Since I posted about Pinterest the other day, I’ve spent some time playing with my Pinterest account.

Not only did I find the time to go into my account and figure out how to create boards, add pins and upload pins, I now have seven boards and am starting to understand the Pinterest obsession.

I’m also starting to understand some of the marketing and communications implications beyond “hey, I’m gonna point to something I like.”

Visit Bucks County is the first entity on Pinterest I’ve come across that seems to be doing it right. They have separate boards (think bulletin boards where you can post images of cool stuff) for “Dine in Bucks County,” “Stay in Bucks County,” “Shop in Bucks County,” “Say ‘I Do’ in Bucks County” and more. The trick, of course, is not to just create the board and let it sit (though search will give you some traffic, I assume), but to keep adding content on an ongoing basis.

I’m sorta surprised Zappo’s doesn’t have a presence on Pinterest (they’re great at social media and they’re all about shopping, which is a huge part of what Pinterest is about), but I guess it’s pretty early in the game for companies to be all over the platform. I have no doubt they’ll be crawling all over it before too much longer.

Ehhhhh, maybe not so much … at least if you believe some *ahem* “sponsored content” from the folks over at Destination CRM.

Actually, it’s from the folks at intelliresponse (Destination CRM only blasted the info to their mailing list), and while it’s the sort of information that’s hardly coming from someone without any skin in the game, it’s nevertheless tough to ignore. Here’s the salient point:

The number of questions asked via social media channels account for less than 1/100th of a percent of questions asked via customer-facing websites.

In other words: When customers have a customer service question, are they looking for answers in social media or on a company’s website? Overwhelmingly it’s the website.

Which begs the question: With spending on social forms of CRM on the rise big-time, is this really where dollars ought to be spent?

Takeaway for marketers: Sure, explore social customer service channels … but make sure your website is up to snuff first.

For half of this year’s advertisers, the answer is definitely or probably not. Business2Community explains.

That’s the question asked by Todd Wasserman over on the American Express Open Forum. The article doesn’t really answer the question, though. Instead, it talks about ways to manage all the cards that come your way.

I’ll answer the question: No, it’s not.

But: If you’re not placing your social media information on your card, you’re a schmuck. That screenshot up there is a scan of the back of my business card, and I can’t count the number of compliments I’ve received on it.

By contrast, I’ve seen business cards from self-proclaimed marketing experts that don’t even include a website address, much less a social media icon. These days, that’s downright pathetic.

Takeway for marketers: If part of your marketing expertise is digital and social media and your card doesn’t reflect that reality, you have some work to do on your personal collateral.

Bet you don’t. Not as often as you think you do, anyway. If you’re like me, Anne Holland’s Which Test Won? site will be something of an eye-opener.