53. Podcast promotion that works while you sleep

Pinterest can help your podcast bring in leads and build trust

Laura: Can Pinterest really work for podcasters? Turns out yes. And in a way that’s way less effort than social media with longer term results. Welcome to podcast strategy that brings in clients. I’m Your host, Laura McCrae, podcast producer and content strategist. If you want your podcast to bring in leads, build trust, and, um, support your business, you’re in the right place because smart content starts with your podcast, but it doesn’t stop there.

This episode focuses on using Pinterest to grow your audience without posting daily

In this episode, I’m joined once again by Anita Dykstra, who you might remember from last week’s episodes on turning your podcast episodes into blog posts. Anita is a travel content creator and Evergreen blog and SEO strategist. She’s worked with some of the world’s biggest tourism brands all through the power of Evergreen Content. These days, she helps online business owners attract consistent traffic leads and passive sales using strategies that keep working long after you hit publish. Today we’re talking all things Pinterest and how you can use it to grow your audience without posting daily, drive traffic to your podcast and website, and build up long term momentum even while you’re offline. I recently took Anita’s course, Passive Profit with Pinterest and I’m already starting to get traction. More people are landing on my podcast blog posts thanks to the pins I’ve created. If you’re tired of the social media grind and want a marketing channel that works for you in the background, this episode is going to give you some great practical advice. So let’s start.

Can Pinterest really work for podcasters? And what results are possible

Laura: Hi, Anita. So we’re going to talk about Pinterest today.

Laura: Can Pinterest really work for podcasters?

Laura: And what results are, uh, possible with Pinterest?

Anita: Yes. So Pinterest is a search engine, it’s a visual search engine, and it is extremely powerful if you create content. So as podcasters, you probably have a lot of content that you have created and that you are currently creating. And basically with Pinterest, it allows you to get your content in front of more people. So when you do that from, you can create these, uh, Pinterest graphics that you will see all over Pinterest, and it basically connects that graphic to your content. So you can send people from Pinterest straight to your, uh, podcast app. You can send people to your podcast show notes or your blog posts that you have on your website, which then can send people back to your podcast. And so with Pinterest, you can see fantastic results every single day, every single month. And it’s kind of the results that accumulate over time. So the more Pinterest content that you put out on the platform the potential, more like monthly visitors you’re going to have every single month and that can slowly increase month after month.

Laura: So I’ve just done Anita’s course, which.

Laura: Is called Passive Profit with Pinterest, and.

Laura: In it you say that you should.

Laura: Only promote one podcast episode or blog post or lead magnet, whatever you want to promote once a week. And otherwise you get seen a spam on Pinterest and that you should do five pins a day. So five different pins a day, every day. So that worked out 35 pins a week, is that right? Is that what you recommend? Yes.

Anita: Yeah. And you can start, like, you can start smaller than that as well. Like, if you’re just starting out, you can do like two pins per day or even just a pin per day is good to start.

Laura: Yeah. I’m an all or nothing, though. I went straight to five a day.

Anita: I love that.

Laura: And I only started a couple of months ago. Well, probably even less than that. So I haven’t seen results yet. How long do you think it will take before I hopefully start seeing results?

Anita: So with Pinterest, it’s definitely a longer period that you’re going to have to wait in order to see results, because it is that search engine. So I always say that with, like, social media, you can see results within, like, sometimes days or even like the same day with search engines like Pinterest, with Google, you know, with your blog, it’s going to take potentially, I would say, six months. I would give it six months and then I would analyse your results and then it could potentially take like, six to 12 months to see those kind of results that you want to see. Because it is a search engine, it’s going to take a little bit more time. Wow.

Laura: I didn’t realise it’d take that long. Um, but, yeah, I’m up for it. Let’s try it.

Anita: Yeah.

How do you turn a podcast episode into Pinterest content? Using Canva

Laura: So how do you turn a podcast episode into Pinterest content?

Anita: Yes. So what I would do is I would start with Canva. Canva is going to be your best friend when it comes to Pinterest. And actually within Canva, they have tonnes of free templates that you can use to create these Pinterest graphics.

