Master Business Growth on Pinterest with Meagan Williamson

You can find Meagan Williamson at
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/rowhousenest/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/meaganawilliamson/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meaganawilliamson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meagan-williamson-pinterest/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@meaganawilliamson 

#krisward
#PinterestForBusiness
#VisualMarketing
#DigitalMarketingTips

Meagan Williamson Podcast Transcription

[00:00:00] Kris Ward: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Win The Hour Win The Day, and I am your host, Kris Ward. And today in the house we have Meagan Williamson. Oh my gosh. We’re going to talk about Pinterest, but listen, this is going to be super exciting.

[00:00:13] And Meagan’s going to tell us why and she actually is very connected in the Pinterest world. I’ll let you tell the story. First of all, welcome to the show, Megan.

[00:00:23] Meagan Williamson: Thank you, Kris. I’m so excited to be here today.

[00:00:25] Kris Ward: Okay. Full disclosure. We’ve had a hard time starting the show because we were just chatting business so much.

[00:00:30] We were all over the place diving in and did you know, so we, I have found out in a very short period of time, Meagan is a wealth of knowledge. So let’s get to it. All right, Meagan, you have been doing this. This is not a new fad for you. You’re not hopping on the Pinterest train. Let’s talk about that. What separates you from the rest of the Pinterest gang?

[00:00:50] Meagan Williamson: I lovingly call myself a Pinterest granny or a more sophisticated way of describing that is that I call myself a seasoned Pinterest marketing expert. I do think that Pinterest is having a little bit of a renaissance right now. A lot of people are very interested in it.

[00:01:06] And with that, we have. Of course, a lot of people cropping up who maybe just learned Pinterest a month or two ago and are calling themselves experts. Listen, I don’t mind, I love sharing Pinterest with other people, but because I have been doing this since the very beginning, I now call myself a seasoned Pinterest marketing expert with love, which makes me sound like I’m some sort of cooking, baking ingredient.

[00:01:33] Kris Ward: Okay. I think you’re bearing the lead as well, because you also have been. Like you’ve been connected to Pinterest, like you’re just not somebody out there doing your thing. Tell us about that.

[00:01:41] Meagan Williamson: Yeah, that’s right. I’m so honored and privileged that quite a few years ago, I was invited to a very large Pinterest event, and I figured out very quickly that I had a good 15 years on all of the people who were in attendance, and that day changed my life.

[00:01:58] I actually had pre creeped around LinkedIn and Pinterest Canada had recently announced the new president of the Canadian office and I seized an opportunity while all the 20 somethings were sipping their Starbucks and looking at their phones. I saw the head of Pinterest Canada, looking around, standing, just watching the crowd by herself.

[00:02:24] And so I walked up to her, introduced myself and let her know that I was going to follow up with her via email. And that changed the rest of my life in the sense of and I think it’s really helpful in the sense that not only had I been working as a Pinterest manager and also providing Pinterest consultancy, it really allowed me to form relationships with the Pinterest offices.

[00:02:43] And since that time, I’m hired to facilitate workshops. I get invited to events. I also get to borrow their ear when I have questions or there’s glitches. And I really do think it allows me to marry not only my experience, my own critical thinking, but with Pinterest information coming from what’s the term from inside the house.

[00:03:06] Kris Ward: And so also, then you’re not bound by Pinterest because you don’t work for them. But that’s right. You can come in the side door and ask a few questions.

[00:03:13] Meagan Williamson: That’s right.

[00:03:14] Kris Ward: Okay. So let’s get to this. So 1 of the things I would say so many of us still see Pinterest is. Oh, this is where I go when I want to, I had my nieces here, we were doing something for crafts.

[00:03:25] I’m not a crafty person. Let’s Pinterest this. Sure. So I think it still goes to the default of recipes, crafts, and decorating, but I have come to realize it is a search engine.

[00:03:35] Meagan Williamson: Yeah. And I think you are, a lot of business owners think like you do until they see the power of Pinterest.

[00:03:42] So it is true. We call them the big five, the verticals or biggest content areas do tend to be in food and drink, DIY crafts home decor, travel, makeup, beauty fashion. But outside of that as a visual search engine, which is what it’s actually been from day one. You may have heard some rumblings.

