Despite the rise of social media and big businesses' ploy to use it for marketing over the last few years, consumers still trust their peers over corporations. Technically, who can sell a product best? Traditionally it would be the company's sales team but in today's society, people trust what their friends are saying.

As social networks become more and more flooded with corporate influence, users turn to other, less known, communities... and this is where we find Pinterest, "hottest website of the year."


Pinterest is a high-tech version of a bulletin board where you can "pin" up things you like for all your friends (your Pinterest network) to see. You can have multiple boards, each with its own subject.You can find and upload content to pin on various subjects including interior decorating, recipes, animals, architecture, men's/women's fashion, and design--the possibilities are endless.


As a great way to share your interests and categorize your thoughts, companies have now figured out ways of using it as a marketing tool.

There is definitely a niche market for it. The companies that will see the greatest results would be in the retail industry. Clothing, gadgets, home products, art work and other tangible objects a consumer can purchase are the best types of content for Pinterest. For example, ideeli.com, a retail site, saw a 446 percent rise in web traffic since utilizing Pinterest. By pinning your product with a link to where it can be purchased, your pin can go viral thus increasing sales. Simply pinning your insurance agent's phone number, is not a good use of Pinterest or your time as a marketer. Users want to share high quality images and graphics with their friends. It's all about the visual... which is why less visual companies are coming up with more creative ways to share over Pinterest, for example through infographics.


By using Pinterest and its ideal that people share what they like with their network, companies are getting the word-of-mouth advertising, at little to no cost, from their friends that most consumers trust.

So tell me...

As a Pinterest user, how would you feel about being bombarded by advertisements and sales-ey pins? Would the site still hold as much appeal if it was a well-known marketing hub? Would you still "trust" your friends pins as recommendations?