There’s a new social media platform that’s broken through the pack. It’s called ‘Pinterest’ and works like a virtual pin board. See a cute picture or image you want to share? Easy. Simply ‘pin’ it to Pinterest and others can see it and share it. It seems everyone loves a photo. The platform is easy to use with visual content currently focused on cute animals, fashion, food, weddings, and home décor.

Here’s how it looks.

The question for Dinkum Interactive clients is – should you get on the virtual pin board?

Firstly, some figures. Unique visitors to Pinterest grew 400% (from September 2011 – December 2011) driving more visitors to third-party websites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. Not bad. It had 11 million visits during one week (in December).

The site is mainly used by women (80%) aged 25-44 (55%), 25% have a degree and the majority earn between $25,000-$75,000 per year.

Because it’s a visual medium, you need images to market your product or site. Group your pins into categories and focus on demographics such as brides, foodies, moms, or car enthusiasts. The site allows you to use backlinks which is great for SEO.

You can also share Pinterest through Facebook and Twitter.

The trick is marketing without marketing. Like other social media sites, people want useful information and entertainment. They don’t like to be sold to. But if you’ve got something they want, they’ll buy it. It’s all about how you package your information. Explain how it benefits your target audience.

The New York Times recently reported that Pinterest takes a cut of sales generated through its site which is fine, if they disclose that information. It’s something to be aware of.

My verdict. If your product or service is visual and appeals to those in the Pinterest community, it’s worth a try.