Amy Vaughan:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly power lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughan, and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital and choose to share their knowledge, power, and connections. You can join the movement at togetherindigital.com.
Amy Vaughan:
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome Dana Johnson, a Pinterest marketing strategist who has changed how we think about sustainable digital marketing. As the founder of Styled Pin Collection, Dana is creating a monthly membership that empowers creative entrepreneurs with strategic on brand Pinterest content that drives results. I love it. Creative, business minded. Gosh. We’re all gonna be friends, aren’t we? After transitioning from the wedding industry to education, Dana brings a refreshing perspective on digital marketing that prioritizes sustainability over burnout. At a time when many of us feel overwhelmed by the demands of daily social media posting, Dana is offering a compelling alternative, leveraging Pinterest as a visual search engine that delivers high quality evergreen traffic directly to your business offers, content, and email lists. What makes Dana’s approach particularly valuable is her focus on creating marketing systems that work for you, not the other way around.
Amy Vaughan:
She specializes in helping service providers, product based businesses build lasting visibility without the constant pressure to show up on social feeds every day. Dana, we’re so delighted to have you here with us to share your expertise on all things Pinterest and beyond with our community. Welcome to the power lounge.
Dana Johnson:
Thank you. That was quite the introduction, and I am in front of it to you. So that was quite nice.
Amy Vaughan:
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yeah. We’re thrilled to have you here. And, again, many many alignments again as, like, a former agency creative and now a business owner. I just think I love how creatives approach business. Right? Because it’s not just about the pretty things. It’s like, how do we make space for and optimize our time to be able to make things nicer, more fun, and more pretty. So I love, love, love how smart you are with not just what you do in the social media space, but how you’re doing your business.
Amy Vaughan:
It makes a lot of sense. And I love that this became our topic because people are probably scratching their head going, what? Pinterest? Many people still view Pinterest as primarily a social platform rather than a search engine. What was your moment that sort of changed how you approach Pinterest marketing? Because I love this insight.
Dana Johnson:
So I feel like I have a couple. Like, it took a few moments for me to be like, oh, I need to really, like, lock in and hone in on this strategy. But one of them was I realized Pinterest wasn’t just a place for pretty things. It wasn’t just for what I am cooking this week or how I am entertaining my children because Mhmm. When I was really using Pinterest the most, I was a stay at home mom and trying to figure out how to entertain my children and educate them in a fun, like, hands on way. And so, of course, I turned to Pinterest for that. Yeah. But once I launched my business and was helping my clients find nontraditional ways of marketing that wasn’t just social media because I primarily work with creative business owners and especially those in the wedding space.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm. Well, in 2020, wedding shows went up in smoke. Like, your primary lead source of getting in front of a bunch of weddings, couples planning their wedding, was gone. Like, how are we gonna figure that out? How do we pull them to your website if you can no longer attend these shows? So I started looking and figuring it out that Pinterest is a search engine. It’s built for discoverability. Mhmm. And that was another moment. Like, duh.
Dana Johnson:
When I did weddings, I asked my couples for their Pinterest boards so I could visualize what they were to do like, talking about their big day, what type of vendors they were looking for. So I had created this LinkedIn course just in my ebbs and flows of being an entrepreneur and tested the things that I learned about Pinterest, and I made a sale within, like, some social days. I know. I was because I’d only done, like, a free master class. I’ve done some little research, and I was like, alright. Let’s test out these strategies and see if they actually work, and it did. Yeah. So I was like, alright.
Dana Johnson:
That’s when it hit me. Social media because I posted on social media, and I made no sales. So social media is fun, but it’s social. It’s meant to connect and engage, but people aren’t there to learn, like, to buy. I mean, they do buy. Up their mindset. Obviously, people buy. Right.
Dana Johnson:
But they’re not there to buy. They’re not there to discover. They’re there to be entertained. So if you’re lucky enough to entertain them towards buying, great.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Dana Johnson:
But if you’re not, well, you need another platform. Pinterest is one of these platforms that rewards consistency in searchability. So if you’re honing in on those keywords, that is how you can scale and build your visibility Mhmm. Without having to chase algorithms, learn a dance move, or anything else that comes with being on social media.
Amy Vaughan:
Right? Because it does. It feels like you’re constantly jumping through hoops like you said, trying to keep up with the API changes, trying to track the trends. It can get really exhausting. And so you’ve built your business around helping entrepreneurs escape that social media that is sometimes inevitable. Right? Social media burnout. Could you share a little bit about your journey from the kind of wedding you did a little bit allude to before, but, like, wedding professional to Pinterest strategist?
Dana Johnson:
Yes. So I love celebrating life events, and I have always been that friend that planned the things Yeah. And made stuff happen. Like, it wasn’t ever just, oh, let’s go to dinner. Oh, no. Let’s have a whole dinner experience.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Right. Got it.
Dana Johnson:
Or let’s do it at home and have a weekly game night with fun recipes and whatever. I was that friend. So I got a degree in wedding and event management and where, you know, creativity is in high demand, but that also leaves the burnout because now you’re forced to get creative as opposed to creating space for you to sit with it, really dive into what’s trending or where your couples are leaning into and what is unique about them. If it’s forced, it’s exhausting.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
And it’s no longer fun. So I was managing social media and admin work for my clients, and it just felt like we could never keep up with what was going on. Like Yeah. Carousel styles change. What hashtags? What’s this? What’s that? But I also was irritated with my clients because Yeah. They spend twelve to eighteen months designing these luxury levels, either a style editorial or a wedding.
