Instagram Versus Pinterest for Your Business

It’s no secret image-based social media has become incredibly popular in recent years. Sites like Flickr, Pinterest, Imgur and others have millions of regular users, meaning you can really build your business by growing a modest following on the sites. If you’re looking to build your social media campaign, you may have considered creating an account on one of these sites. In particular, many businesses use Pinterest and Instagram, two of the most popular image-based social sites. Depending on the nature of your business and existing marketing efforts, one site may be better than the other for promoting your business. Here are some factors you should consider when choosing between Instagram and Pinterest.

Pinterest’s Users

Your target demographic is one of the most important things to consider when you’re developing a new marketing campaign. Pinterest and Instagram have somewhat different audiences, and in most cases you should create an account on the site your customers will be most likely to use. If you know much about Pinterest, it may not come as a surprise about 70% of its users are female — after all recipes, design ideas and fashions are commonly shared on the site.

In general, Pinterest’s users are also a little on the older side. According to the Social Habit, the largest percentage of users consists of people between ages 25 and 34 — they hold 34% of all Pinterest accounts. However, 19% of users are between ages 35 and 44, and 11% are between ages 45 and 54. Pinterest is also relatively popular with significantly older users: 5% of account holders are over 55.

Pinboards and Collaboration

One of the great things about Pinterest is the site allows you to organize content into pinboards. If you’re a very organized person and already have things like telesales CRM software systems in place, you may find pinboards appealing. You can create different pinboards for a variety of topics to keep your page looking structured and user-friendly.

Along with posting pins of your products and services, you can also use pinboards in more creative ways. For example, you might have a pinboard devoted to information and news about your industry. You could also have a slightly off-topic pinboard — for example, if you’re a real estate company you could have a pinboard devoted to furniture.

Another cool thing about Pinterest is the way it makes it easy to collaborate with other users. Not everything you post to your page has to be your own content. Most accounts re-pin others’ content to their pinboards in addition to creating their own images. You can also partner with another user and share a pinboard between your accounts.

Instagram’s Users

While Pinterest has a modest following of teenagers and young adults, Instagram is more popular with young people. According to the Social Habit, 67% of the site’s users are between the ages 18 and 34, while 20% are between ages 12 and 17, making the site ideal for campaigns that target teenagers. However, only 13% of users are over 35, so Pinterest may be a better choice if you market to mature adults.

As far as gender, Instagram is more balanced between women and men, so this site may be more advantageous if you market to both genders. Although there are still more women than men on Instagram, about 45% of account holders are male. Furthermore, Instagram may be a more effective tool if your customers are spread out around the globe. About half of account holders live outside the United States.

Photos and Videos in Real Time

Instagram is similar to Twitter with its ability to share data and videos in real time. You can also post hashtags along with your content to help users find your images and videos, which has helped to make Instagram a useful news source. For example, following a typhoon in the Philippines last year, residents used Instagram to post photos and updates about their conditions. This helped users spread news and information very quickly — anyone with a smartphone and a data connection could keep others updated about the conditions.

With the emerging popularity of sites like Vine, Instagram recently started to allow 15-second video clips. It’s easy to take and upload videos to Instagram, and 15 seconds is just enough time to share information without losing viewers’ attention.

Of course, there are many things both Instagram and Pinterest do very well. Both sites are great for e-commerce and for building brand awareness. They’re also two of the fastest growing social media sites ever. Ultimately, choosing which site is best will depend on your personal preference and the specific needs of your business.

About The Author: 

Scott Huntington is a writer, blogger, and social media expert. He lives in Pennsylvania and with his wife and son. Follow Scott at @SMHuntington or check out his blog, blogspike.com