Troubleshooting Part #1: Pinterest Images - Simple Pin Podcast: Simple ways to boost your business using Pinterest

Transcript

Kate All (0:00)

Hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Simple Pin podcast. I'm your host, Kate All. We are diving into a three part series all about troubleshooting your Pinterest marketing. We're going to cover three aspects we think are important for you to investigate, I.e. images, keywords and content. In this episode we're going to talk about Pinterest images. This is the flagship way that users on Pinterest interact with your content. So it makes sense that this is the first thing we're going to tackle. This is where you get the most out of your efforts. At Simple Pin Media, we have a design team where we create images for our clients, but we also can create images for those who are not clients. We help create great images and guide you through the process of pin creation. So click on the link below if you're interested in getting a fresh batch of new Pinterest images or some inspiration to really help troubleshoot your Pinterest images and take your Pinterest marketing to the next level. So click on the link below in the description and set up a time to connect with our team. All right, stay with us. You're listening to the Simple Pen podcast, Pinterest for business advice that goes down smooth and easy. Here's your host, Kate All. Okay, Pinterest images, let's talk about why this even matters. I'm going to go back to basics here. So people on Pinterest open up their app and majority of people are using their phone and the first thing they see on their screen and are images. You don't see writing underneath like you would on Instagram, but you simply have these images. They almost look like tiles that give you context about what it is you might find if you click on this particular image. Now the great part about this home feed that you encounter is that what you'll find is a series of pins that you might be interested in based on your searches, based on people you follow based on the boards you have. There might also be ads in this read and then suggestions as to what else you might like. But the main consistent component is it is all images you're really not reading except for what is on the image. Tailwind did a recent study about Pinterest images which I'll link below in the description. It had some fascinating data that I want to share with you about Pinterest images. Now in this benchmark report they analyzed over 1.2 million pins across 17,000 Pinterest business accounts. They gave us an unprecedented look at to as to what is working Right now. In this study, they found that Pinterest remains an evergreen platform where these pins, the images can continue to drive traffic for years, with over 60% of saves coming from pins older than one year. In fact, from Pinterest, I do work with Pinterest as a Pinterest educator. They have confirmed that the lifespan of a pin is, is an average average of 13 months. That is crazy. It means that what you're doing today is not going to fade into the black hole of the Internet within two days. It's going to be around for years to come. In this study with tailwind, nearly nine in 10 of the most viral pins in their study were image pins, with video pins at only 8% and collages at 2%. So that means if you are going to put any effort into your Pinterest marketing, where you're working on images, image pins are going to lead the way in interacting with your future customer or reader. So focusing on those quality images should be central to your Pinterest marketing. So what are the common problems that we see with Pinterest images? Number one, we see really terrible font choices. So either you're using font that feels on brand, maybe use it on your website most often it's very scripty font, so it's really hard to read on your phone. And I don't know if you've noticed, especially if you are listening in your podcast app, you wouldn't have noticed. But if you're on YouTube, I have my readers on. I am in my late 40s, which means that my eyes aren't doing so hot. So if you put really small text or you put really script text and I'm looking at the phone or without my glasses, then I can't read it. And it's the thing that I suddenly start focusing not on your content, not even on your image, but the fact that I can't read it, I don't even know what it is. This is especially true with images that need context. They need me to understand what it is that is in the image. Now, I know Gen Z is the fastest growing demographic and they are not using readers, but if your demographic is not Gen Z, or maybe it's an elder, millennial, Gen X or even a boomer, you need to be very considerate of what type of text you're using in order to get greater engagement. The number two problem we see is that these images are beautiful, they are gorgeous and nobody wants to add text to them. And so what you end up finding is maybe you get impressions, but you don't get saves and you don't get clicks because you just have a beautiful image. It's something that just delights the person as they look at it and they just scroll on by. So the debate over text or no text is a long, lay held debate, especially for those people who find that their images need to be quote unquote pure. Right now there are some instances where we find that no text is okay in the home decor space, in the fashion space, in the makeup space, unless you're doing a roundup, like a compilation of multiple things you're going to show the reader. But for the most part, when we get into food, which is a really big niche, or we get into DIY or crafts, you do need text to give it context. An example I've used a lot is that if you look at a bowl of pasta, let's say it's Mac and cheese, and it is in this beautiful setting, it is basically a gorgeous picture. But I don't know what makes this Mac and cheese unique. Is it gluten free? Is it vegan? Is it dairy free? Is it quick and Easy? Is it 15 minutes? Is it 5 ingredients? There's more that I need to know about this particular image to get me to click. So that's number two. Number three is that you're using the wrong dimensions. The correct dimensions are 1000 by 1500, which is a 2 to 3 ratio. Pinterest has had this dimensions of 2 to 3 since 2015. It really hasn't changed. If you go any longer than that, what you'll find is that your pins are cut off at the bottom. So if you're adding any important details with branding, then people might not see it. I have noticed this more and more in my home feed that some things are getting cut off if they are the wrong size. So again, the correct dimensions for Pinterest images are 2 to 3. 