• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 11, 2015

Not every analyst is crazy about Pinterest. Forrester’s Nate Elliott, for one, recently blasted the social network for failing to connect with brands. Yet new data from Networked Insights paints a rosier picture of the pin-based platform.

Based on 10 million pins, the research and analytics firm found that consumers share branded Pinterest content more frequently on the social Web than general branded content.

This indicates that analyzing data from Pinterest picture-sharing can inform a content strategy that better engages consumers, according to Rick Miller, vice president, consumer insights at Networked Insights.

For example, consumers share branded Pinterest content on the social Web 150% more than general branded content. Some of the most shared brands on Pinterest include Verizon, Campbell’s Soup, Ford and Apple.

As for particular sectors, nearly 15% of Pinterest users share style and fashion-related posts on social media, according to Networked Insights.

After eight months in beta, Pinterest officially launched its Promoted Pins program, at the beginning of the year. Brands that participated in the Promoted Pins beta program saw a 30% increase in “earned media” -- i.e., the share of users who saved a Promoted Pin to a board, according to Pinterest.

Per internal findings, Promoted Pins are “repinned" an average of 11 times — the same as non-branded pins.

Pinterest is also more popular than ever. The proportion of online adult women using the service increased from 33% in 2013 to 42% in 2014, according to recent findings from the Pew Research Center.

Altogether, the total proportion of online adults on Pinterest grew from 21% in 2013 to 28% in 2014 — while 17% of Pinterest members now use the site daily, per Pew.