00:05:00

Anita: So a Pinterest graphic is basically just a picture. Um, you can put some, like, text on it. So if you have a podcast episode, let’s say, about how to increase your website traffic, you might create a, like, picture, um, with Canva, and then a text that has that title on it and then like a call to action like click here or Read now or Listen now, something like that. So you’ll create this graphic and then you will publish it to Pinterest. Now the important thing is, is you can send people from Pinterest to different destinations. If you have a podcast, you probably do show notes. If you go that one step further, you might have a blog post that kind of connects your podcast show notes with it as well. And ideally you’ll send people to that URL, to that blog post or to that podcast show notes URL. So that gets people off the Pinterest platform to your piece of content so that they can then consume it. So in a nutshell, that’s basically it. You create a graphic and you send people to the destination that you want to send people to. I always recommend sending people to your website rather than, you know, Spotify or Apple, although you can do that and definitely test it out. But the reason is, is because when you send people to your website, they’re probably not only consuming your podcast episode, but they might even see your like email list sign up or they might see like a course that you offer, or they might consume more of your content. And you got to think of it as your website as sort of like your um, your main hub or like your house you’re sending people to there. And then hopefully they’re going to like look around and, and see all the different things that you offer and connect with you further. So that’s the way that I like to do it and that I like to recommend.

Laura: Feel like your podcast should be doing more for your business if your downloads have stopped growing, your content’s not landing, or you’re second guessing every episode. It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing what works. That’s where my podcast audit comes in. I’ll look behind the scenes, review your show and give you a clear plan to get it working for your business. Bringing in leads and building trust with the right audience. Head to podcastsupportservices.com audit.

What kind of pins should podcasters be creating on Pinterest

What kind of pins should podcasters be creating?

Laura: Are uh, there any must haves when.

Anita: You are starting out with Pinterest? I think as a podcaster it’s important to experiment. So there are lots of different types of Pinterest graphics that you can create. I’ve really seen it all over the years and some will resonate with certain audiences from rather than others. What I always kind of recommend is like the fundamental graphic is a picture with a headline to tell people exactly like what they are going to consume once they Click on this Pinterest graphic. So really, really simple, just a picture. You can take the picture yourself. You can use a stock picture and then a, uh, simple heading. Something that you should have on most of your Pinterest graphics is a call to action, which I think a lot of people kind of miss. Just something really simple. I like to do like a little circle that looks like a button and, you know, you can use something like, uh, read now, listen now, click here. That sort of thing that really just urges people to take that action on your specific pin. Another one that you can create is, let’s see, you can create not even just with, like a picture, but you can just have like a blank picture background and then you can have a heading, make it really, um, kind of visibly attractive. I guess you could do a video pin. So you could actually take an excerpt from your podcast episode, like 10 seconds, 15 seconds, however long you want, of, like, the most juiciest part. And you could publish that as a piece of Pinterest content and then link back to your piece of content from there. So there are, there are tonnes of different options, but I would really recommend going onto Pinterest and looking in your niche, what other people are creating and then asking yourself, how can I create a piece of content that stands out amongst this sea of content? The main thing with Pinterest is that because it’s a visual search engines, your visuals are going to be really important here. So, you know, think about, like, big lettering or interesting pictures or, you know, video. Right. So taking that kind of, you know, excerpt from your podcast, that can be really visually pleasing and really stand out amongst your niche in Instagram, where you’re.

00:10:00

Laura: Encouraged to keep your brand in and keep everything looking quite pretty and nice. Is it the. I know you need to keep it pretty and nice on Pinterest, but. So with my pins, I’ve made them. Um, all my fonts, I normally use all my colours, I normally use all those sort of things. Is it different with Pinterest, where you should try different things, different colours, different styles?