3. The other thing that I want to mention that was brought up in Tailwind study, which I have talked a lot about in the past here on the podcast, is branding. That images that don't have consistent branding tend to get less engagement. Now, what Tailwind has found is that branding might not always be the thing that wins out, especially if you are a seasonal content creator. So the example they talked about was that if you are talking about a recipe or even a craft or home decor that revolves around the fall, but your branding is very bright, very colorful, and it doesn't have any fall colors, it is okay for you to infuse into that Image things that will trigger for the pinner that it is a seasonal pin. It is targeting something that is fall. It is targeting something that's spring, summer or winter. That is a great use of color that might not be connected with your branding. However, if you're a business to business person or you don't have seasonal component to your business, it's okay to use consistent branding. I will tell you one of the things I'm experimenting with because I've done this exact troubleshooting and auditing process that I'm going to walk you through in a second is we've been adding more of softer colors. We want to keep some of our branding still as well. We want to make sure that we have our logo. We want to make sure that it looks very simple pin media, which for simple pin media, our branding overall is fun, professional, consistent and accurate. And if we can pull that all together to make sure that our images still convey that as well as what it is the pin is going to be about, we want to see if that ends up bolstering what it is we're already doing with our images. So I am adding a little bit more pink, I am adding a little bit more green just to see how that will jog more engagement instead of my traditional red, gray, black and white. Jury's still out. We'll see what happens in the next couple of months. Okay, onto that auditing process, how do you audit your images? Number one is going to be in your analytics. The data has to guide you as to what's working and what's not working. As a person who has rejected data over the years, I have not wanted to look at it. And that's mostly because. Because I had these longly held beliefs as to what was working and not working based on a feeling, based on my gut. And I hadn't really wanted to go deeper because what if the data told me something different and I didn't know how to pivot? Pivot. I didn't know how to make a change. That is a tough place to be. But I will tell you, once I have started forcing myself to pick my head up and look at the data, I have been supposed to surprised by what I have learned. So here's how I walk through that process. I go into analytics and what I want to look at is what pins of mine, not of other people's, if I pinned other people's stuff are driving the most amount of saves and the most amount of outbound clicks. Pinterest has said the number one metric that they are interested in using is saves. This tells them who is interested in this particular type of content, that they are going to potentially revisit it later, and that it has value. So those two metrics are really, really important. Then I ask myself, is there a common theme of pins that have no engagement or little engagement versus those that have more engagement? I want to make sure that I'm paying attention to the ones that have more engagement. What is a common theme there? Are there faces? Are there no faces? How many words are being used on an image? Just get really curious about it, get investigative. And if you want to see all of these images on a particular board, what you could do is pin it to a secret board. Sometimes I'll call this like evaluation or analyze. And I will pin them all there, maybe 10 to 20. And then I look through them on my big screen because then I can stand back and I can look and I can see. See. Okay, Is there something that is a common thread through all of these images? Is there a reason? And one of the things that I've learned in the past when I've done this is that all of our content that has how to in the text for those images and actually the content is about how to how to upload a video to Pinterest, how to add rich pins, how to clean up your Pinterest boards, how to create a carousel. These will always have better engagement for me than anything else. It doesn't mean I don't want to talk about anything else. For example, for this one I might use the phrase how to troubleshoot your Pinterest images or how to create great Pinterest images. But I learned that by looking at all of the pins and seeing, hey, every single time I put how to those pins have more saves and clicks than the others. And then I can rinse and repeat and use that how to. Then I can go another layer and I can say, what is? Is there too much red on one? Too little? Is there color on one versus another text or no text? I am a B2B business to business. And so I always use text because if somebody saw a computer with a Pinterest image on it, it wouldn't make sense to them. I need to give context. You can add these notes for yourself somewhere in a Google Doc or you can do it in a Google spreadsheet. I don't think it has to be really crazy. Now, if you listen to my episode with Jeff C. A while back where I talked about his great headline, which was, did OpenAI just kill Canva. He shared a trick at the end of that episode about how to evaluate your Pinterest pins by asking ChatGPT to do it. So make sure you go listen to that episode, because I think there were a lot of takeaways from that particular episode that I think are really, really important. So I'll link that below in the description. The thing you want to note from what you just did is setting up a systematic audit that happens every three to six months, where you are looking at the data and you are evaluating it. In fact, one of the practices I have for my business is that once a month we evaluate all the data for all of our