Amy Vaughan:
Mhmm.
Dana Johnson:
And it disappears in twenty four hours. Like, that’s a slap in the face for all of your hard work, late nights, and blood, sweat, and tears. Yeah. So when I noticed that Pinterest was a place to drive traffic to wedding content, one, organically, because I don’t like paying for anything if I don’t have to.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Dana Johnson:
But two, it almost helps you hack the algorithm because you can link to your reel. You can link that carousel and give it that longer shelf life. Mhmm. And that’s what really made me dive wholeheartedly into it because I was trying to offer both. Still being an admin because it was safe. Yeah. And then offering Pinterest because, like, you need that. You don’t know you need it, but you need it.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Dana Johnson:
And it was learning that of the ability to almost hack the algorithm of linking directly to the content that you worked so hard to create. Yeah. I was like, that’s it. Done. I’m the unapologetic pinner, and I’m telling everyone that they have to be on here to get that consistent brand visibility
Amy Vaughan:
Mhmm.
Dana Johnson:
That we need because those in the creative space mostly don’t have repeat clients. You need a fresh wave of new ones. Mhmm. And Pinterest is the way that one is the platform they’re going to to plan their wedding anyway. Right. So let’s bring them to you.
Amy Vaughan:
Mhmm. I love it. Let’s dig in a little bit more to Pinterest and its algorithm because it is a little bit different, and user behaviors are quite different from platforms like Instagram or TikTok, which is where I think a lot of marketers probably spend most of their time depending on their product or service. So what are some fundamental mindset shifts that marketers would need to make when they’re thinking about developing a Pinterest strategy?
Dana Johnson:
I think the biggest shift is you’re not looking to go viral. Yes. There isn’t really an instant gratification. Terms I’ve been seeing lately is like a slow burn Mhmm. Or a slow build. It’s about sustainable growth, and you’re looking to build, like, momentum. So Pinterest is the game of search discoverability. So it’s not like Instagram or anything where you’re hoping to get thousands of views and likes
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Dana Johnson:
And then hooking them. You’re showing. This is about creating touch points, sharing your knowledge and expertise, and showing off your galleries. So evergreen content is huge. These timeless trends, no matter if it’s this year, ten years ago, ten years in the future, couples are gonna have very similar concerns and overwhelms about planning their wedding. Mhmm. And you can create that content that leads them to you and gives them that confidence of, oh, this is a great idea. Right.
Dana Johnson:
I can do this wedding, or I need her to help me. Yeah. Him helped me have this wedding that I keep dreaming about. It’s also a place for long term planning and batch scheduling, and it’s less about showing up daily and more about creating resources that your ideal audience
Amy Vaughan:
I love it.
Dana Johnson:
I will keep searching.
Amy Vaughan:
So almost like building, like, your own content library and letting it live on Instagram, on Pinterest as I see. I’m just so used to talking about Instagram, that lives, you know, kind of theirs. Like, Lisa, that evergreen content, which can be so, so valuable, and, like you said, when it comes to, like, looking at it as a search. And, I mean, I would honestly caution against any client or individual ever trying to sell something as potentially viral because, you know, viral doesn’t necessarily get you your intended goal. Right? It’s just Mhmm. It always drove me nuts even, like, fifteen years ago when clients would be like, we want a viral video. And I was like, but what do you want to achieve with the viral video? If you want more sales, then you probably don’t want a viral video because its viral videos don’t necessarily equate to sales.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughan:
We had a really great podcast episode with Kenya Kelly. Gosh. It was probably sometime last year, and she is, like, amazing on TikTok. You should definitely check her out and follow her. She’s got a great newsletter and whatnot. And, you know, she talked about an example of a law firm that came to her and was like, we wanna be TikTok famous. And she says, do you want that, or do you want more client leads? And they said, well, we want more client leads. She’s like, I can make you viral.
Amy Vaughan:
I can make you viral, but I can’t guarantee you it’ll get you qualified leads on the phone calling you to represent them. And so she created something that was a little bit more educational, and it resulted in over 26 phone calls to the office that resulted in, I think, like, 60 new potential clients. And it’s like, though, that’s the kind of viral I wanna be. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but it’s funny how we just get so caught up in, like, the instant fame that has potential to, like, be when you’re on other social media platforms. And I think that’s all the more reason to support what you’re saying and not create that Pinterest, you know, very visually based content that’s educational and evergreen. It’s just literally sitting there working for you long after you’ve done the work, and I think that that’s so great.
Dana Johnson:
I’ve definitely always been someone that leans towards quality over quantity. Mhmm. So if it takes you if you wanna dive all of your time, energy, and effort into one quality blog post, one quality email opt in to nurture them, or one quality podcast episode, then I call it splicing and dicing, and then dissect it into multiple Mhmm. Different things.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
Now you’re able to target different people on different platforms, but you’re not working from a place of, I need to figure out how to be on all 7,000 platforms that there are right now. I already don’t wanna do that. That already sounds exhausting and decision fatigue, and I’m not gonna move forward on anything. Yep. So when I work with my clients, that’s what I tell them. Let’s focus on evergreen content Mhmm. Really good quality, and then how can we divide it up onto the various platforms. But you only get to focus on this one thing.
