Today’s podcast takeaway is this — the most popular pins on Pinterest tell a story. That’s why people interact with them.
When we dig deep and ask ourselves how we’re going to market our business to get the right people to engage with our content, sometimes we lose sight of the need to use our images to tell a story that inspires our audience.
Before we dive in, here’s a reminder that this month we are hosting our free Five-day Pinterest Challenge – A Fresh take on Pinterest. We want to help you spring clean your Pinterest strategy for 2021.
You will want to get in on this.
We’re going to be doing some focused teaching on:
- story pins
- video pins
- traditional (static) pins
- branding
- keywords.
Our last Pinterest challenge in January definitely had a high engagement level with lots of value being delivered. We hope you’ll join The Challenge this go around!
OK, let’s talk about how to tell the story you want your audience to hear with static pins, video pins, and of course, story pins.
One of the main messages I want you to take away from today’s podcast is this:
Don’t overthink it.
One thing I always strive for in life is to get things right the first time. I don’t have any patience for making mistakes. That is an expectation I put on myself. I don’t put that on my team. I don’t even put that on my family. But I put that on me.
Here’s a quick story about when my own overthinking hit me right between the eyes.
My daughter is 15 and has been learning how to drive. I’m not the person in charge of that in our family but, at my husband’s prodding, I geared up and said I would help her practice on this particular day.
I realized something as we started driving. The whole purpose of her time behind the wheel right now is learning! It’s the time for her to make mistakes while someone is with her to help correct those mistakes.
I started thinking about all the little things that are required to become a good driver. For example, learning how to drive through the post office also means knowing when to stop the car, put it in park, and put your envelope in the little blue bin.
I realized it takes time to get all of these things right. But there’s this place where you kind of have to screw up a little bit in order to really learn.
Pinterest marketing is just like this. When you’re getting started on something new like story pins or video pins, you really just have to get into it and do the ugly one first.
I kind of joke that this stage of the journey is called marketing ugly. You just have to get in there to be able to see what people are engaging with and be able to know what story you want to tell.
Today I want to walk through some examples of our favorite brands and see how they are telling the story. I’ll give examples from three different formats.
• static pins
• video pins
• story pins.
Our goal is to inspire you to step into the places where you might be afraid to venture and help you start telling the story in your Pinterest marketing.
The Most Popular Pins on Pinterest Tell a Story
Pinterest Static Pins
Fashion Static Pins
Fashion pins are everywhere on Pinterest. You can provide inspiration for outfits, showing your audience how to dress. You can definitely tell a story of an item by demonstrating different ways to use it.
Here is a fashion pin by Stylish Petite that does a great job telling the story.
This is a stacked pin. It includes an image on top, a text box in the middle, and another image on the bottom (a lifestyle shot of her wearing the sunglasses).
Stylish Petite knows that the pinner is likely thinking “I can look at somebody else’s face and think those look really good but then I look at them on me and I don’t look really good at all.” She knows at this moment that the pain point is figuring out how to find right sunglasses for my face.
She walks you through that first step of how to find the right sunglasses for your face. This prompts the pinner to click so that she can educate them on the process of selecting sunglasses that will compliment their face.
This approach works really well for fashion and for home decor (e.g., how to find the right lamp for your space, the right tile for your space, etc.).
You can get really creative with this “how to find the right XYZ” question. People are asking “how do I find the right fit for me?” and they want you to walk them through that story.
Let’s look at another example from Stylish Petite.
She really nailed it here with her Oh So Comfy! My Go-To Jeans for Spring pin.
She wants to lead people through the why these jeans are the best for spring story. I love that she added in the seasonal element. That seasonal hook is really important, especially in fashion, when pinners are looking for inspiration for upcoming seasons.
Nature Static Pin
Static pins can tell a story for any niche. Here’s one with a very different focus. I love the idea of using a guide like Bird Watching HQ does with this pin.
If you think Pinterest isn’t the place for bird-watching you would be wrong. There’s a lot of engagement surrounding this topic on Pinterest.
