• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 22, 2014

Instagram and Pinterest are both highly visual and open platforms. Compared to Facebook and Twitter -- where users are prone to preaching and complaining -- Instagram and Pinterest are also “very, very happy networks,” according to Sharad Verma, co-founder and CEO of social analytics startup Piqora. From a marketing standpoint, however, the similarities end there, said panelists at MediaPost’s Social Media Insider Summit, on Friday. Audiences on Pinterest skew older and far more female, noted Aliza Freud, founder and CEO of female-focused content network SheSpeaks. Pinterest is also much more like a product and design “wish list” for users. Put in true marketing terms, Instagram is at the top of the purchase funnel, while Pinterest is near the bottom, she said. Also, the shelf life for content posted to Pinterest is much longer, said Verma. For example, Pinsters commonly buy products that others have pinned many months in the past. As such, the content that brands are creating for Pinterest should be targeted for an “active evaluation type consumer,” while Instagram is for “love letters back to [brand] loyalists,” said Zach Baze, SVP of Strategy, Insight & Content at digital marketing agency IMM.