Dana Johnson:
And so for wedding planners, it’s the wedding that they’re working on right now. Let’s make this the best wedding you’ve ever done, and then let’s share it in 500 different ways.
Amy Vaughan:
Mhmm. I love it. That’s super smart. And I’m with you on the quality over quantity, especially with the amount of AI generated content that’s out there. Right? Marketers are like, oh, no. It’s gonna take my job. It’s like, no. Actually, people who know how to use AI well are gonna be the ones that take your job, and, like, that’s how you and it’s not going to help other people market better.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s just gonna show people who don’t understand marketing that they don’t understand marketing when they try to use AI as a subplant for that versus, like, that intentional, well thought out, insightful work. You know, again, I love AI tools as a tool for augmenting and supporting. I use it every damn day. I’m not afraid to say it.
Amy Vaughan:
I’m not afraid to say it, but I agree. Like, I think that there’s just this mass of and there always has been, you know, for the last fifteen years of just all of this content. And so, yeah, I am definitely a proponent of, one, evergreen, two, slicing and dicing and maximizing. And, really, like, if you do that in a quality way, I mean, you are really getting some bang for your buck when you think about it as well from, like, an efficiency and cost effectiveness standpoint.
Dana Johnson:
That too. I didn’t think about the cost. I was just like, well, I’m focused on energy costs. I’m like, because I have too many things going on behind the scenes, but I don’t want to recreate 500 things. I don’t have time to do that, and most of us don’t.
Amy Vaughan:
No. Well and I mean, I remember when I would still have, like, decent budgets and decent client like, size clients when I was at agencies. I would always be talking to them about, okay. We have a one day long shoot. You’re gonna shoot a thirty second TV ad. Like, let’s shoot 60. And, like, let’s take time to hire a still photographer. So somebody’s walking around and getting, you know, photos for your ads and billboards and whatever else you need and social media posts.
Amy Vaughan:
And then we’re gonna take that sixty second and cut it to a thirty, and then we’re gonna cut it to a fifteen, and then we’re gonna cut it and put it into something that can have captions so you can run it as a reel on Instagram. Like, really like, why spend money? You’re recreating something over and over and over again because not only that, but you’re creating bank brand consistency. Right? Because every time they see that campaign, it’s like, oh, it’s consistent. I saw this on TV. It feels familiar. And then with the way we are as consumers, right, we got the memory of goldfish. We’re getting a million messages thrown at us a day. And as marketers, we get tired of our own messages, but people have to hear it six, seven times before they even stop and take notice.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughan:
And so, yeah, this is why I love what you’re doing, Dana, and it makes so much sense, you know, to kind of stick on the topic of viral, viralness because it is a thing. Right? On Pinterest, there’s businesses getting lucky with, like, viral pins.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughan:
What’s your but your approach emphasizes, like, strategic sustainability. You know, what are some other things that we can touch upon? Although, I know we went down that whole rabbit hole a little bit. What else does, truly sustainable Pinterest systems, like marketing systems, look like in the work that you’re doing?
Dana Johnson:
So that is a great question, and I can go over it again. Because, again, I think the last statistic I saw was on average seven or up to 12 touch points before someone actually works with you. Mhmm. Which is that’s a lot of touch points. Yeah. So a sustainable system working with me or really anyone that I recommend is four parts, a strong foundation. So starting with a Pinterest business account, which is free. We love free again.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
And then optimizing it for your ideal audience. So you wanna have those keywords kinda trickled in. Tell who you are, what you do, and what you’re passionate about, and go ahead and have your website linked. Your social media is linked. Anything else that you have in there, you can link into it. Mhmm. But then also think of the boards that you have. This is your portfolio.
Dana Johnson:
These are, like, little shelves that people are shopping in your store Yeah. I like that as well. So what are your ideal audience couples looking for? Are they here for an outdoor tent wedding, luxury outdoor tent wedding, or are they looking for fun workout clothes for a plus size woman? Like Yeah. These are things that it’s gonna be different for each person, and so you want boards that reflect that. And then the description of the board will, again, have those keywords in them.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. Yeah. We’re gonna dig into keywords here more in a second. But first, I wanted to back up and talk about, like, for service based businesses in particular, what types of content tend to perform best on Pinterest, and how can they connect that performance to actual client acquisition as people are kind of listening and brainstorming. Okay. How do I get on Pinterest and make it worthwhile?
Dana Johnson:
I always recommend educational content because that’s what people I mean, they’re searching for. They don’t know necessarily what they need, like, specifics other than it could be very broad. So educational content of, like, checklist tips, FAQs, or visuals of your work. So using a service based provider in the health and wellness space Mhmm. How to fit in micro workouts Mhmm. As a busy mom of five. I don’t know. It’s off the top of my head.
Dana Johnson:
But if you’re out there and this is something you offer, let’s get to that. Exactly. Or how to choose your wedding photographer, five design trends for branding in 2025. I’ve rebranded my entire business for Pinterest management on Pinterest. I love it. But, those are the types of things. So educational, inspirational content will always win Yeah. Because people are searching.
