Pinterest’s Gender Gap is a Good Thing

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Pinterest_1 from Reachpod
Much has been written of late about Pinterest and the gender gap for one of social media’s biggest brands. As any good marketer can tell you, women make up a huge percentage of Pinterest users, which is fine by me.

And should be for others too.

I find it surprising how Pinterest, along with many voices in the blogosphere, feel the need to see the website to “man up” and close its gender gap. The tactics to accomplish this have included developing new search capabilities, improved targeting and more masculine content. Since 2013, “Cars,” “Motorcycles” and “Men’s Fashion” have been examples of Pinterest’s beefed-up “man bait” content.

Gender Breakdown of visitors on social media sites
Gender Breakdown of visitors on social media sites

Despite these changes, however, 7 of 10 Pinterest users today are still women. So, what’s the problem? Well, for starters, Pinterest sees a huge missed opportunity on ad dollars from men. But I see its gender gap offering a different opportunity for the brand:

Continue to stay focused and build out the best online social experience for women today.

Discipline is a key element to successful companies. As a CEO myself, I believe that if our company was to chase every prospect, every industry and every opportunity – no matter how lucrative they might be – we would be doing a disservice to our core focus: CoCreation and CXM.

Just this week, another well-known brand tried its luck at expanding its market reach only to end up failing miserably. You could say the company’s growth plan was, well, off Target.

To avoid a similar mistake, I strongly advise Pinterest not to lose sight of exactly who makes its brand so unique: women. Instead of diversifying to appeal to men, the site should focus on evolving its experience for females. That discipline will pay off better in long run.

And the great irony in all of this? Women are gold to brands since they traditionally influence household purchasing decisions. That would seem to be a fan base worth pinning.

Brian Walker, CEO
Brian Walker is the Chief Executive Officer of AE Marketing Group and host of the award-winning Brand Lab Series™ Podcast with today’s most innovative brands, including Bosch, Deloitte, IBM, RXBAR®, Accenture, and P&G.Recognized by Inc., Forbes, Branding Magazine, Ad Age, The American Marketing Association. Modern Healthcare, and more, Brian helps executives build brands beyond traditional advertising to improve customer experience, product development, and revenue.

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