Anita: Yes. So I recommend to be kind of like a creative scientist with your pins. Okay. So when you’re first starting out, especially, you want to experiment, because sometimes certain colours or certain themes do better than others. On Pinterest, there was a study. I’ll have to dig it up, but there was a study done and the warmer colours did best with Pinterest audiences rather than the cooler colours. So, like, you know, the reds and the oranges and the yellows did better than the Blues, the greens, and so on, so forth. So it’s interesting that that data tells us, like, what people are more inclined to click on. And so you can use that kind of data to experiment with your Pinterest content as well. You can keep pieces of your branding, like, have your logo, um, have your website, you know, on your pin somewhere. Like you can keep bits and pieces of your branding. But I would also experiment, like, have that time to kind of like play around with different things, because you may find that a certain style might actually do the best with your Pinterest content, rather than kind of like your regular branding fonts and things like that.

Laura: That’s interesting to know.

Laura: Cause I was thinking that, and I think in my next batch I’m gonna, after what you’ve just said, do totally different colours. Cause my colours, my branding colours are the cooler colours, the greens and the, uh, blues. So I’m gonna try oranges and reds next time and see how we go.

Anita: Yeah, totally. And like, another thing that I would recommend is, um, um, again, going to Pinterest and looking at some kind of search keywords that your ideal client might be typing into Pinterest and seeing what the results are. Because you’ll see that the results page will give you, like, you know, all of the content that people are posting about your niche. And you can ask yourself again, like, how can I stand out? Because you might find that your niche is mostly using maybe like blues and greens and things like that. But what if you used a pop of like, pink or something that is like, totally just different from the sea of content? Like it’s going to make your content stand out and make people interested in what you have to say.

I remember in the course you mentioned a tool for scheduling pins

Laura: I remember in the course you mentioned a tool for scheduling. What do you recommend people use to schedule their pins? Because I just use Pinterest and Pin inside there. But what other tools are there?

Anita: Yeah, so you can use something like Tailwind. Tailwind is a scheduling tool not only for Pinterest, but the main thing that they do is Pinterest. So you can use that for others. Um, you can use it for social media as well. But I do like Tailwind because it’s really quick to schedule a lot of content. With Pinterest, you’re going to be publishing more content than you would have with, like, social media with Instagram and, and things like that. So you want something that’s really easy. So Tailwind is good for that. But also, I know tonnes of people who use Pinterest Native Scheduler. It has gone a little Bit better over the years as well. And there is also a part, I don’t know if you have played around with this part of the scheduler yet, but there is the bulk scheduler. Have you played around with that on Pinterest yet?

Laura: Oh, uh, I haven’t seen that.

Anita: Okay. So that’s something that I have been experimenting with and that allows you to publish content really easily and fast by using a Google Sheet and then basically uploading that Google Sheet to Pinterest. And it’s crazy. It’ll save you a lot of time.

Laura: So.

Anita: And because you’re using Pinterest, it’s free, whereas Tailwind is a paid product. So yeah, there’s lots of options depending on, you know, how you want to work, but also like, what’s your budget and things like that as well.

Laura: Yeah, it’s quite time consuming scheduling it all in. So that will be handy.

Anita: Yeah, I have to do a video on it. Yes.

How can podcasters use Pinterest to grow their email list

Laura: How can podcasters use Pinterest to grow their email list?

Anita: Yes. So what I would recommend is creating your Pinterest content, um, in terms of like Pinterest graphics, and then sending people to your website. So like I was saying before, sending people to your website is going to be key here. So what you can do is you can have your podcast show notes on your website, or you can go that one step further and have a blog post or like integrated together. And what I would recommend is having a call to action to your email list that is like near the top of that page or even on your side, like on the side banner or at the top of your website. Like you want to make it