Dana Johnson:
Yep. And another statistic that really hones in for me Mhmm. 96% of searches are unbranded, meaning they know they need help with whatever it is that they’re needing help with, whether it’s a life change, getting married, going on vacation, surviving summer, launching a business, or anything like that. But they don’t know exactly who they need to work with. They don’t even know what checklist would make their life easier. And so that’s where you can find the key of content being searchable and linking it to something valuable. Yeah. And then you’re gonna lead them to your website where you have more control over the relationship and those touch points.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. Yeah. Something that’s, like, really valued and needs based on that person. Again, if you’re kind of thinking from the consumer side of things and not looking at it as advertising per se, like, what you’re saying, it’s so inspiring. I mean, I could even see, like, banking clients, you know, going out and creating, like, this check this checklist for, like, how is your financial health? You know? How are you planning for your, like, five top five things you need to do to be planning for your financial future or anything like that. It’s like so many people just overlook the opportunity to empower the consumer, and through empowerment comes that sense of, like, trust and loyalty. And, ultimately, when they have to make a decision, like you just said, you’ve managed and created a relationship by providing value, you know, without a necessary, like, exchange of money right away. And now they see you as a potential trusted partner, and all you did was create a little checklist and put it out there.
Amy Vaughan:
And I again, my digital marketing brain goes down such a rabbit hole. It’s like I could map out, like, all the different needs. And then, like, then I then you can create, like, your pillars of content that you’re creating based on those needs, and that could also be informed by search.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughan:
What are people looking for when it comes to banking needs and issues? Creating
Dana Johnson:
I like to take it a step further with clients. Let’s map out the funnel or, like, the web. I don’t even wanna call it a funnel. It’s a website. Yeah. So they get to the checklist. But on the checklist, now you can link, here’s my top three blog posts or podcast episodes. And then from there, on your show notes of the podcast, you’re gonna have linked to another opt in and just keep it going without feeling overwhelming.
Dana Johnson:
Like, it’s a natural progression.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
And you just do it step by step yourself, so you’re not feeling like I have to create 10 things at one time. No. You don’t. Yeah. Focus on the podcast Yeah. That will make this one thing, but then we reverse engineer it and repurpose those things on Pinterest so that you have people going to it because you created it. Mhmm. So now we need to have people find it.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Exactly. You’re giving me so many ideas. Oh my gosh. This is fun. Yeah. Anytime you wanna go deeper and nerd out more, bring it. This is the place for it.
Amy Vaughan:
All the time.
Dana Johnson:
All the time.
Amy Vaughan:
All the time. Alright. Let’s talk about keywords again. They play a pretty critical role in Pinterest visibility.
Dana Johnson:
Overthink anything or make it overwhelming because simple but powerful for the win. Mhmm. So just dive into the Pinterest search bar to explore terms your audience might already be typing. And it’s almost like Google and see what else pops up, and that’s what people are working for. So look at those suggested keywords, the autofill autofill. I think I said that wrong. That’s what Pinterest is showing you what’s already trending without you even diving deep into analytics and Pinterest predictions or anything like that. So you wanna plug those things into your pin titles, descriptions, and board names Mhmm.
Dana Johnson:
And then cross check that with the Pinterest trends tool, which you get access to through the Pinterest business account that you set up and align that content with seasonal spikes. Yep. So this is where I feel like the timeless slow burn comes. Yeah. Every December, really, probably in October. But every fourth quarter, everyone is already starting about vision work and their goal setting and where they’re gonna go for the next year. Mhmm. So having that content, you might need to tweak one or two things, but pins that you did last year Yeah. Will pop up this year because people are still searching for that.
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm. They’re always gonna wanna make themselves better in some way professionally, personally, what have you. So already having pins there Mhmm. Make sure that your content is gonna be seen, but then you can create new pins on the same stuff you’ve already made with what may be trending from the trends tool. I love it. Is it women? Is that right? Whatever, you know, diving into that part to tweak it to make sure that it’s discovered again and again.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. That’s so smart. Again, it’s just taking that evergreen content. I love the idea of building upon it, optimizing it, updating it. Again, just work smarter, not harder. Right?
Dana Johnson:
Yeah. And so to go full circle with, like, the sustainable system, that is the second step is repurposing content you already have. Yeah. If there is not a business, I feel like, out there right now that doesn’t already have some sort of, like, content bank. Mhmm. Whether it is your top performing reels and carousels from Instagram Uh-huh. Use that to start with. Don’t even make something new.
Dana Johnson:
Right. Or blog posts or a newsletter that you can turn into a blog post. It could be if you were a guest on a podcast. I know the show notes are gonna be your information. Yep. So even funneling them to a guest spot will help you. And then you can batch create those pins and schedule them in advance, again, saving you more time.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. That’s so great. So smart. Alright. So a lot of the folks who are listening, and by the way, live listening audience, please feel free to drop questions in the chat if you have them for Dana. We’re more than happy to answer them while you’re here. We do this podcast for you. That’s why I want you all here when we’re recording live.
Amy Vaughan:
So if there’s anything I’m not touching on or that we’re missing, you get the chance to ask. Alright. So on behalf of them, I know a lot of our members and women who are listening are probably juggling multiple marketing platforms already. How do you recommend that they integrate Pinterest into their existing marketing ease of ecosystems possibly without adding to their workload too much, if possible.
Dana Johnson:
I hear so I might be one of the few people that might actually say this, but I would never recommend you stop being on other platforms.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
Because you need to be where your people are. Mhmm. Absolutely. For many of us, that could be LinkedIn. For many of us, that could be on Instagram or and wedding planners are on there a lot. So most of my marketing minutes are on Instagram because that’s where my people are. I need to pull them to Pinterest. Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
But for wedding pros and creatives, they’re on this one, but they’re also on Pinterest. Mhmm. So Pinterest works best when it complements what you’re already doing. I don’t feel like I’ve said this 10 times already, but repurpose what you already have. Yeah. So have a blog. Repurpose it into pins. Dissect that blog post into 10 different pins.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it.
