You use it or have heard of it. You read and listen to all the buzz it generates and it's a no brainer it has huge potential, and, of course it's not a simple fad. It's Pinterest, the new darling of social media.

Definitions go first, of course, and you'll get different answer depending on who you ask. Since our context is your business or company and the opportunities opened because of this new site we will define Pinterest as:
A social network where its users find, share, organize and filter visual content.

It's growing at gigantic steps and many analysts predict just more awesome growth. Because of that I'll give you reasons why your company should join the bandwagon:

1. A community of engaged users.
People searching all over the web for just the right pictures and videos to share with small groups; that makes it an ideal venue to attract targeted visitors and expose your brand through visual media.

2. As a visual source of ideas.
Welcome to visual market research. Finding your future customers is a very important part of Pinterest use, another part, also important is to generate new ideas for your offerings; often, you'll see what's hot and trendy, so if you look for products or services similar to yours it might spark new ideas.

3. Your brand on the spotlight.
The promise of viral marketing. You might be known as stylish, classy and hip by association. If the images or videos of your offerings are shared often means your customers are satisfied therefore attracting more prospects.

4. Become a trendsetter
The more a prospect or customer is engaged with your brand, the more possibilities to satisfy them; how? first they see what you have to offer in a much better light, then they ask more questions and leave more feedback.

The opportunities to listen and satisfy their needs increase.
That not only happens with new people you want do business with but with people you are already doing business; having one on one digital interactions with your audience make you a trendsetter.

5.You have a brochure with instant audience.
It is very important to talk about how you interact within the site. It's expected the stuff you pin reflect what your company or brand consider valuable, that's how you connect to the people that are already searching for what you have to offer.

You can create your storyboard where you showcase your work, what you do, what products or service you offer, etc; by creating value gathering visuals of relevance to you and your audience and interacting with them you drive interest to your products or services.

6. Drive more traffic to your website.
It's tried and tested that for some types of businesses, Pinterest gets more social media traffic to their website that Facebook.

What does it mean for you? if you have a website where you gather emails to build your list or sell your products directly it's great news.

There you go, several reasons why your business should take an active interest in Pinterest. Good luck with your social media efforts.