Bird Watching HQ is leaning into that interest. Instead of just talking about 18 owl species you need to know, your focus is drawn to 18 owl species that live in the U.S. By saying “here’s a guide to know which owl you’re looking at,” they’ve found a very cool way to get people hooked into reading more about these 18 owl species.
All three of these static pins are great examples of hooking the pinner. The pinner knows when they read each of these pins they’re going to be greeted with more examples of the topic.
Pinterest Video Pins
Video continues to explode on Pinterest. We heard that in the Pinterest Creators Festival, from some of the stats they’re putting out, and we’ve heard from you that video is doing really well.
Video pins are hit or miss and you need to understand that you’ll have a few that go crazy and then a few that will fall flat. That’s just the nature of video. It happened on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Just keep making them. Keep telling a story that will keep people engaged.
Food Video Pin
Let’s talk about videos in the food niche.
Food bloggers, you are nailing this! People loved the super quick, how-to recipe style videos from Tasty on Facebook. They are by far some of the most popular pins on Pinterest. This style not only makes the recipe seem attainable for your audience but also shows them the ingredients used in the recipe.
Many lessons have been learned from Facebook and now we’re seeing these recipe videos take off on Pinterest.
If you listened to a previous podcast we did with the founder of the Jump Rope app, you know this platform is one of our favorite ways to make videos. The whole point is to make creating video pins super easy and that’s what JumpRope provides.
Sometimes we get caught up in the details of how to make it all happen and that prevents us from just getting started. Jump Rope’s platform allows people to just get started.
Cupcakes and Kale Chips is one food blogger who is doing a great job with video pins and getting really good engagement. Check out her videos and see how she’s telling those quick stories.
TPT Video Pin
Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) is a really cool site that sells products created by teachers for teachers and allows them to purchase these products for use in their classrooms. Video pins are working for this niche as well.
Take this pin from Ashley McKenzie for example.
Ashley uses this simple video to really speak to teachers and where they’re at right now. Teachers are finally returning to their school buildings this spring and I imagine they’re wanting to freshen up their classrooms.
Ashley’s simple video goes through each poster in her product, overlaying it onto the screen. It’s super easy just to add in each poster, enabling the purchaser to see each and every classroom decor item. I love that this also adds the seasonal element of spring.
Maybe you’re not a food blogger or educator and you’re saying to yourself, I just don’t think video will work for me. This next example from Bird Watching HQ really takes us outside the box and challenges that idea.
As you can see, they’re showing eight live aquarium cams from around the world in this stacked video pin (again with text at the top and bottom) In the middle of the pin is this super cool moving aquarium! Bird Watching HQ shows exactly what pinners are going to get when they visit their site. What a great hook!
Our team at Simple Pin was obsessed with these animal cameras. They’ve been hugely popular over the years for many people. So Bird Watching HQ incorporated this element into their pin to highlight the live aquarium cams from around the world that you can engage with if you click over to their website.
It’s very simple and straight to the point. It’s a really awesome use of video placed right in the middle and it’s going to get people to click because they’re super curious about it.
Pinterest Story Pins
This seems obvious, right? Tell a story with story pins. But I think there’s a way to use the slides that really works as a great marketing strategy. We have a whole podcast on story pin strategy and a free story pin template for you in the show notes for that episode.
Story pins are the way of the future on Pinterest. We have embraced them here at Simple Pin even though we know they don’t link.
Although that might be frustrating, I want you to remember they will live forever!
These are not time-sensitive like what you see on Snapchat or Instagram. They will live on people’s boards and that makes them really valuable. They do get people to engage and follow you, and enhance your brand recognition.
We see a lot of really cool stuff for story pins in the future.
Recipe Story Pin
Let’s dig into a few great story pins. First up is this one from Fun Cheap or Free.
It’s a story pin using static slides that demonstrates exactly how to make these donut holes. Just five simple cards that tell the story and it ends with a call to action on the last slide that prompts you to go to their website for the full recipe.
We can all do this! It’s really easy. We know people just want to get to the details super quickly. So, show them what it is, give four simple steps and then a call to action. That’s it!
