Social Media Optimization - Difference between Pinterest and Instagram

With our lives greatly influenced by social media optimization, people are very much familiar with the different social media platforms. Two of these have been gaining popularity – Pinterest and Instagram.

These social media platforms allow anyone to upload pictures for others to see. Pinterest and Instagram are considered visual platforms as users upload different images that are not only to amuse people but also used as a marketing tool. Though both are similar as they feature photos, there are a number of differences between them.

• Link building

If you are a business focusing on your SEO, Pinterest can play a great role. Photos on Pinterest are linked to a source of the image. This source is usually an external site. What happens is that when a person sees your photos on Pinterest and gets interested with it, they will be lead to a website where this picture is found. Great way in increasing traffic. For Instagram, links are usually places in the bio – the only place where one can build a link to the photos. What users can do is to create a caption that can lead to the external link. This is a challenge for most businesses using Instagram.

• User experience

Curation is what most people do on Pinterest. When they find something that sparks their interests, they group the content on special boards. It is like grouping content that they discovered or searched on Pinterest.
On the other hand, Instagram gives it viewers more authenticity. Most businesses or entrepreneurs who ventures on Instagram can conveniently take photos or videos and upload it, with or without filters, immediately on Instagram. This is best used in featuring behind the scene footages to your customers or viewers.

• Target

It has been found out that most users of Pinterest are women for a very simple reason – Pinterest seems like scrapbooking. With grouping your content on boards, it is fun to “collect” photos or links that you could browse for future use. Hence, marketers target more women when advertising products and services on Pinterest.
The share of both men and women Instagram users are equally divided. Also, Instagram are more popular with the younger generation.

• Photo editing

With Instagram, you can easily apply filters that are already part of the application. You can choose a black or white filter to add drama to your photo or a sepia to create a stunning vintage look. Instagram is more of like a shoot-edit- upload application. Best for people who are always on the go.
Pinterest does not have any filters available with its camera – photos uploaded are raw. However, if you want it edited, you have to use a separate photo editing application to give your photos a new look.

• Hashtags

The powerful hashtags bring more traffic to your photo. However, using more than three hashtags on Pinterest is not allowed. This is something that marketers face to come up with best hashtags to maximize the limited number of hashtags. Instagram, however, allows up to thirty different hashtags. Yet, users are recommended to use about eight hashtags for better usage.

Pinterest and Instagram are powerful visual social media optimization sites. Most people are visual learners, so the more they get to see something about the product, the more interested they can get. Use these two platforms wisely to increase your audience to your website.