Honestly, I get a little tired of the constant pitting of one social media network against another. You know the drill: Facebook versus Twitter! Google versus Facebook! Instagram versus Flickr versus Pinterest!
Each network is vastly different and it’s incredibly difficult to level the metric playing field enough to officially announce an ultimate “winner” among them. What’s more, social media continues to change and shift, which means a current “winner” might not be wearing the crown anymore a few months from now.
But that constant evolution is what makes it important to keep on top of trends. You need to know who’s using what social media, and how. After all, where the users go, so does your business.
To that end, the infographic below from BloomReach is useful. It analyzes online shopping trends between users on Pinterest and Facebook during the last holiday season. Some key points:
- Facebook “won” in terms of quantity, sending 7.5 times more traffic to retailers than Pinterest did.
- But Pinterest “won” in terms of quality:
- Pinterest traffic converted to a sale 22% more than Facebook.
- Pinterest traffic spent 60% more than Facebook.
- Pinterest traffic viewed nearly double the pages than Facebook.
So does this mean that retailers should abandon Facebook and pour their marketing and advertising efforts into Pinterest? No. Of course not. Both platforms are equally viable; they just excel in different ways.
Pinterest tends to attract a selective audience of users who are attracted by and willing to pay for higher-end, boutique goods. If your products appeal to this demographic, then by all means, Pinterest is a smart investment for your marketing dollars. But the scale of Facebook’s reach and impressions still make it a serious contender.
The bottom line? Select the medium that best fits with your audience, and your goals. In the meantime, read on!
