This document provides an overview and analysis of the social media platform Pinterest. It discusses Pinterest's fast growth since its 2010 launch, with unique visitor numbers growing from under 12,000 in January 2012 to over 11 million in December 2011. The document also analyzes Pinterest's demographics, popular content categories, and its potential for marketing. Some challenges to Pinterest's adoption are noted. The document is authored by SUMO Research Solutions, an outsourced market research firm based in India.

1. Pinterest as a Marketing Tool
Whitepaper
May 2012

2. Disclaimer
To the viewers of this report
This report is prepared in accordance with our findings on Pinterest. This report has been
prepared on the basis of desktop research conducted in May 2012. Because it’s a sample report
created for business development purposes, our report may not be suited for any purpose other
than to assist you in your evaluation of our research capabilities. Additionally, our report reflects
events and circumstances as they currently exist.
We have not independently verified the information gathered or contained in this report and,
accordingly, express no opinion or make any representations concerning its accuracy or
completeness.
We shall be pleased to receive your observations on our report.
Our report is for your information only and should not be quoted, referred to or transmitted to
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3. Pinterest, a pinboard-style social photo sharing website launched
in 2010 is fast gaining traction among social media audience
is stepping up as a valuable
tool for businesses
is built by a small team in
Pinterest is …. Palo Alto, California
is well funded by group of
Founded by Paul successful entrepreneurs Number of Total Unique Visitors on
A virtual pinboard where and investors
Sciarra, Ben Silbermann and Pinterest
people share and collect the
Evan Sharp
things they love
Annual Household Income (USD) Jan-12 11,716
Was launched in 2010 Age Dec-11 7,516
0-17 5% 0-24,999 8% Nov-11 4,855
18-24 17% Oct-11 3,295
25,000-49,999 35%
Sep-11 2,073
20% 80% 25-34 30% 50,000-74,999 34% Aug-11 1,270
35-44 25% Jul-11 1,031
75,000-99,999 14% Jun-11 608
45-54 16% May-11 418
100,000-149,999 6%
Thousands
55-64 5%
150,000 or more 3%
65 or more 2% Pinterest is growing at an
astounding rate
As of Jan 2012, Women Majority of Pinterest users As per ComScore total
Most of Pinterest users are
account for most of Pinterest live on household income number of unique visitors on
between 25-44 years of age
users between USD 25-75k Pinterest was ~12 mn
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Source: Internet Marketing Inc.

4. Marketing potential of Pinterest lies in its fast adoption coupled
with high referral and engagement rates
Most Popular pinboard categories Adoption rate after 2 years of launch Referral Traffic (Jan 2012)
Facebook 26.40%
Home 17.2%
Google+ 90
Arts and Crafts 12.4% Twitter 3.61%
Style/Fashion 11.7% Pinterest 3.60%
Pinterest 10.4
Food 10.5%
Google+ 0.22%
Inspiration/Education 9.0% Facebook 6
Holidays/seasons 3.9% LinkedIn 0.20%
Humor 2.1% Twitter 3
Products 2.1%
Mn users Pinterest has witnessed increased referral
Travel 1.9% traffic as compared to its established
Kids 1.8% peers
Pinterest is the fastest adopted social
Over 60% of pinboards fall into the top 5 media platform after Google+
Average time spent on the site
categories
As per TechCrunch, Pinterest is expected
to have 180 million users by Nov 2012
Pinterest influences more sales
transaction
YouTube – 16.4 minutes
Pinterest – 15.8 minutes
Facebook – 12.1 minutes
Pinterest is retaining and engaging users
Pinterest drives more sales than
as much as 2-3 times as efficiently as Twitter – 3.3 minutes
Facebook
Twitter was at a similar time in its history
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Source: Internet Marketing Inc.

5. Businesses are witnessing increased traffic from Pinterest to their
websites as compared to other social media sites
For Perpetual Kid, Pinterest traffic
converts to a sale at twice the rate of
Facebook traffic
Eye glass retailer Warbly Parker reports
In 2011, Perpetual began its Pinterest
that 11% of their social traffic is coming
exposure and in mid 2011, the traffic from
from Pinterest compared to 18% from
Pinterest was around 0.20%
Twitter
However by December referral traffic from
In October 2011, the website of Time Pinterest increased to 1% and currently
Inc.’s Real Simple magazine witnessed accounts for 2.63% of traffic
more traffic from Pinterest than Facebook.
Boticca.com, one of the first ecommerce
players to integrate Pinterest across its
website Better Homes and Gardens has highest
Lowe’s has incorporated a Pinterest tab
number of followers (25,391) on Pinterest
on its Facebook page The average order value of sales driven as of Feb 2012.
by Pinterest to Boticca.com has been
Lowe witnessed 32% increase in their $180, 10% higher than overall site Best example of lifestyle brand doing
followers on Pinterest and aims to average and 90% higher than Facebook great things on Pinterest.
increased customer engagement
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Source: Internet Marketing Inc., Hubspot, News Articles

6. Lack of interactions between users and measuring success rate
presents some challenges for Pinterest adoption
25
20
15
Months
10
5
0
10 Million Users
Reported Growth Actual Growth
The company has attracted Lack of dedicated brand The biggest problem on
Pinterest is growing fast but
a valuation of $1 Billion, this pages specifically for Pinterest is that users don’t
not at the pace claimed
could be overvalued. business is a challenge. talk to each other
Pinning certain images to If you are not a product Only time will tell who comes
Success on Pinterest is
Pinterest could constitute driven business, it can seem out on top for social media
difficult to measure
copyright infringement challenging to use Pinterest supremacy
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Source: Business Insider, The Sacramento Bee

7. Companies can use Pinterest as an effective Marketing Tool to gain
more insights about their consumers and competitors
Gather Insight Into Your Buyer
Feature Visual Content Create a User Generated Pinboard Add a Pin-it Button to Your Website
Personas
Enable other users to View pinboards of your
Pinterest is a visual social This will help to expose your
contribute their own pins to customers to understand
network brand to a new audience
your pinboards their interests
Add Links in the Descriptions of Showcase Your Business Find Out What Your Competitors are
Use Hash Tags
Your Pins Personality Pinning
Include links back to your Users can use hash tags to Pinterest has a heavy life All businesses should use
website in your pins to drive tag their pins and make style focus, use it to give Pinterest for competitive
traffic back to your website their content search-friendly your business a personality intelligence
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Source: Internet Marketing Inc., CIO

8. About SUMO Research Solutions (SRS)
SUMO Research Solutions (SRS) offers outsourced
business research services to
consulting, research, financial advisory firms and
corporate clients. Our services include industry and
sector reviews, market estimation studies, competitive
studies and partner search. We assist firms who wish
to outsource their research needs to our centre in
India. Geographically, our clients span across
US, UK, Middle East and India
We, at SRS are adept at collecting, analyzing and synthesizing our findings into information that can readily be
used by your business. Our credo of hiring the best crop of consultants and research professionals ensures we go
beyond mere "information analysis" by drawing logical conclusions from the data.
Our research process is our key differentiator and helps us stand tall among other market research firms. The
ability to combine straight forward secondary research with complex primary research gives us the edge and
assures our clients of genuine, verifiable results.
We follow a structured process to ensure high quality standards and adherence to timelines, in all engagements.
At SRS, we also believe in communicating with our clients at every stage and have a constant feedback mechanism
to ensure that the research being conducted is in line with client objectives.
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9. Contact Details
Ms. Nibha Kaul, CEO
Email: nibha.kaul@sumoresearchsolutions.com
Mob: +91-98192 13030
URL: www.sumoresearchsolutions.com
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