Viralheat’s Pinterest Analytics Feature

The social media sphere continues to be dominated by Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but Pinterest continues to grow at an astonishing rate. Usually described as a cloud-based photo sharing application, Pinterest differs from traditional rivals Flickr and Picasa in the sense that its features and functions are more conducive to social networking.

Flickr and Picasa are respectively owned by Yahoo and Google, but these two Internet giants have not been able to accomplish what Pinterest has in just a couple of years: to make it easy for users to visually express their interests. Photo-sharing sites are powered by the pictures that users upload, while Pinterest encourages members to find cool images that represent their interests and that have the potential to attract meaningful social discourse.

Internet marketers are paying close attention to Pinterest and its meteoric rise in membership. In January 2012, the site recorded more than 11 million visitors. The network is particularly useful for monitoring emerging trends, link building and gaining prospects. Companies like Viralheat have designed analytical tools to help businesses in all industries leverage the power of Pinterest.

A Tucson real estate lawyer, for example, can use Pinterest Analytics from Viralheat to gauge the sentiment of real estate transactions in the different Arizona housing markets. This can be done by inputting keywords that will return accurate metrics showing the pins, repins and boards related to real estate matters in a law firm’s practice area. The lawyer could look at the profiles of those who repin their items to gather information about them and assess whether they are potential clients.

The focus on visual presentation of Pinterest topics make the social network ideal for real estate businesses. Members are likely to pin, repin and discuss pictures of home listings they find unique, stylish, odd or just cute. This is how some real estate agents and attorneys are finding Pinterest followers: by engaging them with unique photographs and insightful written content they feel compelled to share with their social circle.

Social Media Mondays is a CaseDetails.com series covering different topics in the social media world on a weekly basis. Check back every Monday for more news on social media and useful information on how law firms can use social platforms to their advantage.