00:15:00

Anita: so that it is super clear that people should sign up to your opt in and get on your email list as soon as they hit your website. As soon as they hit your podcast content on your website. That is going to help you convert Pinterest users to actual email subscribers. A, uh, big mistake that I see a lot of podcasters make is they’ll send people to their podcast, show notes or, you know, their repurposed blog post, and they’ll put their email opt in like right at the bottom of the page. And you don’t want to do that because a lot of people will get to your website, they’ll read maybe like the first, you know, a few paragraphs, or if you just have show notes, they’ll just quickly skim or just hit play and they might not consume the end of your pages. So make it like abundantly clear when they first get to your content that they should Sign up to the, your email list. And why should they sign up? Like what are they going to get out of it? Because, you know, people are sick of a lot of emails and signing up to all these different things. But like, why should they sign up to your email list? Make it super, super favourable that they need to do this, they need to do it now. I mean you can do it in a lot of different ways. So there’s like a lot of different formats. You can have like a box that’s, you know, your traditional sign up to this. Um, you can also naturally talk about it within like your first paragraph of your blog post or your show notes. You can have it on like the very top of your website, like a banner. Like I would recommend having it a few different times and in a few different formats because people will consume things a little bit differently. Some people will ignore the boxes that say like, you know, know name and email. They’ll just ignore that. But if they’re reading your um, repurposed podcast episode, then they might be like, oh, okay, I’m going to sign up to that. And that’s another way that you can naturally integrate your opt in into your page. Uh, so yeah, I would, I would do it in multiple different formats to just make it really easy and to capture different people at different times as well.

Laura: So just have it within the wording and then it be a hyperlink to sign up.

Anita: Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, if you’re talking about, let’s say I always bring this example up, but if you’re like a Facebook ads person and let’s say like your first paragraph, you’re like introducing, you know, the episode or whatever and then say, oh, if you’re interested in learning how to set up your first campaign, make sure that you sign up to my opt in on how to create your first campaign within 10 minutes. Right click here. So just make it like super simple.

What’s your favourite personal win from using Pinterest in your own business

Laura: So what’s been your favourite personal win from using Pinterest in your own business?

Anita: I think personal win is the automated traffic. Um, the fact that I don’t have to rely on social media to get my own podcast episodes seen and my blog content seen. The great thing about Pinterest is it’s not like you have to show up all of the time on the platform in order to see results. You can schedule your content. It’s totally okay. So I think for me it’s like having those automated leads and automated sales to my business from the platform without me. Actually like I can hop on Pinterest once a month if I want to. But I know that every month I’ll get a certain amount of people to my website or to my podcast episodes from Pinterest because of the content that I am creating, but also have created in the past. Because every piece of content that you create on Pinterest, like, you’re building more and more content, which means that you’re going to build your base. So I personally love the automated automated traffic and leads and sales. That’s been the biggest thing for me.

Laura: Because your podcast stopped for a while. And while it was on polls, were you still getting people through to your website to listen to your podcast through Pinterest?

Anita: Yep. And even my blog post. So for my website, I haven’t uploaded a blog post in a little bit. I’ve been taking a little bit of a break. And even though I haven’t uploaded any new content, I’m still getting website traffic, I’m still getting leads and podcast listeners. So I think that’s another really important thing as well. When it comes to Pinterest. And, you know, looking at different marketing strategies for your business is don’t just rely on marketing platforms that, um, you have to show up on. Because the thing is, is that you’re probably gonna wanna take a vacation at one point. You’re probably gonna have maybe like an emergency or something where you have to be away from your business for a bit, or maybe you just want a sabbatical and you wanna just take some time off to, you know, try something different.

00:20:00

Anita: When you have these marketing platforms in place like Pinterest, it allows you to take that time off and not have to worry like, oh, I haven’t grown my email list, or I’m not being seen in front of anyone, you know, this month, you can still have that momentum, which is so, so important because you don’t want to just, you know, go on holiday and then all your marketing completely stops. And then it feels like when you get back from holiday, you have to restart all of your marketing again and you have to, like, start their momentum. So I think it is really important, especially these days, to have at least one marketing strategy that doesn’t rely on you having to show up all of the time. So whether that is Pinterest, whether that is blog content, your podcast, I think, you know, those are, uh, some really great marketing strategies to have in place.

Laura: Right. I can’t wait for mine to start kicking in.

Laura: Yay.

Anita: I can’t wait either.

Laura: If someone’s curious but short on time, what’s one small step they could take this week to start using Pinterest.