Dana Johnson:
Is it from five years ago and needs to be refreshed? Well, then do a quick search in the search bar of what’s trending based on the topic of the blog post. Yep. Update it a little bit and repurpose it again. Run if you have a podcast, turn those episodes into visual content, especially if you’re not one to show your face. So, like, I have a podcast. You do not see my face. So I take the audiograms and tie it to a video pin and repurpose that. Do you have galleries of even if you’re product based, how many product pictures do you have?
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
Give those longer lifespans on Pinterest. Create pins for those and lead them to your storefront, your individual product links, or a mixture of the two. Then batch it, design those pins monthly, and use a scheduler to schedule it out. You can use Pinterest native tool, which, again, is in the business account. Uh-huh. Or you can use something like Tailwind, and you can, on mass, create pins and schedule them out, like, three months at a time. Mhmm. That depends on how much time you actually have.
Dana Johnson:
But
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
I typically help my clients that are in the pin it, forget it, or the style pin. Mhmm. Help them get a month’s worth of brand visibility in less than two hours. So it’s honing in on what works and getting it done, and then you can, like, wipe your hands and be done with it until next month.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Well and I think what you really caught out there was that it’s just a matter of using your time wisely, leveraging the content that you currently have. And so it’s not like you’re again, you’re not saying reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. We’re saying take what you have and make it work for Pinterest based on some of the advice that you gave earlier. So I think that that makes a lot of sense, and it makes me so excited to see and hear what some of our folks will be doing and sort of, like, opening that door and bringing content back onto Pinterest. Ally, one of our listeners, has a great question. Do you find that service based businesses have much success on Pinterest versus tangible items? I think that’s a really fair question.
Dana Johnson:
So I will admit that I focus more on service based businesses versus products. But as I go through Pinterest and just seeing what’s available and, like, learning through Pinterest Academy because I try to do that every Friday, I stay up to date. I love it. Both do extremely well. Yeah. There’s things called I don’t think they’re called idea pins anymore, but that’s the best way. They’re called an idea pin, and you can now click on, like, the shirt that the model is wearing, and it will show you Mhmm. Various places to purchase that.
Dana Johnson:
So the product base is still gonna do really well. Yeah. But service based does good too. I was looking at the analytics for a travel planner that I had. She parted ways for a couple months because of personal reasons, but then she came back and said, let me dive into your analytics. Right. And I haven’t pinned for her in five months. Mhmm.
Dana Johnson:
I had to look at what month we’re in. Right. And she still has a thousand monthly views coming to her content.
Amy Vaughan:
That’s great.
Dana Johnson:
I haven’t made new content for her. So that strategy works. So I think, hopefully, that answers the question. I think both do extremely well.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
Just the strategy that you utilize is gonna slightly differ.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. I was gonna say it brought to mind for me the only time I’ve used Pinterest for a product was when I worked on Febreze. And for us, it was usage. It was all about, like, creative usage type of things, like ways to use Febreze hacks on how to leverage Febreze for, like, your stinky teenager’s room, like, all those kinds of things. And people ate that up. So, like, the more creative that we could get with, like, usage to be, like, what you said, educational and inspirational or even aspirational, I think is kind of the way to go. Don’t just put a picture of your product up there and assume people are gonna buy it. Make the content useful.
Amy Vaughan:
Make it helpful. Help it, like, make it to where it’s solving a problem for them. And then, yeah, it’s such a good win. I think this is one of our most, like, quote, unquote viral pins where our sec like, our second day jean, hack off just literally for breezing your jeans. Like, no. Like, nobody does it already, but I think people felt seen when they saw it. They were like, oh my god. I do that.
Amy Vaughan:
I will wear jeans for a whole week because I just freeze them every day. You know?
Dana Johnson:
I love that
Amy Vaughan:
Yep.
Dana Johnson:
So much.
Amy Vaughan:
Yep. I think they were hardcore relating. So if you’re not giving them a new idea on usage or a creative use case, you know, at least kind of help them feel like they’re being related to when you kind of let everybody know that it’s okay. We wear our jeans the second day, and we just freeze them rather than wash them. Alright. So your membership, the style pin collection, it provides, as I mentioned in the bio earlier, monthly Pinterest content. What have you learned about what makes pins truly effective from creating for so many different industries?
Dana Johnson:
Clarity wins, hands down.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it.
Dana Johnson:
No. I included myself. I’m like, if I go on a website or a blog, I’m like, what am I doing here? What am I trying to get to? Or I sign up for something and I don’t understand what’s happening. Like, y’all should have thought this through. So the most effective pins have clear headlines, strong visuals, and easy to read fonts. So making sure that they you know, the image will probably be the first thing that they notice. So you want your image to be strong, clear, and, like, representative of what it is that they’re Mhmm. Looking at.
Dana Johnson:
Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
But then the headline needs to hook them with the outcome or the similarity of what they’re looking for. Then consistency is gonna build trust. So when your brand style is easily recognizable, we kinda talked about this earlier Uh-huh. People are more likely to click. So in the style pen, they’re meant to be plug and play. You can easily swap out the colors, fonts, and images to match yours so that no matter what platform they discover you on, they know, oh, this is Consistency. This is Angie Vaughan. This is Dana.