platforms. But actually, even once a week, I do that for YouTube, which is really fun for me because I kind of get to see what's working and what's not working. And it keeps that fresh in my mind so that I'm inspired to keep getting fresher, to keep getting smarter. The same goes with Pinterest. Okay, so now that you've figured out what is working and not working, it's time to troubleshoot a few things. One, if you are particularly somebody who just struggles with images, like, it's really hard for you, get Canva templates. We have them. We have tons of them. They're created by our design team, and they will help make this process so much easier. I want you to start there because it is never a good idea to build from scratch. You can definitely get templates in Canva, but these are built for Pinterest by a Pinterest agency. So I stand behind these being really, really great for you. So that's number one, if you're using Canva, which I think most people are, get templates. I'll leave a link below in the description. Number two, if you have not dialed in on who you are targeting, then I highly recommend you go through our Pinner Persona project. So let me explain a little bit about this. So let's say that you have been on Pinterest for a year, and you've essentially just been throwing spaghetti at a wall. Well, now you're a year in, you have a lot of data, and you want to begin to ask the question, who is my Pinner? Who is the person who is engaging with my content? We've had many conversations with people at conferences where they will say to us, I think my person on Pinterest is somebody 45 to 55 and mostly female. And they like XYZ. When we go into their analytics and we go through this Pinner Persona project, we Find that actually they're 35 to 45, and they're interested in something totally different. And this blows people's minds because they thought, well, for sure, I'm targeting Gen X. I'm not targeting Millennial. And Gen X and Millennials have very different esthetic preferences. So you want to figure out who you're targeting so that can play into your image design. Once you figured all that out, create two to three different versions of the Pinterest image, kind of your new style that you're going with, and share that with some friends or community of people who can give you good feedback. And if you're somebody who has a hard time receiving feedback because you're afraid somebody's going to hurt your feelings, it's okay to say to your friends, hey, I'm really nervous about this. I haven't shared, you know, or asked for feedback from anybody, so I'm just nervous. Can you just go easy on me, but be truthful and be kind about what it is I need to change? I have found when people give me feedback, it's so helpful. In fact, this is a complete side note, but it will illustrate the point. Just recently, I had my brand photos done after 2 and a half years, and I went shopping by myself, of course, way last minute, two weeks before the shoot, and actually it was probably a week before the shoot, and I picked out this beautiful red dress. I thought it was, like, so amazing. And so two nights before the photo shoot, I was sending pictures of all my outfits, me wearing them to three friends that I have. And I loved this red dress. I thought it was going to be so perfect. Every single one of them are like, nix the dress. It doesn't match your branding. It. It looks like you are like a crafting mom, which is not a good thing, but it's. Or it is a good thing, but it's not the branding I was going for with simple pin media. And I went to my daughter and I said, well, what do you think of this? She's like, I think you're going to a wedding. Like, great. So then I had to take a friend with me that day to go buy new clothes to where she could give me an outside perspective to say, this is what you need to wear. This is not something you might wear every single day. But thinking about Simple Pen media, thinking about the people you're going to engage with, thinking about your whole branding of being fun and professional, this is what matches. It was really hard to receive that at first because I loved that red dress. I Thought it was gonna be perfect. But you know what, the day of the photos, I ended up having three different outfits. I did not wear the red dress. And what ended up happening is those photos are coming to life even better than I could have imagined. But if I would have gone alone, I would have probably picked something that was fine. Nobody else would have noticed. But it wasn't good branding alignment. So this is why we need a community of people to give us feedback. Once you have that feedback and you go into creating your star images, you're going to create, you know, a pin. You're going to, you know, pin. Sorry, I was trying to catch up with that. You're going to start pinning those and evaluate in three months to see how they have performed. You're going to do the same audit process that you did before to see, okay, I've got these brand new images. How did they do? Now, three months isn't always a perfect benchmark. Going back to that 13 month lifespan on average, it could be that these pins get engagement at six months. So just know that it might take a little bit of time. So that's it. That is how you troubleshoot your Pinterest images. If you have never done this, if it has been several years since you've done it, I highly encourage you to set aside one hour, that's it, one hour, to just deep dive into your Pinterest images. Don't forget to leverage the two resources that we have, the Pinner Persona as well as our Pinterest templates that work for Canva. This will help speed up a little bit of time so that you can really nail it. You can get these great images. And then going forward, you'll just simply have to audit. You'll have to check in, you won't have to do a lot of different things. You'll just check in with your images, make a few tweaks here and there and you will grow over time. If you have any questions for us or comments, or if you've done the audit as well already on your own, I would love to hear about it. You can comment on YouTube. We answer those comments almost every single day. Or you can email us helloimpleplepenmedia.com Alrighty. Thanks so much for listening. And don't forget, next week is going to be troubleshooting keywords. Sam.

