A few months ago, we wrote about something we’ve received quite a few questions about – whether Pinterest or Instagram is better for businesses. And while that debate still stands (short answer: it depends), it looks like Pinterest may have another rival that’s not Instagram: Twitter.
Pinterest recently joined Facebook and Twitter as one of the top three social referrers of traffic, an important stat for those not yet convinced about the business value of Pinterest. But that’s not all.
As a recent article in Forbes notes, a study by Pinterest marketing firm Ahalogy showed “that Pinterest has surpassed Twitter in popularity in the U.S. and looks set to widen the margin still further, while also catching up with LinkedIn.” They extrapolated from a sample of 1,300 males and females ages 15 and up, and came to the conclusion that just over 22% of Americans are using the service on at least a monthly basis, compared to Twitter’s 19%. The study doesn’t include worldwide numbers, but at least in the U.S., Pinterest is showing that it’s very much a force to be reckoned with.
So is Pinterest poised to take over Twitter?
The short answer? Yes, there’s a distinct possibility that Pinterest could take over Twitter in terms of monthly average users. The long answer? We think it may still be too early to tell. As it stands, Pinterest is still on its way up, and no one is exactly certain of where it will end up. But that doesn’t take into account changes Twitter may make to adapt to its up-and-coming foe.
Just this Monday, for example, buy now buttons temporarily appeared in tweets–a possible sign that Twitter shopping may finally be upon us. While Twitter won’t officially announce whether or not that was a short-term test or just a glitch, it seems logical that they’d try a new shopping feature. After all, Pinterest is driving more ecommerce sales than ever, and Twitter knows that. With a sales feature for Twitter on the horizon, there’s really no telling what tomorrow holds for Twitter as it relates to Pinterest.
Is it time to jump ship off of Twitter and start investing all of your time in Pinterest? Hardly. But at this point, the least you could do is familiarize yourself with the platform so you’re not woefully unprepared if Pinterest does eventually steamroll Twitter.
Photo credit: CC by mkhmarketing