[00:04:02] Kris Ward: Hold on. That’s a powerful wor powerful word. Sure. Visual search engine. I think that light bulbs just went off ’cause I’m thinking, oh, LinkedIn’s a there’s LinkedIn’s not a search engine. I don’t know why.

[00:04:13] Meagan Williamson: It’s it though. It has it, it has components of search now.

[00:04:16] Kris Ward: Okay. All right. Let me know. I’m distracted with my own stupidity here. But the idea that it’s a visual search engine that changes everything for me. Okay. So it’s a visual search engine. So does that mean then if somebody is looking up like, Hey, how to avoid burnout, hire, how to hire a virtual assistant, like we do where we train, find, hire, and onboard for our clients.

[00:04:38] Is that mean then if I have something in Pinterest, it’s going to come up in the main search on Google. Cool.

[00:04:43] Meagan Williamson: Okay, good question. So let me back it up a notch. I will answer your question. But first, let me describe how the visual search engine works so that you your listeners understand. So because the app has been developed from the very beginning as a place to collect ideas and discuss them.

[00:04:59] And actually in preparation for this podcast, I double checked when I joined or when I was invited to join Pinterest and it was April 13th, 2011 when it was still in beta. And that invite from Ben said, Pinterest is a place to collect and discover ideas. And that is still true to this day. And that’s what I love about it.

[00:05:21] As a visual search engine, it takes, we use our eyes to make decisions. It’s a place where you are using your eyes and looking at visual things. Now, traditionally we would have thought just images, but like all social media, Pinterest also has video now. So you’re looking at different types of media.

[00:05:40] You’re looking at images. You’re looking at video. But the way that the search engine works is also pairing the visual technology with a text based, so it pairs it together to give you what it hopes, from a predictive modeling sense, is the best outcome. So if, for example, you are looking, how old were your nieces?

[00:06:05] Kris Ward: 8 and 10.

[00:06:06] Meagan Williamson: Okay, so you’re looking for older children crafts or crafts for sometimes people will say certain things like outdoor crafts, nature themed crafts. What it will do is if you get more specific, you are entering terms like nature crafts for older Children. So that is the text you are entering.

[00:06:27] But once you look at the search results, it’s showing you visual images, and that’s what makes Pinterest different. So it’s like Google in some ways, like Google used to be traditionally just text, but it is also becoming video and images, and it pairs those two things to say Okay. This is what Kris is searching for.

[00:06:46] Let’s hopefully through predictive modeling or machine learning, give her what we know will hopefully result in what is most relevant to her. So whether it’s a business idea and hiring a VA or it’s graphic design inspiration or how to hire a Pinterest manager or how to start a business. Do you know, there are hundreds of thousands of people searching Pinterest for information about business ideas, how to start a business, um, small business marketing ideas.

[00:07:19] And although compared to maybe the search volume of Easter crafts, It’s not, it’s small fish. There are still plenty of people. And actually it’s increasing every single day. And I think that actually is because of how noisy and saturated other social media platforms are is that people like Pinterest because it serves up relevant results.

[00:07:42] It keeps you visually engaged while also using text and it feels more less yelling at. Yeah, yelling, shouting. And admittedly, it’s less political. There’s less there’s less drama there. You’re not really talking to people. And so people often say it’s this peaceful place for dreaming and aspects of your business.

[00:08:06] You’re dreaming. Where do you go when you’re designing? Say you’re doing a brand overhaul, where do you and your brand designer or your photographer or your graphic designer. Where do you go to collect those ideas?

[00:08:19] Kris Ward: Okay. So let me jump in here for a second. All so it’s search engine. We’re all getting that is so much more.

[00:08:24] Maybe it’s popular. Oh geez. I’m having a day. There was an earbud. It’s maybe it was popular for cooking and all those type of things, but that people can be looking for my audience could be there looking for stuff. But I guess I would argue, would they know do they know to be like, do they know to go there and look for how to start your business?

[00:08:45] Meagan Williamson: Yeah what I do think is that we can actually see the volume. The pretend again, it really depends on if you’re somebody who’s into data and numbers, but people searching for how to start a business is in about the 500, 000 people a month range.

[00:09:03] Kris Ward: That’s good enough. That will get me started.

[00:09:05] Meagan Williamson: And so what I would say, here’s a little tip for everybody listening. If you’re already using Pinterest, you have a Pinterest for business account is don’t hyper focus too much on the numbers. But what I would suggest is try to keep things. Remember that your audience on Pinterest. It’s a top of funnel platform.