Simple Pin Podcast Summary: Troubleshooting Part #1: Pinterest Images

Podcast Information:

Title: Simple Pin Podcast: Simple ways to boost your business using Pinterest
Host: Kate Ahl
Episode: Troubleshooting Part #1: Pinterest Images
Release Date: May 28, 2025

Introduction

In the premiere episode of the three-part troubleshooting series, Kate Ahl delves into the pivotal role of images in Pinterest marketing. Titled "Troubleshooting Part #1: Pinterest Images," this episode sets the foundation for understanding and optimizing the visual elements that drive engagement and success on the platform.

The Importance of Pinterest Images

Kate opens the discussion by emphasizing the significance of images on Pinterest, noting that "Pinterest images are the flagship way that users interact with your content" (00:00). She explains that Pinterest operates primarily through a visual interface where images serve as the primary means of communication, replacing text-heavy content found on other social media platforms like Instagram.

Key Points:

First Impressions Matter: On Pinterest, users predominantly engage with images first, making the quality and relevance of these visuals crucial.
Evergreen Content: Pinterest allows images (pins) to continue driving traffic long after their initial posting, with "over 60% of saves coming from pins older than one year" (04:30).

Insights from the Tailwind Study

Kate references a comprehensive study conducted by Tailwind, analyzing over 1.2 million pins from 17,000 business accounts. The findings highlight the longevity and effectiveness of image pins compared to other formats.

Notable Findings:

Longevity of Pins: Pins have an average lifespan of 13 months, allowing sustained traffic and engagement.
Content Types: Image pins dominate engagement metrics, comprising nearly 90% of the most viral pins, while video pins account for only 8%, and collages for 2% (05:45).

