Pinterest has made a big dent in the world of social sharing in the past year. Quickly shooting up the social media pyramid, Pinterest ranked as number three social media website in a recent Experian Hitwise report following Facebook & Twitter and just ahead of LinkedIn.

Having gained a reputation for being a predominately female with anything from 72% to 97% of its users base reported as being female, the platform has has offered a new way for marketing managers to connect and engage with this demographic.

Pro sports teams taken full advantage of this opportunity by using Pinterest to engage with their female fans.  Nilay Shah, Director of Digital Marketing for the New York Giants told Mashable:

‘What intrigued us initially was that the platform seemed to be dominated by women. We certainly thought it was a great way to engage with that demographic and offer a different type of content than can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+’

Though many see the platform as more than just a means for reaching female fans, #SMWF speaker Peter Stringer, Boston Celtics’ Senior Director of Interactive Media said:

‘We’re looking at it as if it’s predominantly for women, but we’re not treating it as if it’s only for women.  Of all the social networks, this one is getting the most traction and attention at the moment. It’s a place where we need to be, we’re hoping it can help drive merchandise sales and some traffic back to the web store. It’s definitely worth exploring as an option given the amount of users and attention.”

The Boston Celtics have been noted as one the of early adopters in pro sports to launch a Pinterest brand page showcasing content from fans, displaying merchandise and photos from the past and present.  The Celts were also the first pro sports team to launch a ‘Pin It to Win It’ competition where fans could win prizes based on the Pinterest boards they had created.

Peter Stringer will be discussing how the Boston Celtics have built their evolving Pinterest strategy, diving into analytics and review the lessons learnt from being the first pro sports to host a Pin It to Win it contest at this year’s #SMWF N. America.

To find out more about #SMWF America please click here.