[00:09:23] So we call it a discovery platform because you can make your content searchable, keyword rich, and that new people are discovering it. It’s better to think about it as being top at the of customers or new readers or new followers that, where are they when they’re at step one? Two, three, not step 100, not step 50, not step 10.

[00:09:46] They tend to be more, they’re cold, they’re beginner level. And so think about your content from that perspective. So what I mean essentially is go broader, have it be a way for people discovered to discover you. It is wonderful for visibility and brand building. And the thing is that because not everyone is there, Because they don’t realize that it actually can very be a wonderful tool for strategic visibility building is that you might be the only person ranking for that particular search term.

[00:10:22] There isn’t that noisiness. We’re not being bombarded with so many people. And so I’m finding actually with this and this sort of idea that. A lot of other social media platforms aren’t what they used to be. And with that, I think we’re also reaching a stage of our business where people are tired and they’re, they, not just tired, but it also feels like I’m putting all this energy into Instagram.

[00:10:49] I’m putting all this energy into Facebook, but it’s not what it used to be for my business. And so people are thinking also, how can I buy back my time? Like this is a conversation for us. Like,

[00:11:01] Kris Ward: how do you buy back time? Let me jump in for a second. I think you’re saying too is. Look at the numbers and I think we do get confused and seduced by the numbers, meaning you’re right, so we know, whatever TikTok is quadrillion people or something like that.

[00:11:15] But then you are competing with that quadrillion people and you get lost in that, like you’re a fly in a windshield. So even if it’s, if the numbers for Pinterest were significantly lower, let us not forget back when we all started our business in the 1800s and we had to go to actual meetings and meet people.

[00:11:33] Yes. Time. Yes. If you’re saying, Oh, this platform is one fourth the size of this other platform. It just means, you know what, A – could possibly get seen and B – let us not forget, I’m not doing one person at a time.

[00:11:46] Meagan Williamson: Can I also say something just to layer onto what you’re also talking about is that it also is a platform where people use it with intent.

[00:11:55] People are actively searching for how to start a business. How can I market my business? Should I use Instagram for my business? So imagine how powerful that is. I have to say, I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t come from a traditional marketing or business background, but for me, sales has been, a journey.

[00:12:15] I love talking. I love teaching. I worked in educational psychology for 10 years. I worked in educational and clinical psychology. And I think when I started running my agency and working in the Pinterest marketing space, sales was something I struggled with. And I guess it was just like a sort of

[00:12:32] an easy fit for me that why wouldn’t I want to personally market myself in a way that instead of just shouting out into the void, I’m actually saying, Oh, hey, you’re interested in Pinterest. I know about Pinterest. Let me teach you. So you’re actually meeting people or having people discover you who have the intent to find.

[00:12:53] Your content and to me, that’s so powerful, right? It’s so it’s like putting an ice cream shop on the beach. Of course, you’re at the beach and you want ice cream, right? It’s a perfect pairing. Whereas I, I understand all different types of marketing and everyone has their preferences, but I love the type of marketing where I’m not trying to convince anyone.

[00:13:15] Kris Ward: Okay, hold on. So let me stop here because what you’re saying here is when you gave that example for a second, it confused me because you’re like, okay, they’re on Pinterest. They’re looking for Pinterest. Oh, I know how to do Pinterest. Yeah, that’s lovely. That’s a perfect fit. But I think what you’re saying now to tie this down is they, let’s say they went on to Pinterest and they’re like, “Hey, how to find or hire my first VA for my business.”

[00:13:38] Now what you’re saying is, Oh, they have intent of pursuing that knowledge versus me on, Let’s not pick on TikTok today, but I’m on TikTok. And as you scroll by, I’m blasting at you why you need a VA. So your pairing was just too perfect for us to relate to. But what you’re saying is they’re exploring with intent.

[00:13:58] Meagan Williamson: And I think that They pinterest themselves will say that their platform is designed to be less disruptive and an embedded experience. So if you are a business owner who’s looking to actively hire a VA, or you want to learn about Hiring a virtual assistant and you are a business owner who has expertise in that and you share that content to Pinterest, you are actively appearing in search results for Pinterest users who are curious about your particular subject matter expertise.