Travel Story Pin
Here’s one from the travel niche.
Travel is going to take off here pretty soon. I just got back from a trip to Florida and I have a friend that just got back from a trip to Hawaii. We are all ready to go.
A Taste of Koko has created this great story pin about things to do in Lake Tahoe. These types of posts about things to do, places to eat, adventures to have are so powerful. People will save these and click through because they’re really interested.
Each one of her pictures is a representation of what is happening in the story of a Lake Tahoe adventure. It’s really cool what she did at the bottom of each slide. Not only does she show you an image but then there’s this really great pop-up that tells you exactly where she is and provides more detail.
Everything in this story pin engages you and you want to say Just take me there! I’m ready. Her story even connects you to all the seasons.
If you are in the travel space, this is a great way to show people things to do, what to wear, where to go, and what to avoid when traveling to a specific destination. There are so many angles you can take in a story pin. People are going to save these because they offer valuable information in bite-sized pieces.
Taste of Koko also uses video in her story pins. This one’s all about an Old Fashioned Cocktail Recipe.
She is trying something pretty new in this story pin – adding the face. I love that she is willing to try this out.
I think talking directly to the camera can work on Pinterest as long as we make it about inspiring the pinner.
If we go the way of the influencer and talk about our life, I think that will not be of interest to pinners. They aren’t coming to Pinterest for that type of content.
Pinners are interested in being inspired by a tip, tool, or recipe you can show them and that they will want to save as inspiration.
That’s what Taste of Koko has done here in the second slide when she extends the invitation make an old-fashioned cocktail at home together. She walks you through the entire process.
None of this content is about her. It’s about that cocktail. If you’re going to do any marketing on Pinterest and you’re going to tell a story, the story has to be about your content. The story can’t be about you.
When we think about the ecosystem of the social media platforms, remember that the best thing about Pinterest is that people go there to find inspirational ideas and to get away from the noise. This has never been more prevalent than now.
People have been leaving other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They come to Pinterest because it feels positive, inspiring, and they believe they can research any idea they have.
Related: Is Pinterest Social Media?
So when you think of creating your pins; whether it’s static, video, story, or video in story, I want you to lead with an audience-first mindset. Make it all about what they want.
Let’s use Simple Pin Media as an example.
I know that all of you engage with us because you are really interested in learning how to use Pinterest to grow your business. My foremost job is to help you feel like we are the place you can get that content at all times.
Now that doesn’t mean I don’t share a little bit about my personal life or about the SPM team and how we work here. That makes us human.
But you come to Simple Pin Media because you are really interested in finding the best up-to-date resources on Pinterest and learning how to do this in a way that works for your business. Our main goal is to serve you and address whatever your pain point is about Pinterest marketing.
Think about what people are seeking out, how you can fill that need for them and then tell that story through what you’re doing on Pinterest.
Join Our Pinterest Challenge
I really want you to be inspired by the pins we’ve talked about today.
Take a really good look at those pins and then take the next step by joining our five-day Challenge so we can help walk you through the process in our challenge group.
I’ll be in there teaching every single day. I’ll keep it at about 30 minutes because I want to respect your time. We’ll go deep into a topic focusing on just one thing, give you a bunch of tips, and then prompt you to take action on it. We hope you will join us!
This spring we’ll be digging deep to show you how to freshen up as Pinterest is moving more towards favoring story pins and video pins. We’ll talk about how we can all do that too. We’ll show you how you can bring what you’re really good at as creators of content, or physical products and digital products and connect that with your marketing and how you’re positioning yourselves on Pinterest to get more engagement, more purchases, and build a community where people know you are the best at what you do.
Thanks so much for choosing Simple Pin Media as your place to find all the best and up-to-date Pinterest marketing information.
For Further Listening/Reading:
Wait! How did the taste of the Koko travel story pin get the clickable URL on the last side? Am I dreaming this? 🤯
When Pinterest was early in the release of Story Pins, they did allow some users to have a clickable link. That is no longer the case. Who knows what the future of Pinterest holds though.