What Pinterest Can Teach Facebook About Social Media Monetization

PHOENIX, AZ--(Marketwired) - In the world of social media, news happens fast and maturity happens even faster. YouTube, the world's most popular video uploading site, turned 10 in February and is already considered a "legacy social media" platform in some circles. Based on this standard, Facebook, with its 1.3 billion members and now 11 years old, might be ready for retirement too. That is unless the uber-popular networking and content-sharing site can learn a thing or two from its younger sister Pinterest, the crafting and image-pinning site.

That was essentially the topic at hand recently when Digital Current's Troy Ireland discussed the power and potential of the social media site, which turns 5 years old in March, in his second Forbes column, "Five Ways Pinterest is Beating Facebook." Pinterest, launched in 2010, and with approximately 40 million monthly active users, is increasingly grabbing the attention of Web marketers and firms specializing in search engine optimization due to the site's revenue-generating capabilities based on the intersection of consumer-generated content and its 17-month trial with "promoted pins," ads created by marketers in the style of Pinterest site content.

"By this measure, more than any other, Pinterest is beating the pants off Facebook and it's a phenomenon digital marketing companies are taking note of," said Mr. Ireland, managing partner at Digital Current, a leader in conversion-based digital marketing specializing in marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). "From its visual content style and long content shelf life -- pins are arguably available forever -- among other pluses, the average consumer purchase order value is already significantly higher than search engine-based purchases from Google, shopping site Amazon, and Facebook."

Indeed, the average order price coming from Pinterest is $80 versus $40 from the above-mentioned Web platforms, a 100 percent increase. Driving this effectiveness isn't your traditional SEO clumsily inserted into online content in an effort to impact search engine algorithms and page rankings. This is a return to something more human and more genuine: quality content. Rising SEO IQs means that online marketers looking to monetize social media must evaluate the quality of their content as much as they do the products they're promoting.

In plain, non-Vulcan English, that means a return to expert storytelling, interwoven with smart SEO language. Or as Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey was quoted in a recent KISSmetrics blog on the importance of brand storytelling, which also featured Mr. Ireland in its expert panel, the need to foster authenticity, know your audience, and to express "conflict." In the marketing world, conflict can also suggest a company that's demonstrating its independence, or it could have elements of a "ticking clock," something that builds engagement and the need to act now.

"It's amazing to think that in our excessively plugged-in, multi-screened, and Wi-Fi-enabled world, we forget that brands are human," Ireland added. "And marketing to consumers requires sparking that humanity in genuine ways that inspire purchases. Even Google, the epitome of the digital librarian, is ultimately human because the people behind the screens and the fingers tapping away at the keyboards are human too. It's incumbent on digital marketers to ensure that smart SEO and compelling content are intricately joined."

Or, as Rand Fishkin, founder of Moz, a search marketing website and consulting firm, was quoted as saying in the same KISSmetrics article, "There's an odd correlation with brand narratives and successful brands."

In the world of social media, maturity does happen fast. Yet in the Pinterest versus Facebook monetization debate, it's clear age doesn't always mean wisdom. Sometimes the social media preschooler can teach the social media tween. Even so, when it comes to driving genuine interest and converting clicks into coins, Pinterest and Facebook still have some growing up to do. Brands possess countless more compelling stories to tell with equally compelling products to sell.

About Digital Current
Digital Current is a Phoenix-based, conversion-focused SEO and digital marketing agency. Digital Current provides a complete suite of services to clients across an array of industries that meets business objectives, increases search engine rankings, builds authority and trust, and drives qualified conversions. These services include search engine optimization, content creation, link development, conversion optimization, and paid social media marketing. For more information on Digital Current, please call (844) 304-3088 or visit www.digitalcurrent.com.

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