Dana Johnson:
This is whoever. I have seen where pinned content leads me to a website that does not match the pinned content. I’m like, I need to get off of here. I feel like I’m looking at spam, and I’ll quickly get off, and I will not go back. Yeah. And then relevance matters. Pins tied to real time search trends or evergreen needs consistently will perform best, like that educational content. Mhmm.
Dana Johnson:
And I’ve seen I mean, this will work across many industries, whether it’s wedding pros, digital coaches, health and wellness, whomever. Like Yeah. That is gonna be the three things that you need to focus on.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. That’s great advice. Well said. Ali, thank you for the question too. We appreciate it. Keep it coming if you guys have more. We’ve got another question here. Actually, two questions, and then we’re gonna get into the fun little rapid fire power round, in case you guys have any other questions that we have plenty of time for if you wanna jump in.
Amy Vaughan:
Alright. Let’s talk about every client’s favorite. What’s the ROI? How do you help clients measure the true impact of their Pinterest strategy beyond just impressions and or saves on Pinterest?
Dana Johnson:
So I focus first on visibility impressions. Mhmm. It lets me know my keywords are working either for myself or for my client because if it’s not showing up in the feed Yep. Well, then we have a problem.
Amy Vaughan:
Yep. They’re not gonna click there.
Dana Johnson:
No one’s gonna convert because they’re not being found. Right. So that’s the one that I focus on first. Uh-huh. But then after that, it’s clicks, outbound clicks. Are people clicking to go to your site? Are they going to your landing page for the opt in? And then are they then signing up for it? Are they booking a call? Are they purchasing that product? Right. Is your email list growing? Mhmm. Pinterest, like I said, is a long game, but it’s one of those two platforms where your content can continue generating leads six months after you publish it.
Dana Johnson:
So that’s a powerful ROI. And that’s why I recommend, like, don’t check it weekly, check it monthly, give it time to work, and give it time to look through. But those are the things that I recommend looking for when I’m working with clients. That’s what I focus on is impressions, pin clicks. So they not just, they didn’t just see it, but they liked it enough or if they’re interested enough to open the pin And then did they go to where they, where we wanted them to go? Yeah. So that’s my Pinterest focus, but then on a client base or service provider, are they then taking action? So if they’re going to your website or the landing page and they’re not following through Yep. Then not that this is where, like, my bread and butter service is, but I will help take a look at the copy or anything on that landing page. Maybe something’s not lining up. Like I said, if your pin content doesn’t match that relevance that’s the red flag, and we need to take a look at it. And I’ll help you, or I will recommend someone who can help you better depending on what the service is.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. I love it. All super, super smart. You know what I was just thinking, Dana? You know how Dana’s a member of our Together Digital community as well now, and I think it was you. I posted and shared that, I’m gonna be speaking at Content Marketing World. And I know the speaker applications are closed, but I just before we move on to the next, like, last few questions, I really wanna encourage you to apply to speak next year on this because I think too many content creators we are so, like, shiny object syndrome and chasing, and all the talks are AI and TikTok, although TikTok’s side down a little bit. And I just think this has been such a good refreshing reminder of, like, the value of, like you said, quality content using the right platforms, approaching it, looking at the right KPIs, and really providing and creating value versus noise into the inner space that is the Internet for brands. I really do.
Amy Vaughan:
I wanna encourage you, and I’m gonna follow-up with you and find out if you do apply.
Dana Johnson:
I think I did email them or, like, I couldn’t figure out, like, where the speaker application was. It wasn’t, like, easily just Uh-huh. Available. So I messaged them. It’s like, hey. I have recommendations for speakers for next year.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
And I’m just waiting on a response. But if you have someone to connect
Amy Vaughan:
I know the organizers. I’m gonna hook you up, girl. I’m gonna hook you up. Yeah. No. Absolutely. Yeah. And I know that they’ve done all their picks for the speaking this year, and I will show you exactly where it is next year so you can apply to speak.
Amy Vaughan:
Because I do think there would be so much value in that conversation. And, again, and I just love throwing it back to some of these platforms again because we get so shiny object syndrome. We kind of really forget, like, the truly valuable platforms that we have, still within the space that we can, you know, really use. And, again, like, you’re not saying you have to create all new content for it. It’s just taking what you have and leverage it in a way that’s creative and useful and helpful. And, again, I love the set and forget it, man. I used to be on an always on team for Twitter. Yes.
Amy Vaughan:
I’m still calling it Twitter and I always will, but it was just like we had to literally sit there every day at the beginning of the day and look at the news and look at what was trending on Twitter and try to kind of infuse the two to talk about fabric softener. And I’m like, nobody gives a shit about fabric softener on Twitter. Now I will say that there are brands that have done a good job calling and talking to you with miss Wendy, like Wendy’s and things like that that have really made good use of it, but it’s really for, like, entertainment purposes. Right? Is it driving more sales to Wendy’s? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. It’s definitely keeping on top of mind. But, yeah, that’s creative, that was a fun challenge, but it was exhausting. So this all appeals to me so much. It’s healing the wounds of my past always in life.
Dana Johnson:
So I have avoided Twitter or x or whatever for at all costs. I do not have an account. I do not want an account.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. You won’t find I mean, you’ll find an old page of ours on there, but I give it no love.
