Investing in #Pinterest Marketing versus Your Business Phone Numbers?

New social media site Pinterest has been cultivating a lot of buzz in the blogosphere lately but is it really worth diverting your marketing budget for, especially compared to your business phone numbers?
There is a lot of hype about Pinterest on the web, so what’s the real deal? Is it right for your business or just another well publicized distraction?
Clearly pictures carry power for brands, there is no question about that and as we have learnt from the $1 billion Instagram deal, they are very valuable. Certainly, utilizing original photos on all of your web assets can add a ton of value and provide a wide array of advantages. Though, winning on the web and demanding the maximum return on your marketing budget requires highly targeted traffic. This is easy to generate on Facebook, YouTube and with PPC advertising campaigns but who is using Pinterest?
According to the most recent stats, Pinterest users are 80% female and mostly fall in the 24 to 44 age bracket. This isn’t bad unless you are only marketing to men. However, it is important to recognize that the top interest categories on Pinterest are quite niche. These include crafts, gifts, hobbies, fashion and interior design.
Providing these users and their interests are a great match for your product it may be worth wading into a Pinterest campaign. There are numerous ways to use the site though two simple options to begin with may include adding a badge to your blog posts so that readers can “Pin it” as well as posting infographics on Pinterest with backlinks.
However, a series of recent blog posts have revealed a dark side to Pinterest. Pinterest is reportedly swapping out users’ links with their own affiliate links in order to cash in on the traffic they are creating. Smart but a deal killer for most entrepreneurs viewing it as another Facebook or Twitter alternative.
Now compare the real income potential of Pinterest with investing in your business phone numbers and upgrading to a premium vanity number. Vanity numbers have proven time and time again that they can provide double and triple digit improvements to response rates and conversion ratios, while enhancing brand recognition and dramatically reducing chargebacks. Best of all, vanity numbers can be used for all of your marketing campaigns to a whole world of demographics. Plus, what use is driving interest with Pinterest if your business phone number isn’t good enough to close the deal?
So “Pin it”? Maybe if your product can create more “awwws” than the packs of incredibly cute puppies being posted. Someone will cash in big from it, even if it is only the founders selling out to Facebook but don’t let it distract you too much. Have you even mastered Facebook, Twitter,, LinkedIn and Google+ yet? Don’t worry there will be two more “must have” social networks launched tomorrow and the day after that.
If you can’t resist, try pinning some pics once you are enjoying a 4 day or shorter work week, thanks to all the business your vanity numbers are helping you bring in or at least pin a picture of the cutest puppy you can possibly find and link it to Custom Toll Free!