Anita: I would say get on Canva, go to one of their free templates and create a pin and think about where you want that pin to lead. So take one piece of podcast content that you have so you know one episode that you have, and link the show notes to that pin and publish it. It’s as simple as that. Just create a graphic, insert a URL. So that will be to your podcast, show notes, or if you do blog posts from your podcast, that will be the URL and publish it. And then once you get into the rhythm of it, you can start doing, you know, maybe you just want to do like one a week. Cool. But then once a day, and then one, maybe twice a day, and then maybe three times a day and you can build that up. So the first step is to create your pin. And actually, even before that, I should have said create your Pinterest account. If you don’t have one already. That’s really important. You need that.

Laura: I actually found that, oh, people don’t have to be like me, by the way, and do five a day. I’m just a keynote like that. Uh, but I actually found it much easier than social media because you don’t have to be out there. You have. You have to be a bit hooky, but not too out there, if you know what I mean. It doesn’t, it doesn’t feel as hard. Or maybe I’m not doing it properly, but it doesn’t feel as hard as social media.

Anita: No, definitely not. It’s. It’s very simple. And you can use AI to help you as well with your Pinterest content. Like, for example, when you create a graphic and you upload it to Pinterest, you’re going to have to have a title and a description, and you can rely on AI to help you create that. So there are ways that you can make it even simpler for yourself. It’s definitely not as complicated as social media. And the great thing that I like about it as well is when you are creating a graphic and you’re publishing it on Pinterest, it’s not going out to the abyss and, you know, only going to be seen for the next few hours or 12 hours. Like, you have to kind of change your mindset in a way when you’re creating Pinterest content to think like this one graphic. When I’m publishing it on Pinterest, it’s going to be circulating the platform forever. It’s not going to show up in front of my ideal audience for 24 hours and then never to be seen again. Every piece of content you create and you publish on the platform is just building more and more content. It’s building your Pinterest content bank. So in that way as well. Pinterest is a lot easier than social media. I find that as well. It’s great. I can do it in my pyjamas, I can do it in bed and I don’t have to show up.

Laura: Yeah, I guess it’s a thing though. With social media. You get that immediate dopamine hit when someone likes your post. But you don’t get that with Pinterest straight away.

Anita: No.

Laura: I guess that’s why people go more for the social media rather than Pinterest. But long, um, term, Pinterest sounds like it’s the one.

Anita: Yes, exactly. Like, definitely, if you’ve just started your business, get on social media, get that, like, get in front of people right away. Right. But if you want that longer term strategy and if you want to build your email list and everything over time, definitely start on Pinterest like from day one as well. Like have that in the background because then like six months, 12 months down the line, you’re gonna have that automated traffic leading to your, uh, podcast, leading to your website, to your courses, wherever you want to send people. And you are going to thank yourself for creating that Pinterest account and creating that content rather than waiting like until you’re maybe like five years into business and then you’re starting your Pinterest account from there.

Laura: Excellent.

Laura: Thanks so much.

Anita says Pinterest is an underrated platform for podcasters

So lastly, where can people learn more about working with you and connect with you?

Anita: Yes, so you can find me on my website, anitadykstra.com you can come find me on Pinterest if you like as well. I’m over there, same name, also on Instagram.

00:25:00

Anita: And yeah, my website is my main place. I send people always to my website because it has everything that you need.

Laura: To put all the links in the show notes. Thanks again, Anita.

Anita: Bye. Thank you.

Laura: How good was that? Pinterest is such an underrated platform for podcasters, especially if you’ve already got great content and want it working harder for you without more effort. Uh, a huge thanks again to Anita for joining me. If you’re keen to learn how to do this for your own podcast, check out her course, Passive Profit with Pinterest. I’ll pop the link in the show notes and if you found this episode helpful, share it with a podcasting friend or leave a review. This episode is brought to you by podcast support services Podcast strategy that attracts leads, clients and credibility. Are you looking for a podcast producer? We may have availability. Head to podcastsupportservices.com.

00:25:56