This week on the podcast I talk to Jeff Sieh of Manly Pinterest Tips about Pinterest, Facebook video and more. This was a great discussion filled with tons of information and tips on making the most of your time on Pinterest, and how you can utilize Pinterest to promote your own blog. I also am back with my resource of the week. This week it's a free utility you can use to record your Skype calls for use on your podcast.
About Jeff
Jeff is a social media marketer, a web guy, a video guy - a creative brain for hire. You can find him over on Manly Pinterest Tips, Google Plus, YouTube, Facebook and of course on Pinterest.
How Jeff Got Started on Pinterest
Jeff began using Pinterest almost like an Evernote for images and used it to store recipes but not for blogging and it wasn't until a Hangout with Stephan Hovnanian and Peg Fitzpatrick that he began to see Pinterest as a platform that could benefit bloggers.
One thing that Jeff mentions is that Pinterest pins have the longest shelf life of any social media post and that he sees some of his early pins still getting repinned and sending traffic even today.
Manly Pinterest Tips
Initially Jeff wrote a post on Manly Pinterest Tips that did really well, which led to more posts and finally a video show with 4 other guys which eventually evolved into the Manly Show, which is broadcast about 2 times a month using Google Hangouts.
About two months ago Jeff decided to revive the Manly Pinterest Tips; he started things off by creating a website and eventually Manly Monday.
Manly Monday was inspired by Jay Today, and was used as a template for creating snackable content that is typically under 3 minutes in length. This has been received well by the audience. It captures the attention of those who don't have the time to invest in 30 minutes or more of video.
Native Facebook Video
Facebook loves it when you stay within Facebook, so Jeff uploads video directly to Facebook in order to capture more organic reach. If you upload to Facebook directly instead of just dropping a YouTube link, your reach is greater, which helps you reach more of your audience in this time of throttled Facebook organic reach. You can maximize the organic reach of your content by using Facebook's own tools.
Facebook even has cool tools such as call to actions within video to help drive users where you want them to go; this can be to your YouTube channel or for an email subscription. Because it's native to Facebook, it also optimizes for Facebook mobile users and opens up further Facebook video marketing opportunities.
Facebook even allows for you to create custom audiences based on time of watching through Facebook video ads, but you need a thousand views to activate that feature.
- Learn more about Facebook Video Ads
Pinterest Video
There are two ways you can include video on Pinterest. The first involves uploading a Pin and then including the link to the video. The second is to directly link to the video, when done this way it shows up as a playable video within Pinterest.
Jeff says either way is correct but recommends that you play around and experiment to see which way works best for your audience.
Pinterest Analytics
Pinterest has made Analytics a more robust platform and the changes are fantastic, but currently Jeff uses Tailwind app for his main Pinterest analytics. The new analytics package helps Pinterest in the long run attract advertisers and helps marketers trying to figure out what works for them on Pinterest.
Pinterest Messenger
Some really cool things that marketers and brands can use is the Pinterest Messenger feature, which helps Pinterest become more social.
Brands who use this well will find it a great way to connect with their audience. One way Jeff sees brands using Messenger is by connecting super fans and sharing exclusive pins with them.
Pinterest Search
Pinterest is constantly tweaking what they do and they are doing to ensure they are constantly providing relevant results. Pinterest is smart, images are hard to get results from and Pinterest is constantly evolving search to improve results that users are seeing.
Pinterest Images
If you expect any sort of results in Pinterest you have to have a good image. There are no magical formulas; you just have to make a good looking image. A tool such as Canva can help or even hire a designer to create a template that you can modify.
In Jeff's opinion, long skinny images work well because most users are browsing Pinterest on mobile; long skinny images fill up the screen.
Bloggers should work on creating tall portrait image or even do two images: a horizontal image for your header and then a long skinny image within your content. Rebekah Radice does this quite well on her site. There are some plugins on WordPress that can help you channel users to which image you want pinned. This shouldn't be a primary concern, however, because having different images that link back to your posts can be a good thing. It's another piece of content that finds itself on Pinterest.
Starting On Pinterest
For those just starting on Pinterest, Jeff offers this tip.
Don't be one dimensional: show your human side by creating other boards that display your interests. It shows you aren't just a marketing guy who is only on the platform to sell. You also shouldn't just dump your own stuff within Pinterest, but instead try to show that you are human by sharing your interests and by repinning and pinning content from others.
How to Be Consistent on Pinterest
You can be successful on Pinterest by spending a little time each day. Jeff sticks to a morning and night schedule to keep consistent. Not every brand is a fit for Pinterest and you need to look to your audience to see if Pinterest will work for you. It's impossible to be everywhere all the time, but you must be where your audience is.
You also need to test everything, because too many people give up too soon before finding success. You have to continue on, try and test new things and be consistent to find any success on Pinterest or any other platform.
Pinterest Local
Using maps, local businesses can find success with map pins and by creating great content; sharing great pins and repinning it all helps drive traffic back. Local businesses can really thrive using the tools found within Pinterest.
Pinterest Don't
Stop pinning content to your boards that will make others uncomfortable, and don't only talk about yourself. Show you're human and not a corporate machine.
Tips from Jeff
- Get people who have more followers than you to work with you because you get exposure to their audience
- Think about your audience and their listening habits and create content for those who have limited time and for those with lesser time constraints
- Thank people that repin your pins or pin your content; not a lot of people do this and it helps set you apart from the crowd
- Use a Pinterest business account to gain access to analytics
Resource of the Week
This week for the resource of the week I want to share with you a utility that I couldn't have done this podcast without and that's the MP3 Skype Recorder. This is a free utility for Windows that allows you to record Skype calls and without it I could have never had this conversation with Jeff or with Anton either.
If you are looking to get started in podcasting and in need of a free solution to record interviews or cohosts this may be the utility for you and I have to give a shoutout to Brandon Schaefer on Google+ for his recommendation of the MP3 Skype Recorder.
Support the Show
Thank you for listening and your continued support. If you would like to support the show further, I would appreciate it if you could share it with your friends, leave a comment below or head on over to iTunes where you can leave a comment, a rating and subscribe if you're not an iTunes user you can also subscribe, comment and rate the show on Stitcher Radio or simply subscribe to the show by RSS in your favourite client
How to Subscribe
Want to get the Social 360 Podcast delivered to you every week and for free? Here's how:
- Subscribe to the show on iTunes
- Subscribe on Stitcher Radio
- Subscribe by RSS