Kate's Take: Quick thoughts on Pinterest marketing #1 - Simple Pin Podcast: Simple ways to boost your business using Pinterest

Simple Pin Podcast: Kate’s Take – Quick Thoughts on Pinterest Marketing #1

Host: Kate Ahl
Date: January 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this inaugural “Kate’s Take” segment, Kate Ahl introduces a new podcast mini-series designed to share her timely, unfiltered perspective on Pinterest marketing trends. Built as a companion to the deeper-dive interview and strategy episodes, “Kate’s Take” will offer bite-sized updates, personal insights, and practical tips bi-weekly—helping marketers and business owners stay agile and informed.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing “Kate’s Take” Format

[00:00–02:10]

Kate announces her new bi-weekly format:
- Deep-dive interviews and strategies continue as regular episodes.
- On the “off” weeks, Kate will share solo thoughts: quick Pinterest observations, trend reactions, client insights, and troubleshooting in short five-minute episodes.
Rationale:
- Aims to fill the context gap with honest, personal perspectives and advice.
- Acknowledges the challenges of producing frequent solo teaching episodes on top of client work and broader expert interviews.
Honest reflection:
- “Frankly, I'm only one person with one perspective… but I wanted to really widen my reach and get out there and see how are people using Pinterest differently.” (Kate, 01:01)

2. Purpose and Audience Care

[02:11–03:12]

Kate emphasizes she’ll always be transparent when she’s brainstorming or troubleshooting so listeners don’t waste time chasing strategies that may not be proven yet.
Focused on respecting listeners’ time:
- "I want to really caretake for your time so that you don't take more time than you need on something that may or may not work." (Kate, 02:45)
Encourages listeners to see these short episodes as a “Pinterest reality check” between full, scheduled episodes.

3. Podcast Availability Update

[03:13–03:56]

The “Kate’s Take” segments will only be available on standard podcast platforms (Spotify, Apple, etc.)—not on her website or YouTube.
Brief aside about shifting podcast habits:
- “Apple has been terrible lately. I know a lot of people have shifted away from it.” (Kate, 03:39)
Direct call to subscribe for uninterrupted access.

4. Pinterest Predicts 2026 — Practical Use

[03:57–05:05]

Kate shares a behind-the-scenes insight from her last episode, featuring the Head of Global Content at Pinterest, focused on “Pinterest Predicts 2026.”
She calls the Pinterest Predicts deck “overwhelming”—packed with creative names and trends that may seem daunting or mysterious.
Her simple, actionable strategy:
- Go directly to the year-over-year “trending search terms.”
- Identify one or two relevant trends for your audience; if nothing fits, it’s okay to skip or do something adjacent.
- If you’re already seeing good results in analytics and have a content groove, there’s no need to force change.
- But if you’re “idea poor” or need fresh content inspiration, use Predicts as a strategic roadmap.
Addressing Critics:
- Some critique that Predicts trends are “obvious” or “pre-ordained” by Pinterest’s own content priorities.
- Kate’s stance: “Well, if that's the case, then you for sure need to be using those keywords… every platform has interest-based targeting or keyword-based targeting. That's essentially what you see here.” (Kate, 04:33 & 04:52)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On evolving the podcast:
- “I want you to think of it a little bit as your Pinterest reality check or Pinterest thoughts between these episodes.” (Kate, 02:55)
On the purpose of Predicts:
- “If your analytics are telling you what's working and not working already and you feel like you have a really good groove, keep doing it. But if you are idea poor… this is such a great way for you to basically get a roadmap.” (Kate, 04:14)
On platform strategy:
- “If that's the case [Pinterest boosting trends], then you for sure need to be using those keywords because every platform has interest based targeting or keyword based targeting.” (Kate, 04:33)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:00–02:10: Introduction to “Kate’s Take” and podcast structure changes
02:11–03:12: Kate’s promise to be transparent and focus on protecting listeners’ time
03:13–03:56: Availability news—“Kate’s Take” will be podcast-player exclusive
03:57–05:05: Kate’s actionable advice for using Pinterest Predicts 2026

