I start? Share some of your Pinterest ninja tactics, hacks, and any other overused term below in the comments!