[00:14:32] And I just think that’s beautiful. It’s much like SEO and Google that, there, there’s just a much stronger intent. When, so people are actively searching, it’s not just Oh, what’s that thing about a VA? It is more, you’re actively looking for information about a VA. Guess what? I know a lot about it. Let me share that knowledge with you. And I love that.

[00:14:53] Kris Ward: Okay. And so then you also talk about the three pillars, captivating, converting, and cultivating. What does that mean to us?

[00:15:03] Meagan Williamson: Yeah, so well, what I figured out very quickly is I love teaching Pinterest, but I needed sort of a framework to share that. And so oftentimes when business owners come to Pinterest, they have a difficult time knowing what to pin or how do I translate my business to Pinterest.

[00:15:21] Pinterest marketing activities. So through this idea,

[00:15:25] Kris Ward: I’m not making desserts.

[00:15:27] Meagan Williamson: You’re not getting distracted by delicious. I actually just saw this like board about amazing, interesting salads. And I was like, Oh, that was, I need that. I’m really bored of my salad recipes right now. I’m a very regular user of Pinterest.

[00:15:40] It’s funny because like you, I teach it, I use it in a strategic way, but then I’m like everybody else I’m looking up recipes. I think that’s. And it’s probably because I’m such a visual person. I make decisions with my eyes. I don’t like picking. We’ll just go run with that salad recipe.

[00:15:57] I can look at it and I’ll be like, that’s too fancy. I probably don’t have those ingredients. That looks like something I would eat. If it has raisins, I’m not touching it, you might not see that in, in if it’s text based. The way that I like to teach Pinterest is talking about the first step is captivating.

[00:16:13] So what we need to do is when you first start using Pinterest, you have to know that as a visual search engine, you need to use media. And I say media now because it’s video and images that visually stand out and captivate and tell your audience what the content is about. So here’s a little strategic tip about Pinterest.

[00:16:32] Pinterest is built on machine learning. I sometimes people are shocked. They think that AI is new, Pinterest and a lot of the social media platforms have had AI for years to decide what is relevant to you and what you might want to see. So Pinterest scans your images to understand what your pin is about. So if you write on your pin, how to hire a Pinterest VA, the image scanning technology, and this is how, when people say to me I don’t want to use Pinterest graphics, you’re really crazy.

[00:17:06] Yeah. Hindering yourself because the image scanning technology reads what’s written on your pin. And on a video, it’s, it reads the cover of your video. So that’s why it’s really important that if you’re adding video to Pinterest, that you add text on the cover saying how to hire a VA. Everything you need to know about virtual assistance how to start a business in 2024, et cetera.

[00:17:31] Be very clear. Use those words. Be concise. Be clear. These are all really, important parts of copy on Pinterest. Then. The technology will read your Pinterest, what I call your Pinterest copy. So just like other social media platforms, Pinterest allows you to add a title, a description, and then a link.

[00:17:53] So every pin is an opportunity to link to something that will help you grow your business and provide more information to your customers. About that thing that you’re sharing to Pinterest and this is why people get tripped up by the idea that all content on Pinterest is blog posts. It’s not true.

[00:18:11] Kris Ward: Okay.

[00:18:11] Meagan Williamson: But blog posts make

[00:18:12] Kris Ward: recipes have given it a bad name because you scroll down and you scroll and you scroll and you think, listen, you could have killed somebody and buried the body in this and I’m just trying to get to the damn recipe and you’re writing. I don’t need to hear about your childhood and what prompted you to write this damn like, so your sister liked marshmallows and I’m sorry she passed away. Are you? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:30] Meagan Williamson: So can I tell you something that will make you feel more empathy? Do you know, they, they make more money. So the way that food bloggers make money is by page views and time on site. And so they have been rewarded by most readers. For adding more information and story. So the longer they can have you stay on site and that’s how they get paid to create content.

[00:18:53] So through the monetization of adding at, you can tell I’ve worked with full time bloggers for years. These are, people who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars as content creators the, what jump to the recipe is your best friend. So I just

[00:19:08] Kris Ward: used that for a long time, but I didn’t. Okay. So what you’re saying though, if you are making this much more interesting than I’ve ever heard it before, because I just thought it was that one tool in the toolbox, but wow, we do all this. It’s set it and forget it too. Like it’s not something we constantly feed the beast. So once we put it up on Pinterest with these things, it states there.

