If you haven’t heard the latest social media network vying to be the new Facebook/Twitter/MySpace is Pinterest. Essentially the internet’s fridge door, Pinterest is an online pin board that members “pin” photos, videos and links of stuff that interests them to their page. It seems like an odd concept but Pinterest is the fastest growing social media site on the web. Like Twitter, Pinterest users have followers that avidly track all new pins on a user’s pin board. It has proved so successful that even Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg is a fan and follows 125 people!

Whilst many members do simply use the site simply to post pictures of their pet cat chasing a ball of string, marketers have taken note of the possible opportunities of Pinterest. Brands are starting to take notice of Pinterest and while the advantages for business to customer brands starting Pinterest pages are obvious, for example pinning photos and videos of new products, the advantages for business to business brands is less so.

This is a recurring theme across most social media platforms how do B2B brands truly utilise the explosion in social media. Pinterest is an interesting one, how can marketers harness people’s attention on a site that already has over 3 million “pins”?  One way would be to show videos and photos of a b2b services in action or the reaction of someone that the service has affected. General marketing consent is that brands must pair promotional material with other pins that will keep people coming back to the brand page. Jokes, amusing photos, useful videos anything that is not a hard sell is vitally important to keep fans interested. Services and products if anything should take a back seat until a page is fully developed and supported by a community of “pinterested” people.

On second thoughts maybe posting pictures of cute cats may be the best way to drive followers to your brand page; I mean who isn’t “pinterested” in little kittens?