Pinterest: Outpacing Twitter Bleeds Money

If you were one of the investors that pounced on Twitter during their Initial Public Offering (IPO), you're probably wondering if you made a smart financial decision. Just two and a half weeks ago Twitter lost 4 of its key executive leadership members. What happens when you take a Human Resources VP, Head of Product, Head of Engineering and Head of Media out of a struggling social media giant? Here's a clue, bad things happen. 

Twitter Bleeds Money and Personnel 

In addition to the staff that chose to pack up and leave, Twitter is still struggling to actually become a profitable company. Its stock value has plummeted by 50% in the past 12 months, and its rate at which it gains new users is anemic. 

In fact, Twitter is losing ground in a big way to another major social media platform: Pinterest. What do most of us do all day while checking our phones? We read interesting articles, laugh at funny memes and share them all with our friends. Welcome to Pinterest; the Twitter of article and picture sharers. 

Instagram Surpasses Twitter in Key Metrics 

An article posted in Social Media Times in November of last year had some surprising statistics to report in on. While social media sites like Tumblr and Pinterest grew by 45% and 57% respectively over the prior 6 months; Twitter had only seen 26% growth. Uh oh! The two fastest growing social media platforms are privately held companies without financial forecasts to hit? And they're doubling the performance of the reigning social media giant? 

Looks like there's a new sheriff in town. 

The Value of Customer Interaction 

Part of the most valuable aspects of social media is customer interaction. Facebook has figured out that companies are willing to pay for this opportunity, and they've introduced features that allow content to be "promoted" to the facebook friends of current facebook page followers.  

Twitter is having difficulty monetizing corporate engagement the same way Facebook has. They're also extremely limited in terms of what can be posted. 140 characters isn't a lot to work with. In fact, it's downright stingy. 

With companies pouring tons of resources into finding the best ways to interact with customers and then keep them happy once they've found them, it's no wonder that one of the more explosive tech markets is the customer service software industry. Social media is a great way to start the conversation, but how does a company continue it? 

As much fun as "sharing", "following", and "liking" is, if you're having trouble with something, you want private, individualized attention. Direct Messaging on Twitter is one of the areas where Twitter shines, but with the slowdown in new-user acquisition, it's clear that the social media pioneer has fallen out of favor with the citizens of the web. 

As a company, you need to pour resources into growing markets. Pinterest is one of them, so start creating unique and pin-worthy content. Your marketing department and sales team with thank you! 

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Original source: Pinterest: Outpacing Twitter Bleeds Money.
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