Dana Johnson:
None whatsoever.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s a lot to keep up with. It’s moving too fast for me. I’m like, you know, I don’t know. Getting old in my old age, I guess. Alright. Looking ahead, how do you see Pinterest evolving as a marketing platform, and what should businesses be doing now to position themselves for some of those changes that maybe if we haven’t kept up with Pinterest might be coming around the corner?
Dana Johnson:
Pinterest is leaning more into shopping tools and visual search. Like I was saying, you can click on, like, one photo and click on the pants, the shoes, the Yeah. Whatever and go directly to that. But very cool. Opens up affiliate options. I love that. I’m super excited about the continued investment again on evergreen content and SEO because that is what makes your job as a creator, service provider, product, business Mhmm. So much easier to lean into those things of what they are searching for. Let’s not do a song and dance.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Dana Johnson:
If you want to do that, great. But you don’t have to because you’re doing the market research of what your people are looking for Mhmm. And you’re answering that with focus keyword pin content. Great. Experimenting with the idea pins for storytelling and building that connection similar to other platforms. Mhmm. But now they can like your talking bobblehead. Right.
Dana Johnson:
But if they, oh, they like my mic, they can click on this mic and go get it. They can click on my shirt and go find it. Right. And building content that educates, inspires, and solves a problem. So I think looking ahead and how someone should position themselves, don’t wait. Like if you want to be ready in front of your face and easily discovered at Christmas, because you’re a product based business and that’s a big month for you, you need to get your systems in place now so that you can be positioned to benefit from what’s coming.
Amy Vaughan:
Mhmm. Yeah. Absolutely. I love it. I can’t wait to introduce you to some of my business owner friends as well, that are in, like, the food and beverage space and all those kinds of things. So they’re all very seasonal. And one of the strategies we talked about was making some of those things that get deemed seasonal year round by kind of having fun and playing with the content and pushing it outside of that. It was a barbecue business.
Amy Vaughan:
And she says it’s so hard for us. Absolutely. And I was like, dude, there are people who would eat barbecue year round. You see guys out there, even ladies sometimes out there smoking some ribs and it’s 20 below. Like, are you kidding me? Like, there are people who would rather have a rack of ribs than a turkey on Thanksgiving. Like, you could have so much fun with it.
Dana Johnson:
I was just thinking as one of those people.
Amy Vaughan:
Busy. So it was just like this whole limiting belief of, like, barbecue is only for summer, so our business is always going to languish every time of year, but summer. And I thought, now comes marketing, some good solid marketing and positioning could actually really help shift that. So I’m gonna have to introduce you to Kristen, at Sweets It Means. She was a guest on our together marketing rescue podcast, which allows small businesses to come and share. Like, you need to listen to that too. There’s some good episodes where small businesses come in, share their biggest pain points, and then we try to help them come up with ideas and strategies on how to solve those pain points with marketing. And then our members will pitch them their business and services in a way to help them find the right fit and partners based on their actual needs versus trying to go for some big agency.
Amy Vaughan:
They’re gonna pay a ton of overhead. They can’t really afford it anyway. So it’s helping small businesses and small business marketing service providers kind of match up and have the opportunity to work together. And it’s just it’s been such a fun project and such a fun, like, objective for a podcast. So if you haven’t listened to it yet, definitely check out the Together marketing rescue. I’ve got two other amazing cohosts on that, and we’ve interviewed, let’s see, an event services, an event planner. So she’d be a great one for you to talk to.
Dana Johnson:
Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
Spark and then the barbecue business, another catering business, magnificent morsels. She’s gonna be like I don’t know how to explain it. She joked about the episode. We’re like, you’re gonna be black Martha because she, like, has her, like, kitchen. She has her restaurant now. She has cookware. She has a spice line. And so trying to figure out, like, how to position herself.
Amy Vaughan:
It is like, she’s gonna take over the world. I love crystal so much. She’s a dear friend.
Dana Johnson:
Happy that they just come and get advice.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. I mean, and they’re so open and vulnerable because it’s like, we’re all small business owners. So we know, like, the pain points, but we know and live and breathe marketing. And, like, but she knows spices and cooking. You know? I’m not that great of a cook, and I use her spices to make my food taste better, but, like, yeah, it’s just so amazing. And then there was another woman who I was just thinking of? Oh, the Davis Cookie Company. That would be another fun one for you to talk to
Dana Johnson:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughan:
As well. But, yeah, I could just see how in all of these businesses, how leveraging Pinterest is like an evergreen marketing tool could just be so amazing. So I’ll make sure I send you the link to all those episodes after this as well.
Dana Johnson:
Yes. I’ll happily dive into those.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. They’re fun, and they’re all good peeps. You know? All amazing folks. Alright. I’m gonna go ahead and go into our power round of questions to get through. But, again, also, audience, if you have another question, we got a few minutes. We could definitely squeeze it in, so don’t be shy. Alright.
Amy Vaughan:
What is one Pinterest myth that you’re on a mission to debunk?
Dana Johnson:
That you do not have to create content daily. Yay. Nothing. Strategy is much better than hustle any day. I swear to god.
Amy Vaughan:
Girl. Preach. It’s so true. Alright. The most surprising business niche that you have seen succeed on Pinterest.
Dana Johnson:
Men’s fashion.
Amy Vaughan:
Nice.