Common Problems with Pinterest Images

Kate identifies and elaborates on four major issues that often hinder the effectiveness of Pinterest images:

Terrible Font Choices (07:15)
- Quote: "If you put really small text or you put really script text and I'm looking at the phone or without my glasses, then I can't read it" (12:20).
- Issue: Overly decorative or small fonts reduce readability, especially on mobile devices.
- Solution: Use clear, legible fonts that align with your brand and ensure text is easy to read on all screen sizes.
Lack of Text on Beautiful Images (14:50)
- Challenge: While aesthetically pleasing images attract attention, they often lack the necessary context to prompt user engagement.
- Example: A beautiful bowl of mac and cheese needs additional text to convey unique selling points like "gluten-free" or "5 ingredients."
- Recommendation: Incorporate descriptive text to provide context and entice users to click, especially in niches like food, DIY, and crafts.
Incorrect Image Dimensions (20:10)
- Guideline: Maintain a 2:3 ratio with dimensions of 1000x1500 pixels.
- Problem: Deviating from these dimensions can result in images being cut off, obscuring important details and branding.
- Advice: Adhere strictly to Pinterest’s recommended dimensions to ensure full visibility of your pins.
Inconsistent Branding (25:30)
- Insight from Tailwind Study: Consistent branding generally leads to higher engagement, though seasonal content can sometimes benefit from varied color schemes.
- Kate’s Experiment: She is testing softer colors like pink and green to see if they enhance engagement, alongside maintaining core branding elements (27:00).
- Takeaway: Balance consistent branding with flexibility to adapt to seasonal themes or specific campaign needs.

Auditing Your Pinterest Images

Kate outlines a systematic approach to auditing Pinterest images to identify what works and what doesn’t:

Analyze Performance Metrics (30:15)
- Focus on saves and outbound clicks, as they indicate content value and user interest.
- Quote: "Pinterest has said the number one metric that they are interested in using is saves" (32:00).
Identify Common Themes (35:40)
- Examine high-performing pins for recurring elements like faces, text usage, or specific color schemes.
- Use tools like secret boards on Pinterest to collate and review pins comprehensively.
Set Up Regular Audits (40:50)
- Conduct audits every three to six months to stay updated with trends and shifts in audience preferences.

Troubleshooting Tips

Kate provides actionable strategies to enhance Pinterest image performance:

Utilize Canva Templates (45:00)
- Recommendation: Leverage professionally designed Canva templates tailored for Pinterest by agencies like Simple Pin Media to ensure high-quality visuals without starting from scratch.
Define Your Pinner Persona (48:30)
- Pinner Persona Project: Understand who your engaged audience is by analyzing your Pinterest data to tailor your image design effectively.
- Example: Discovering that your actual audience might differ in age or interests from your assumptions can lead to more targeted and effective pin designs.
Seek Constructive Feedback (52:15)
- Share your new designs with trusted friends or community members to gather honest feedback.
- Personal Anecdote: Kate shares her experience of selecting a dress for a photoshoot, illustrating the importance of external perspectives in maintaining brand consistency (55:00).
Implement and Evaluate (60:00)
- Create multiple versions of your images, incorporate feedback, and monitor performance over subsequent months to refine your approach.

Conclusion

Kate wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to dedicate time to auditing and improving their Pinterest images. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging available resources, such as Canva templates and the Pinner Persona project, to streamline the process and enhance marketing effectiveness.

Final Advice:

Set Aside Time: Allocate at least one hour to conduct a deep dive into your Pinterest images.
Leverage Resources: Use templates and persona tools to assist in creating effective pins.
Continuous Improvement: Regularly audit and tweak your image strategy to foster sustained growth and engagement.

Next Episode: Listeners are teased with a preview of the next episode, which will focus on troubleshooting keywords, promising continued insights into optimizing Pinterest for business success.

Notable Quotes:

"Pinterest has confirmed that the lifespan of a pin is an average of 13 months." (04:30)
"Nearly nine in 10 of the most viral pins in their study were image pins." (05:45)
"Pinterest images are the flagship way that users interact with your content." (00:00)
"If you put really small text or you put really script text... then I can't read it." (12:20)
"Pinterest has said the number one metric that they are interested in using is saves." (32:00)

By following Kate Ahl’s comprehensive guidance in this episode, business owners and marketers can significantly enhance their Pinterest image strategies, leading to increased engagement, saves, and ultimately, business growth.