Today’s episode is a replay of an episode I recently did with Kate Doster on her podcast, Inbox Besties. We had a great conversation about how to do Pinterest marketing the right way.
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I’m sure some of you listened to the episode of the SPM podcast where Kate shared how to get from Pinterest to Paypal in 3 minutes flat. If you missed that one, I recommend you go back and listen to it.
Kate shared a lot about copywriting and getting into the headspace of your potential buyers so that you can sell them exactly what they need.
After that episode, I hired Kate to review my sales page and she blew my mind. I highly recommend her Email Marketing Fairy course. It’s an e-book and is full of fantastic information to help you with email marketing.
If you’re looking for help with planning your Pinterest marketing, make sure you sign up for our free Pinterest planner. It’s over 20 pages of stat tracking, monthly trends, checklists and so much more.
Getting Past Discouraging Thoughts
I know a lot of you have heard the story of how I started SPM. We went from living on food stamps to having a team of 40 members. Since then, there have been moments when I’ve wanted to throw in the towel on Pinterest marketing.
I had one of those moments recently. I was challenged to dig into my hopes and dreams for the future. I listened to Vivid Vision and it completely overhauled my thinking. I sat down and wrote for four hours.
Related: Best Business Books I Read This Year
The moment I did this, the challenges felt so big and heavy. Releasing this vision to my team was one of the scariest moments for me. The weekend before I delivered this to them, I had the thought: maybe I should just quit, this seems too hard.
My team director reminded me that I was made to do this, and that I had to lean in and not let the discouraging thoughts win. When I finally did share the vision with my team, it was truly magical.
Related: How to Build a Successful Team
How to Do Pinterest Marketing the RIGHT Way
Common Misconceptions About Pinterest
While some of you may have used Pinterest for a long time, there are always those who are brand new to the Pinterest game. And just like any other platform, there are some common misconceptions that are crucial to clear up:
- Pinterest will work like Instagram or Facebook. Engagement is not the main metric on Pinterest; clicks are. The ecosystem of Pinterest is search and discovery, like Google. The user on Pinterest is searching for answers, so you’re marketing to a cold audience. The big advantage: if you can create great content, you can compete with larger brands.
- You will experience instant success. Pinterest is a slow burn. If you’re new to Pinterest, it will take 6-9 months to see good activity and data. You have to invest time in the Pinterest platform to get a return.
Related: The Transition from Facebook Marketing to Pinterest Marketing
Tracking the Metrics
Here at SPM, we track followers, sessions, and repins/saves. The more repins/saves you have on a pin, the higher you will be ranking. You can ask your audience to repin specific pins and also share more of your pins.
Related: Need-to-Know Pinterest Metrics
You don’t have to worry about Pinterest followers because they don’t translate to clicks. Sessions are important. You can have content that might not have a high repin/save number but have a lot of clicks.
You can also comment on pins. That’s the only social component to Pinterest. Comments will help you rank higher as well.
Can Anyone Use Pinterest?
Lots of people think of Pinterest and think “recipes” or “kids activities.” Are those the only types of bloggers who can do well on Pinterest?
The only time that Pinterest would not be a good fit is if you are a local dental office. We talked about this more in episode 128 (Is Pinterest Right for Your Business?) If you have a very locally targeted audience, Instagram or Facebook might work better for your business.
Recipes, weddings, crafts, gardening, fashion… everything you can imagine is being searched for on Pinterest. People are interested in budgeting, business coaching, and how to work from home. The opportunities are endless as we see Pinterest grow.
If you are a product seller, now is the time to start using Pinterest. The visual search option is a great SEO tool that will increase exposure for your pins.
Pinterest Scheduling Tools: Yey or Ney?
Pinterest has specific marketing partners and one of those partners is Tailwind.
This means that Pinterest recognizes Tailwind as approved scheduling tool. If you are using a scheduling tool that is not approved by Pinterest, it can be detrimental to your business.
Here at Simple Pin Media, we’ve tested manual pinning versus scheduled pinning more times than I can count. Bottom line: there’s no difference in how your pins perform on the platform. It all comes down to personal preference.
The pros of scheduling your pins are that it frees you up to do other things when you would be busy with manual pinning. Also, using Tailwind gives you access to super useful Pinterest analytics tools.
At SPM, we will always use scheduling tools, because they enable us to be more strategic and smarter with our pinning strategies. If you use a scheduler, it’s important to make sure to open up the Pinterest app occasionally and engage with the platform so that you stay up to date on any changes.
Related: Pinterest Changes Fast: How to Keep Up
Using Pinterest Group Boards
Group boards were all the rage a few years ago. In June of 2018, Pinterest said that group boards were not working the way that Pinterest had intended. If you are using a lot of group boards, there is less of a chance that your content will be seen regularly.
Focus on your personal boards. You have the ability to optimize those boards and you own them. You don’t own group boards or control who else is involved. We talked all about group boards in-depth in episode 93.
You can look at your group board numbers in your Tailwind analytics. Examining these numbers will help you to understand which group boards are doing well.
I hope you enjoyed this episode on how to do Pinterest marketing the right way with Kate Doster. We’ll do these types of replays more often so you can get a bit of a different perspective with me on the opposite side of the mic. There will be one next month with Eat Blog Talk , where I’ll be chatting all about Pinterest marketing for food bloggers.
In the meantime, make sure you check out Kate’s Email Marketing Fairy e-book and download the Simple Pin Pinterest planner.
For Further Listening/Reading:
Thanks again for being on the show. It was a great episode and one of my most popular episodes of the year.
Keeping up with Pinterest can be a full job, so I’m glad I’ve got you and the Simple Pin Media Agency to look towards.
So happy to collaborate with you!
As much as I try to master Pinterest, it seems like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle. I joined tailwind tribes and I created a few attractive pins, but still, I don’t get enough traffic. I have to rely on Google to get visitors and make an income with my blog
How long have you been working on your Pinterest marketing Maria? It’s going to take some time, patience, and a bit more than a few attractive pins to gain traction. In the current Pinterest Best Practices climate, you’ll need to create multiple images for each post (think 5-6) and continue to create new content on a consistent basis to win at the Pinterest marketing game.