Summary & Takeaway

In this quick and candid episode, Kate Ahl introduces the “Kate’s Take” format, offering her listeners a direct line to her evolving analysis and advice on Pinterest marketing. She shares a practical, minimalist approach to leveraging Pinterest's annual trend forecasts, emphasizing simplicity, authentic alignment with your existing audience, and prioritizing tactics proven to work in your analytics. The tone remains relatable and focused on saving listeners time, while the advice is immediately actionable—ideal for marketers who need a Pinterest reality check between longer-form episodes.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Foreign hey everyone. Kate all here and welcome to something new. I'm trying Kate's take so here's the deal. Every other week in 2026, I'm recording our regular Simple Pin podcast episodes where we dive deep into Pinterest strategies and more specifically interviewing experts who are trying new things with Pinterest or they're using Pinterest outside the box. In addition, I want to also interview people that have businesses that are Pinterest adjacent. Maybe they don't necessarily work with Pinterest, but the work that they do supports what is already happening on the Pinterest platform. I really wanted to do this because I felt like last year I was doing a lot of episodes that were mostly just me and to come up with more of those episodes to teach, to record the video, to do all of those things to took a very long time. And frankly, I'm only one person with one perspective. We do have all of our client perspectives, but I wanted to really widen my reach and get out there and see how are people using Pinterest differently. However, what I realized was that this does leave a little bit of a gap. What do we do with these other two episodes on the 2nd and the 4th Wednesdays of the month? So in between these interview episodes, I'm going to have a lot of thoughts. I'm going to have things that I want to share, quick Pinterest observations that I have, reactions to, trends I'm seeing, or just things that are on my mind about where Pinterest marketing is headed. This is where Kate's take comes in twice a month. On those weeks where we don't have a full episode, I'm going to jump on here for five minutes or less and give you my unfiltered thoughts on what's happening right now in the Pinterest world. No scripts, no interviews, no super long teaching. Just me sharing honestly what I'm seeing with some of our clients, what I think it means for you, and a little bit of spitballing here and there. I'll be clear to tell you when I'm just troubleshooting something so that you don't start doing it. Go all the way down the track and find that it's not working for you. I want to really caretake for your time so that you don't take more time than you need on something that may or may not work. I want you to think of it a little bit as your Pinterest reality check or Pinterest thoughts between these episodes. An interesting note for you is that These will only be in the podcast players that you use. Spotify, Apple. I'm sure there's tons of other ones. Apple has been terrible lately. I know a lot of people have shifted away from it. It won't be on the website, it won't be on YouTube. So make sure you are subscribed to keep these showing up for you. Now, I'm not going to do too deep of a take today because we're already about three minutes in on this, but I do just want to share a little bit behind the scenes of the last episode that I did with the head of Global Content at Pinterest About Pinterest predicts 2026 this can be overwhelming. Honestly, sometimes when I look at it I see all these creative names. I don't understand how to use it. So I'm going to give you like one thing that I do and in fact I'm looking at it right now as I record this. I'm looking at the slide deck that they have and one of the things that I would say is go straight towards the trending search terms year over year, look in every single one that they have and see if there's just one to two that you can pull out. If there isn't, and if this doesn't align with your core customer or your core client, it is okay to either do something adjacent or keep doing what you're doing. Honestly, sometimes if your analytics are telling you what's working and not working already and you feel like you have a really good groove, keep doing it. But if you are idea poor and you are like I don't know what to create for 2026 and you really want to lean into Pinterest marketing, this is such a great way for you to basically get a roadmap as to where Pinterest is telling you the trends are going to appear. A lot of times people will criticize this and they'll say, well, Pinterest obviously knows that it's going to be trending because they're going to prioritize it. Well, if that's the case, then you for sure need to be using those keywords because every platform has interest based targeting or keyword based targeting. That's essentially what you see here. So just go through it, check it out. If you haven't listened to the last interview that I did about Pinterest Predicts, go ahead and listen to it. And that's my take for this week. Thanks so much for listening. And do not forget to subscribe so you don't miss my take.