[00:19:30] Meagan Williamson: That’s right. And then it’s like a snowball, right? When you start to add to it and it’s rolling down the hill. And in fact, I would love to share with people, oftentimes we have been conditioned to think that, post a reel, go viral. Great. Like we get this, we’re in this world where everything is instant.

[00:19:49] I want to get results right away. And it’s a really unhealthy approach to social media. And in fact, With things like search engine optimization of your website and your blog content, or of your podcast, or like when we talk about Pinterest, search engines take time. And the reason why Pinterest is no different is that you start to add content to it.

[00:20:13] And then it’s so intelligent. The machine learning is so advanced Is it starts to learn what type of content you share, Kris? So what is Kris’s things that she publishes content on? And then it starts to test. It will send out your pins to people who are seeking that type of information. And then it starts to learn, “Hey, when we send users who are seeking how to hire a Pinterest or how to hire a VA”, To this particular pin, they’re highly rewarded and it’s relevant.

[00:20:44] And that’s how you start to rank and search. But you can think yes, you can go viral in a week or two, but the real amazing, beautiful nature of Pinterest is it typically is after six months. So what I find is my biggest traffic drivers today are Art is my content that I pinned one year ago, six months ago.

[00:21:07] And so it becomes this machine of just accumulating and building and building. And it’s so powerful. Like you can make money from things that you posted two years ago. You can, and you just layer in, and actually we haven’t even talked about it is that Pinterest is this beautiful place For you to take content that you have created for other platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and you can repurpose it to Pinterest.

[00:21:36] So you’re not even creating unique content. You are just getting more out of your content. Optimizing it for your potential audience on Pinterest and walking away. That’s the beautiful thing.

[00:21:49] Kris Ward: So the videos, the blogs, the longer content, we’re not putting everything post

[00:21:53] Meagan Williamson: podcast episodes, everything.

[00:21:55] Kris Ward: Okay. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I never even thought how many shows I’ve been on. Oh, I barely have time to talk to you. Megan. I have to go and start Pinterest. Oh my God. I’m like, I gotta wrap this up. I got stuff to do now. Okay, so captivating. What does converting look like?

[00:22:11] Meagan Williamson: So this is a part that so many people

[00:22:13] Kris Ward: You’ve captivated me now that I’ve heard this.

[00:22:15] Meagan Williamson: So truth to be told, many people think Pinterest is very simple. And what ends up happening is that, they get a taste for success. They’re very interested, but they have difficulty understanding how to convert your Pinterest audience. So if you actually just think about if you know a little bit about marketing, we talk a lot about top of funnel or discovery.

[00:22:36] So Pinterest is really good about putting you in front of new people. But how do you get them to sign up for your offers to join your email list to buy from you? This is more difficult because you’re not necessarily Building relationships via a pin. So what I like to really teach about is once people find you, how are you going to take responsibility and be intentional for bringing them into your world?

[00:23:03] And through that through, unfortunately, some people are intimidated by this language, but by building sales funnels and understanding Pinterest is not going to help you sell more overnight. It will help people discover you. Yes, you can make sales. I work with lots of people who, especially physical product businesses who make sales every single day.

[00:23:23] But what we find is that customer journey is much longer. So when we focus on conversion, we’re thinking about how to adjust our strategy. So once somebody discovers you, how are you inviting them to take that next step with you? Are you making it easy for them to join your email list? Are you bringing them to a platform where maybe you’re very active?

[00:23:43] Like for you, Kris, I would say that you should be driving traffic to your podcast because you have built an a community in your, via your podcasting. I worked with someone who spends a lot of time on Instagram and so she nurtures and builds and sells most actively via her Instagram stories. So when I was working with her, we talked a lot about bringing people to her Instagram account so that she could begin to nurture them.

[00:24:09] Kris Ward: Let me jump in for a sec. So this podcast. As it could be anything from sales to social media. So it’s not actually what I do per se, although it comes into the conversation. So I probably wouldn’t drive them here because it’s just how I meet amazing people like you, but I have all the platforms. I am strongest, especially now on LinkedIn. Would I drive them to LinkedIn?

[00:24:29] Meagan Williamson: Yes. So I just shared a post about this. A lot of people don’t think, how do I say this in the best way?

