100% Increase in Organic Pinterest Marketing Traffic with Laura Rike

WELCOME, LAURA!

My friend, Laura Rike, is a Pinterest expert who works with smaller business owners, brand creators, and content creators to improve visibility and increase monthly revenue. {Go straight to her Pinterest Masterclass here!}

In today's episode, we talk about:

• How Pinterest works in my business
• Fresh pins
• Maximizing the impact of Pinterest on visibility
• Tailwind tips
• Pinterest as part of your sales funnel
• The impact of color on a visual search engine
• Keyword research

P.S. If you still don't know your Visibility Archetype, take the free quiz!

 

📣 PSST... REALIZING YOU'D RATHER WATCH/LISTEN THAN READ? CLICK PLAY!

WORKING WITH A PINTEREST AGENCY

When Laura and I started working together on my Pinterest account, she tweaked some design and added keywords in different areas. We also started focusing more on idea pins (Pinterest's new name for story pins).

In the past 30 days (as of the date of recording), organic growth on the account has been fantastic: 143% increase in impressions, 116% increase in engagements (pin clicks and saves), 159% increase in total audience, and 149% increase in engaged audience. 

It has been so exciting to watch the account steadily grow. Before, it would often go through a period of growth and then it would tank overnight. We have been focusing on video pins, specific titles with keywords, and scheduling video pins in Pinterest to make use of tags. In addition, we are making sure to leave longer intervals between sharing pins that lead to the same URLs.

In this episode, we're going to dig into how to use Pinterest to scale your business and bring more potential clients and customers into your funnels. 

EMPHASIS ON FRESH PINS

Laura shares that, over the last year or so, the Pinterest algorithm has favored fresh pins. Rather than pinning to the same URLs over and over, the platform is pushing pins that lead to new content. Her interpretation of a fresh pin is one that uses a different graphic, a different title, a different keyword, and a different description. She suggests waiting anywhere from 14 to 29 days before you share the URL again. The algorithm also takes relevancy into account, so you want to make sure the pin accurately represents the page the Pinterest user will click to.

This emphasis on fresh pins really highlights the importance of having a visibility vehicle - whether that's a blog, podcast, livestream show, or YouTube channel - so you are consistently putting out that fresh content.

MAXIMIZE THE IMPACT OF PINTEREST ON VISIBILITY

Pinterest's emphasis on fresh pins also highlights the importance of repurposing content. For example, one podcast can be an audiogram, a video with animated text, a video recording (30-45 seconds), and a static pin. That's four different types of content for one podcast episode. You can then take it a step further and create these different pins to link to your blog or landing page for the podcast episode as well as to Apple Podcasts or another podcast platform.

While people may think that once you create one pin for one URL they then have to create new content, that is not the case. You can repurpose your current and past content, as long as you adequately space out the intervals so you aren't spamming the platform with any one URL.

TAILWIND TIPS

You may know that Tailwind is a scheduling platform, but Laura gives us tips to maximize its impact. 

The first important thing to know about Tailwind is that it automatically schedules pins based on when your audience is most likely to engage with your pins. So even if you can sustainably commit to putting out one pin a day, it will tell you the best time so you can batch schedule. If you have been in business for a while and/or have multiple visibility vehicles, you could go up to 5-7 pins per day. Laura advises not going over 10-15 because of the focus on new and quality content.

Another feature of Tailwind is the opportunity to use intervals to schedule your pins for up to 10 relevant boards. Laura suggests no more than twice per month. After a few months, it will be easier for you to fill your queue.

There are also Tailwind communities. If you have pins that are doing well, you can share those into communities to highlight your content. If you have pins that are not doing as well on Pinterest but the URLs are doing well based on organic traffic analytics, you can use communities to boost the visibility on those as well. You want to make sure you are actively participating in communities, meaning you are sharing others' content as well. While it is most important to put your own content out on Pinterest, this collaboration is vital for the usefulness of communities.

PINTEREST AS PART OF YOUR SALES FUNNEL

There is no need to be a "sleazy salesperson" on Pinterest. Potential customers are already on the platform searching for solutions to their problems and answers to their questions. Most of the time, they will find your content from their search rather than from your Pinterest profile directly. This is why it is much easier to convert someone into a customer on Pinterest than it is on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter - people come to the platform to search, and ultimately to buy.

If you aren't using Pinterest as a business owner, you are leaving money on the table. If you optimize your account, you can see steady growth month after month. Your small wins get bigger and bigger.

Not only do you have to optimize your Pinterest account, however, but you also have to optimize your content for conversions. If you're pinning to a blog post, you have to have clear calls to action such as an opt-in form or a checkout page.

It is important to analyze every piece of your funnel so you can see where it may be leaking. Building your main content vehicle on your website allows you to direct Pinterest traffic there. It should be leading them to a blog post, a podcast episode, or a video - something visual so that people can see how they can engage with the content immediately upon landing on the page.

Make sure that your organic plan matches your Pinterest plan so that you can have that exponential growth; you don't have a leaky bucket.

There should be multiple opportunities for people to purchase from you and/or work with you. Additionally, you need to make sure you're tracking your analytics so you know where your traffic is coming from.

THE IMPACT OF COLOR ON A VISUAL SEARCH ENGINE

Pinterest is such a visual platform, and you know color is one of my favorite topics. Laura agrees that color is important when it comes to Pinterest. You want to be consistent with your brand colors so people will recognize that the content belongs to you. Someone who relates to the psychology behind your colors will be more likely to click through to your website. On the individual level, colors can make a difference in terms of what stands out for each person. 

Color can also lend itself to pattern interrupts. There are a lot of classic, beautiful, pastel images. If your colors stand out, your pins are more likely to jump off the page and stop the scroll.

Being consistent with your colors also builds trust subconsciously, making people more likely to purchase from you as they move through your funnel. 

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Laura wants to make sure you all know about the importance of keywords. You can use the Pinterest trends tool so you know which words are trending and use them to guide your content planning. Laura calls this "pin hacking", and it allows you to create content that directly answers the questions people are asking on the platform.

Answer the Public is another great site where you can find out what questions people are really asking related to your primary topics or content pillars. 

Responding to what people are searching for is a great way to bring them into your sales funnel.

PINTEREST MARKETING

I hope Laura and I have convinced you of the importance of Pinterest marketing. If your ideal customers or clients are searching on Pinterest, you want to be on the platform. Minimal time investment could really pay off.

Of course, there is always more to learn. If you want to dive into Pinterest, I highly recommend Laura's resources:

Free Pinterest Masterclass

Keyword + Hashtag Planner

Pinterest Membership

Did you love today's blog?

Feel free to save this gif + share it on your Instagram! And be sure to tag us @visibilityvixen.

If you're ready for the next step of your career, join a community of 100+ entrepreneurs who are taking action with their visibility + seeing huge results! Join here.

P.S. Have you checked out the new Visibility Vixen homepage yet? Do so here!