As marketers, we know that image sharing is increasingly becoming a cornerstone of any campaign and add to your modern resume. Consumers are attracted by brightly colored images, which is why infographics are rising in popularity and social sharing sites like Pinterest and Instagram are booming with new, active users. However, if a brand is to only invest in one of the sites, which one should a marketer spend most of his or her time focusing on?
According to a recent report from Simple Measured, Instagram is more effective than Pinterest for top consumer brands. About 67 percent of big-name brands are using Instagram – more than 100 million active monthly users on the network, which is an increase of 500 percent in the number of users since last year.
About 76 percent of the Interbrand Top 100 brands have and maintain Pinterest profiles, while only 67 percent have Instagram profiles. Marketing Profs reports that Pinterest had about 500,000 users, while Instagram had 7 million. In addition, about 23 percent of active Interbrand 100 companies post to their Instagram more than 50 times a month – an increase of 20 percent from the first quarter in 2013.
The most popular brands on Instagram are luxury and apparel lines. Companies like Nike, MTV and Starbucks have achieved the 1 million followers mark in the second quarter of 2013.
All of these numbers demonstrate that Instagram is becoming one of the primary resources a market should utilize to connect with millennials. While many users may be posting pictures of their cats, feet and bicycles, a large number are also interacting directly with their favorite brands. Instagram works dominantly through social sharing and interactions.
In contrast, when a pin on Pinterest is repinned, a customer never has to engage directly with the brand. To better capitalize on the use of social image sharing, a marketer may want to consider using the more direct social media platform. However, this advice is all relative to the industry and demographic a market is trying to communicate with. Brands catering to men are definitely going to want to turn toward Instagram, as Pinterest has an overwhelming female presence. But, fashion, food and travel brands are so popular on Pinterest that any company should be wary of jumping ship.