[00:24:37] Kris Ward: I’m just trying to give it to a straight, we can take it.

[00:24:39] Meagan Williamson: You can basically share anything that has a unique URL to Pinterest.

[00:24:45] Now, Pinterest has a preference for content that belongs on your claimed website or your, your website that you own. But personally I drive traffic to my Instagram account. I drive traffic to my TikTok. I drive traffic to you, you mentioned a few minutes ago. Oh, Hey, I’ve been on other people’s podcasts. I actually drive traffic to articles I’ve been featured in.

[00:25:09] Kris Ward: Oh yeah. I could list a different podcast every day of the week. So I could, that’s just different shows. Okay.

[00:25:14] Meagan Williamson: Because it feeds into your ecosystem, but that also takes somebody who understands that, so for me, I’m always looking at how do I leverage my authority?

[00:25:23] How do I bring people like for me, I actually think with your podcast, although you do talk about different things, it is a place where people get to know you. And I actually have a really funny story. I’m not a podcast listener and my husband is. He listens to them all day long and he’s always telling me, Oh, cause he does.

[00:25:39] He’s our full time caregiver. So he takes care of my daughter. They head to the park. He has an earbud in. Me, I’m more like, I don’t know. I’m just, my mind is too busy, but I have recently started listening. I found someone who I think is interesting, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t in love with them, but I started listening to their podcast, and I have steadily fallen in love in a non romantic way, in a business way, with the way that this person interviews, their thoughtfulness, their critical thinking skills.

[00:26:09] I really respect this person. They have taken me from it’s just a podcast, whatever to basically, I’m going to buy their program. The next time it opens up

[00:26:19] Kris Ward: getting to know them

[00:26:20] Meagan Williamson: because I feel like I know them. I’m listening. And so it’s even their voice is very recognizable to me. I really love the things that they ask.

[00:26:31] And it makes me feel like I think. Wow. I didn’t think about it like that. And I literally I take the podcast out and I’m like, James to my husband, James, this is genius. This is something you and I’ve talked about, but this is the way that this person speaks.

[00:26:44] Kris Ward: Oh, I love podcasts. Listen, it’s a stretch. If you think people are going to fall in love with me, but I will tell you

[00:26:51] Meagan Williamson: they will look at you and me. Like I was actually going to make the joke at the beginning of this podcast that people would think Pay to hear some of the things that us a host and a guest talk about before we hit record, because that’s where we’re like talking about, business owners

[00:27:06] Kris Ward: we have to stop talking. We have to start the damn show because we’re going back and forth with ideas. Okay, one, okay. You gave me a great idea. Okay. Let me just one up that and blah, blah, blah. Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Oh my gosh, so much happening here. Cultivate.

[00:27:19] Meagan Williamson: Had a hard time picking that word, but cultivate to me means that you are bringing people closer and probably switch around the words, but the order of the sort of like how people come through.

[00:27:31] But when we think about cultivating an audience, you have to think about being intentional, how you’re going to grow, how you’re going to allow people to take that next step with you. And this is tied heavily with conversion. And one of the biggest things I teach when I’m running a challenge and I teach business owners how to use Pinterest is really about the biggest mistake that they’re usually making and what they’re doing is they’re just taking blog posts or landing pages or opt ins that they have for their business, putting them on Pinterest, but they’re not really giving us any reason or telling us what to do.

[00:28:03] So they never will go to your landing page to opt in. They will never go to the podcast episode to download it, to listen to it. So as strategic business users, we have to be very clear in our copy and our pin designs and say, people get the guide, listen to the podcast now download. And this conversion oriented language, it doesn’t have to be on every pin.

[00:28:28] Some people really take what I say and they run with it. And I go to their accounts and it’s all read more, listen. We got it. We got it. And it’s also not just a call to action. It could be a call to value. You want to give people it’s a carrot and bloggers have figured this out.

[00:28:42] Full time content creators are so smart. They will give you enough that you feel a lot of value when you look at the content. But they’ll always give you a reason to go remember you and I were talking before we hit record about you don’t want to create too much resistance or too many barriers to people connecting with you finding you and that’s a really good, example where.

