Through my online research of marketing blogs I came upon HubSpot, a blog that is considered to be one of the top 10 Marketing Blogs to watch in 2011.  A recent post on HubSpot entitled “The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing” caught my attention. According to HubSpot’s statistics, Pinterest reached 5^th on Hitwise’s list of top 10 networking sites in December 2011, exceeding both LinkedIn and Google+.

Whether realizing it or not, HubSpot’s blog has essentially led readers through the first three steps of the ‘Buyers Decision Process for a New Product’. HubSpot has increased awareness merely by including Pinterest in their blog roll, thereby eliminated the need for customers to seek outside information in the interest stage.  More specifically, by including information to answer questions such as ‘What is Pinterest, and how does it work?’ ‘Pinterest Etiquette’, ‘How to create a Pinterest account’, and ‘How to create a following on Pinterest’. If this hasn’t already enticed the Blog readers enough, the blog then proceeds to mention 13 ways to use Pinterest for Marketing, recognizing that readers of this blog are already on HubSpot in the first place as they have an interest in online marketing.  This list of Pinterest applications likely sways the reader one way or another on their evaluation of the site – deciding whether or not they want to give it a try.

Finally, what I found most interesting when reading the HubSpot blog post was how quickly social networking sites can go viral. We’ve learned (and witnessed) that technology can quickly create new markets and opportunities. Pinterest has managed to attract 3.3 million users worldwide in only 22 months of operation. While it may be difficult to tell how popular the site with be with general consumers, we can be sure that marketers will be watching the progress of Pinterest with great interest.

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31147/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Mastering-Pinterest-for-Marketing.aspx