Dana Johnson:
I think well, primarily, it is a woman focused platform Yeah. For obvious reasons.
Amy Vaughan:
But who’s shopping for the guys’ clothes?
Dana Johnson:
Well, that too. So most people assume Pinterest is for wedding dresses or recipes, kids’ clothes Mhmm. But men’s style guides, capsule capsule
Amy Vaughan:
Capsule wardrobes.
Dana Johnson:
Wardrobes. There we go.
Amy Vaughan:
Fan of that. I love capsules.
Dana Johnson:
Grooming content consistently is starting to perform really well. You should reach out to me. Too. Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
They used to be a client of mine. I don’t think any of my old clients are still there, but we should get you a hook up with Gillette. That’s great. We used to try to do a lot of styling content. I worked on Pantene and Gillette. And you know what’s really sad now that I think back at it? We didn’t really leverage Pinterest for any of those. I think maybe Pantene for, like, hairstyles and stuff. But otherwise, I missed an opportunity.
Amy Vaughan:
Oh, well, their fault, not mine.
Dana Johnson:
Right. Is it my way? I will do that. Right?
Amy Vaughan:
Alright. Fill in the blank. The best Pinterest strategy is, like, gardening because
Dana Johnson:
You plant the right seeds, give them time, and watch your efforts multiply long after you step away.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. I love how prepared you are for all of this too. It’s so great. You have a kind right here. Alright. One Pinterest feature that most marketers underutilize.
Dana Johnson:
I would say video pins. And that’s myself too. I’m gonna call myself out because I don’t like putting my face on video a lot or even if I have to, which is why Pinterest works really well for, like, introverts that wanna remain faceless. But video pins are amazing for storytelling and repurposing your short form content from Instagram or TikTok for that matter. So it helps you boost your visibility, but then create that more on one time without having to create that one one time.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. No. That’s great. I get it. But, you know, after this, our amazing Heartcast Media team’s gonna put together a bunch of little video shorts for you, and they’re gonna share them and it’s gonna have your beautiful face on it. It’s exposure therapy. I feel you. I don’t love being in front of rooms or on camera.
Amy Vaughan:
In fact, I can’t even see myself right now. I just hide myself pretty much the whole time. I can just see your lovely face, but people love faces. Right? Research and marketing shows us that, like, we look for faces in our marketing and marketing shows us that, like, we look for faces in our marketing and advertising. So I would say just, you know, that’s my little love and nudge for you is that you’ve just got some great ideas, thoughts, opinions, and a lovely face to go with it. So don’t be too shy about it. Awesome. Alright, friends.
Amy Vaughan:
Well, it looks like we don’t have any other questions from the audience, so we’ll go ahead and wrap it. Dana, thank you so much for this. It has been such a pleasure having you on with us. Really enjoyed our conversation.
Dana Johnson:
Thanks. It was fun. I will always geek out about some sort of content strategy.
Amy Vaughan:
Right? Okay. And I will say if you all wanna geek out some more and you just can’t get enough of Dana, she’s going to be back in the form of our digital master class together. So those of you who are members, if you know it or not, every month, we have an hour and a half long master class class that is a deep dive into different aspects of leadership and self worth, but then also marketing and advertising and digital and technology. And so Dana’s gonna be coming back and joining us later in the year for evergreen, content strategies that sell. That’ll be our October. This one that we have coming up in June is all about walking in your truth and finding your gear, own individuality, authenticity, and strength. So, like, these master classes just really range. But I am super excited for your master class.
Amy Vaughan:
I kinda wish it was sooner, Dana. But, you know, it’ll be October before we know it.
Dana Johnson:
I know. I feel like summer just started, and yet tomorrow, it feels like it’s gonna end.
Amy Vaughan:
So I know. Right? Absolutely. Well, now that the whole mayhem, May December is over, we can all, whoo, take a deep breath and hopefully go into our long weekend and get some rest. Because I don’t know about y’all, but this month kicked my butt.
Dana Johnson:
Oh my god. The beginning of the month was good. The end of this month, because between my husband and I, we do have five kids and there was back to back. Yep. End of year parties and ceremonies. And we had to divide and conquer and I was like, I like, yesterday was the first full day of not doing that. It was a frustrating summer. And I was like, thank god.
Dana Johnson:
I can just take a deep breath. Oh my gosh. Right? I’m gonna sit on my porch through my book, and I can’t remember the last time I did that. Yeah. You gotta look at the member Slack, the Maycember little video another facilitator sent me because we were talking about the insanity, and it’s just so you’re gonna feel it. It’s so spot on, especially with the five kids. Oh my god. I don’t know how you do it, lady.
Amy Vaughan:
Don’t know how well, I do know how you do it. Process.
Dana Johnson:
My calendar is color coded and looks like a bag of skills exploded. I love it. It’s fine, and it’s gonna work out.
Amy Vaughan:
It is. You’re gonna do amazing. Keep it up. Alright, everyone. Well, we’ll close it out there. If you’re interested in joining the master classes or getting into our members only Slack, check out together in digital.com and check it out, the options. We have monthly memberships, annual memberships, memberships for students, and then even foundation granted memberships if you need the help. So with that, we’ll close it out, and we’ll be excited to see you all here again hopefully next week as we have some more fantastic conversations on all things digital in life.
Amy Vaughan:
Until then, keep asking, keep giving, and keep growing. We’ll see you next week. Bye.
Dana Johnson:
Bye.