[00:29:04] You want to give value right there in Pinterest so that people Pinterest, this is another thing I want people to make a little note about Pinterest is a place where people collect ideas. We call this saving a pin. So when you save a pin, it means that they are like, wow, this is a good idea. I want to save this and come back to it later. Now, remember

[00:29:25] Kris Ward: hold on, let me jump in there because. I know other platforms that you can save videos and TikTok or whatever, but I think to your point, Pinterest is only about saving. Like you, that’s the number you save all day. Like you might watch a hundred videos ago. Ah, maybe I’ll save that for later.

[00:29:40] And I won’t actually watch it. But Pinterest, because it’s there in the boards, I know my recipes are there. Like it’s all about this. That’s the goal. That’s the name of the game is to save the pin, right?

[00:29:50] Meagan Williamson: And here’s the incredible thing. Saves have been a function of the platform for 12, 13 years, as long as Pinterest has existed.

[00:30:02] Do you want the most powerful metric that has the highest correlation with conversion? oriented behavior, add to cart, buy, subscribe is a save. So saves, when you create content or share your content to Pinterest, think to yourself, am I giving my audience a reason to need to save this or want to save it?

[00:30:26] So I find sometimes when people start using Pinterest as a business user is that they’re not really giving any value. They just say here’s my thing

[00:30:33] Kris Ward: or we can fine tune it. So instead of a blog about a VA, I’ve got my 12 step hiring process here. You can have this here. It is tight and clear and tight 12 steps. Boom. You’re going to save that.

[00:30:46] Meagan Williamson: Yes. Exactly. Okay. Oh yeah, absolutely. And the thing is that they’re saving it to return to it. So generally the customer journey is two to three months. So your saves today are an indication of actions your audience is going to take in two to three months. And that’s why you have to be patient.

[00:31:04] And it’s hard to be patient in this day and age. We are rewarded by, we want that like instant hit. But the thing is that saves are so powerful. People should focus on creating content that’s highly saveable, I call it, or valuable because those people will then come back when they’re ready to make that decision.

[00:31:23] I’m ready to hire that VA. So people are planning for that next stage of their business, that next stage of their life, their review. And then they, it’s like a meta analysis, right? You collect all these things. If people are having

[00:31:36] Kris Ward: Paint samples, I’m ready to paint.

[00:31:38] Meagan Williamson: Exactly. So I was just going to say that. So for people who are thinking megan and Kris, I’m having a hard time following. I get it. But think about when you plan a bathroom reno, not many people. I know some people wake up on a Saturday morning, they drive to their home Depot and they gather everything. But most, especially women, two months before.

[00:31:58] They even go to your a month before they go to get the paint samples. They’re looking for images. They’re looking at what kind of tile they’re deciding on budget. They’re already using their like finding inspiration and dreaming, then the next step is to curate paint samples. Then the next step is, to put the paint samples on the wall and make those decisions.

[00:32:20] So think about that particular, that journey as a, if, depending on what type of service provider or business owner you are. Are think about those steps that your customers take? What did they do in the beginning? What do they do when they’re in the middle? And then how are you going to invite them to the place that you can convert them and cultivate those relationships?

[00:32:41] Are you going to invite them to your email list? Are you going to ask them to come to to listen to your podcast, to join you on Instagram? Hey, if you have a Facebook community, lots of people have very active Facebook communities where they go live. There are so I could talk about it. All day long. There are so many ways that you can do this.

[00:32:59] Kris Ward: Okay. We may have to have you back Meagan. Okay. Meagan. Oh my gosh. Where can people find more of your brilliance?

[00:33:05] Meagan Williamson: Like any smart marketer, I, and also having a background in Educational PsyChology.. I do try to make my content in different formats digestible in different places so you can find me and all the main platforms.

[00:33:21] So I’m on Pinterest. Just search Meagan Williamson. I come up as a verified account. Instagram, I’m Meagan. A. Williamson. TikTok as well. LinkedIn. I’ve been all the places, I blog. I love threads. I am obsessed with threads right now. I’m big And which is text based. And so it really just depends how your listeners like to consume their information.

[00:33:43] Kris Ward: Okay, so you’re out there and we will find you.

[00:33:45] Meagan Williamson: You will find me.

[00:33:46] Kris Ward: Okay, everyone, share this with a business buddy. Do not leave them in the dark. They need to know this stuff. Please share it with one friend and we will see you all in the next episode. Thank you so much, Meagan.

[00:33:58] Meagan Williamson: You’re so welcome. Thanks for having me.