By now you've probably heard of Pinterest, or at least seen Pinterest content shared across a range of other popular social media channels. You may even have an account. But if you aren't familiar, Pinterest is essentially an online bulletin board where users can create categorized boards and "pin" – or bookmark – related images and videos from websites or uploads. They can also "repin" and share pins from other users.

If you haven't explored the site, it's definitely worth a look, and you don't even need an account to browse through the eye candy on Pinterest. When I first heard about the site, I was reluctant to add to my growing list of online accounts, so I simply pinned "locally," copying and pasting innovative design ideas and intriguing architecture images into a "dream home" document on my personal computer. Finally my coworkers convinced me to crawl out from under my own hard drive, and now I realize how much easier it is to have, and share, my own boards.

I won't get into the technicalities of how to join and use Pinterest, but if you're curious, this article covers the basics.

What's really interesting is the potential for businesses to leverage Pinterest to reach their audiences. Ragan's PR Daily posted an infographic, 5 digital tools to boost your brand in 2012, from online coupon retailer CheapSally.com. The first digital tool mentioned is Pinterest, and I've copied that portion of the infographic below.

I was surprised to learn that Pinterest drives more visitors to third-party websites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. What I found even more shocking was that the average user spends 88.3 minutes a day on bookmarking Pinterest. Not per week; per day!

Because so many people are using (and apparently becoming attached to) Pinterest, companies are currently strategizing how they can get involved. The infographic shows how Etsy started an account to make it easy for users to follow them and repin items that are for sale. Whole Foods is another example of how a business can successfully use Pinterest. The natural foods grocer pins recipes, gift ideas and gardening tips from various sources.

Businesses have the potential to enhance brand identity and visibility through Pinterest. As is the case with Twitter and Facebook, it's all about engagement. Pretzel Crisps, for example, doesn't only post pictures of their product. Yes, they do have a board with pictures using their pretzels as appetizers; but they also encourage input from customers:

What I like even more is that Pretzel Crisps has a variety of boards where you'll find random humorous pins like this one:

So, if you're considering starting a Pinterest account for your company, keep in mind Pin Etiquette. In particular, the third guideline states, "Avoid Self Promotion: Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you're proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion."

The point is, if businesses can take the right approach and avoid overt self-promotion, Pinterest provides the perfect platform to engage with an audience as one user to another, on a personal level, creating a completely new type of highly-captivating visual interaction, which will build customer relationships that you can not only see, but also experience. So get pinning!

A good first step is to start a personal Pinterest account and get a feel for it. But be careful – once you start pinning, you may never stop!