In her social media training with clients, Lori Lewis talks a lot about how so-called secondary social media platforms are becoming more important to radio brands. The question is, once you get beyond Facebook and Twitter, how do you really know which of these social media sites attracts a critical mass of your listening audience?
The answer is research, of course. And that’s another area where our Techsurveys have become more valuable in recent years. Yes, Facebook continues to be “the big dog,” but other social media platforms are making noise and becoming legitimate players among key demographic groups.
Pinterest is one that may have snuck up a lot of people. Back in 2012 when we first included Pinterest in Techsurvey8, the fledgling site only had an 8-share among those with a profile on social media sites – mostly women. At the time, we described Pinterest as “bubbling under.”
In just the past couple years, Pinterest has grown five-fold, now at an impressive 40% level in Techsurvey10 which was conducted nearly one year ago. As we learned at that time, female-leaning formats like Hot AC and even Country have an excellent opportunity to connect with fans via Pinterest because women love the platform so much more than men.
Or do they?
Skyword’s Content Standard reports that while women dominated Pinterest at one time, men are catching up. In fact, about a third of new sign-ups are coming from guys, and in markets like India and Japan, it’s more like 50/50.
If you look at our Techsurvey10 results from earlier this year, you can see our data corroborates that claim – more than a third of Pinterest users are now dudes.
For marketers, this is a big development. It could mean that Pinterest has the potential to become a factor in formats that skew male, from Rock to Alternative to even Sports Radio. In fact, TechCrunch reports that more men are on Pinterest than read Sports Illustrated and GQ combined.
I’ve noticed a more aggressive push by Pinterest in recent weeks, as I’m now receiving weekly emails urging me to dig back into the site to find areas of interest. I am planning on re-engaging on a site that I signed up for a couple of years ago, but have used very little up to this point. There’s clearly something going on here.
What are men doing on Pinterest? From sports to cars to fitness to style, guys are finding their interests on the site, not to mention stay-at-home and single dads that are heavily involved in taking care of the house, cooking, and other domestic tasks. Clearly, Pinterest has gained some testosterone.
For radio, there’s a way for everyone reading this post to find out what role Pinterest (and Instagram and Snapchat and others) play among your core fan groups. And that’s by making a small investment in your station’s future by participating in Techsurvey11 which launches next month.
It’s the best, most efficient way to help make some of the key decisions facing your brands, especially during times when radio is struggling to be present in new media locales that are meaningful to core audiences. Learning your station’s digital footprint goes to the core of designing a strategy that effectively makes use of the resources you have.
Take a moment to visit our page, and sign up for TS11 before the year’s out.
You may be pinning before you know it.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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