
Healthy recipes, cleaning tips, cute clothes and even cuter cats are just a few of the more feminine concepts that come to mind when Pinterest is mentioned. But it seems like very few brands know that there’s a veritable treasure trove for marketing to men on Pinterest. With typically masculine brands like the NHL and the US Army using the platform, it’s easy to see that Pinterest can be pretty manly too, dude.
Demographic Shift
At the beginning of 2012, women made up 80% of the audience on Pinterest. A little over a year later, (updated) Mediabistro is reporting that in April 2013 the male audience reached 30% on Pinterest. While women may still outnumber men on Pinterest, it’s a sign that guys are feeling more comfortable with the platform- that, and they might just want to see what their wives and girlfriends are pinning to their “For the Boyfriend” boards.

The popularity of “For the Boyfriend” boards on Pinterest can be a great marketing resource for “manly” brands.
Man-Brands on Pinterest
NHL
It may be surprising to some that one of the bigger brands using Pinterest, with over 1.3 million followers, is the National Hockey League. The NHL does a great job engaging fans on Pinterest with monthly hashtags (March is #HockeyLuck month, by the way) that provide followers the chance to have their photo pinned each month. With the fanaticism surrounding most sports teams, Pinterest is a great – and manly! – way for teams to interact with fans.
Men’s Health Magazine
Men’s Health is another “manly” brand that is doing amazingly well on Pinterest. Their 17,000 followers get access to content on health tips, sexy ladies, great new men’s fashion and much more. They pin often and keep a good mix of content to keep the page from becoming stale.
Karmaloop
Although Karmaloop sells both men and women’s clothing, they saw an increase in their male following from their PinMail by PinLeague campaign in Q4 of 2012. By emailing only men’s content to men, it helped Karmaloop build their male audience on Pinterest. More information on Karmaloop’s success with PinMail can be found here.
The United States Army
One of the most traditionally “manly” organizations in American, The United States Army, is having great success with Pinterest as well. With powerful pictures of war and of tearful home comings, the Army is engaging both the masculine and feminine sides of Pinterest.
While there are various “Pinterest for Men” sites popping up (such as the wonderfully titled Manteresting), there’s really no substitute for the original Pinterest. For brands marketing to men or women, adorable cats or majestic dogs, Pinterest can help you get your message to the right audience.
This post was orginally featured on the Tailwind blog as Hey Dude! You Can Market to Men on Pinterest, Too.