Thursday Press #97: I couldn't unsend fast enough...
[14 SEPT 2023] Week 1 of Pinterest 101: the algorithm in 2023
Never, ever act like you know more about Taylor Swift than a Swiftie
My current TikTok FYP is a healthy mix of whatever I'm obsessing over at the moment, which is always going to include Taylor Swift.
Buuutttt, as a result of me only using the app for like 15 (ok 45) minutes a day to check my messages from Sara @ BTL Copy, a lot of the videos I get shown are old news
Some important context: I am not historically an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment texter. I tend to overthink my messages.
Last week, I did not.
The TikTok algorithm served me a juiiiiiicy headline about Miss Swift's former London Boy Joe Alwyn and I immediately copy > sent link to my aforementioned Swiftie friend
Some (more) important context: I'd be in friendship jail if I didn't clarify that my friend is a gaylor-variety swiftie. It's an important distinction.
Approximately 1.5 milliseconds after hitting 'send', I realized the TikTok was 2 months old and FAKE.
I FELL FOR FAKE NEWS. AND SHARED IT.
Former journalism student Sarah is shaking her head from the basement of Carroll Hall.
Obviously, I did the next logical thing and unsent the messages.
But it was too late. 😫
My friend is as chronically online as I am and had already seen and responded to my TikTok text. *sigh*
Luckily, she's well used to being the pop culture expert in our group and chalked it up to my normal obliviousness, but that moment's definitely getting saved in the "moments to cringe about when you're trying to fall asleep" file folder of my brain.
If you want to fall down a fun rabbit hole, go look at all the clips of Taylor dancing it up at the VMAs earlier this week.
So I fell for some old, inaccurate news. Big deal, right?
In this situation, it really wasn't that big of a deal.
But when you're following outdated tips and tricks for Pinterest marketing, it could make the difference between building an automatic lead generation machine and getting your account suspended for spam 🥴
Welcome back to Pinterest 101!
ICYMI, this is Week 1 of our 4-part back to Pinterest basics series
Today's topic — How the Pinterest algorithm really works in 2023
BELOW THE FOLD
I like to date my Pinterest usage to the coral-and-mint, burlap-and-mason-jar wedding decor era of Pinterest
Ah, the early 2010s...
Between you and me, bestie, the Pinterest of yesteryears is long gone
And while there may be some things I miss, I'm here to tell you that the "all-powerful and terrifying" Pinterest algorithm is actually here to help you
It doesn't hate you, and it certainly isn't out to "get" you.
Pinterest's goal is to keep its users engaging with the platform...
..which means keeping them happy...
..by making it easy to find and consume the content they're looking for.
As a business marketing on Pinterest, you can work with the algorithm by providing it as MUCH information as possible to make that process easier
That's what we call Pinterest SEO, baby.
To truly understand how the Pinterest algorithm works, it's essential to understand Pinterest SEO and the overall framework of how Pinterest content is categorized and distributed.
With so many different components at play (profiles, boards, pins, oh my!), let's use one of my favorite analogies to break it all down.
🏠 Pinterest is like a house. Here's how.
Your Pinterest profile is the actual home. It's where everything lives.
The rooms of your Pinterest house are your boards. They're different containers for different content.
Your boards could be general ("Marketing Tips") or uber-specific ("Modern Showit Web Design for Photographers").
Your boards are important because your Pinterest account is a home, not a minimalist open floor-plan studio apartment. The rooms in your house give context and tell visitors what to expect and do in each space.
When Pinterest sends its algorithm robots into your account, you want to make it easy for them to understand their surroundings.
You can think of your individual pins like your belongings or pieces of decor.
Some things, like a toothbrush, might have ONE specific place they belong — the bathroom — while others, like a throw pillow, might have a few different places they can "fit"
The same is true of your pins.
Just like decorating your house, sometimes you have to try a few places before you find the best look. In other words, try pinning similar pieces of content to multiple different, relevant boards.
The point of all of these rooms and items is to organize your Pinterest content and make it ridiculously easy for Pinterest to understand your content
Creating boards and pinning content to those boards (instead of just your profile) gives Pinterest extra SEO context that's crucial when it comes to getting your pin properly distributed in the algorithm.
Now that we have this framework in mind, here's what happens when you publish a pin on Pinterest
Pinterest crawls your pin for relevant data, including:
Pin title + description
Text on the pin graphic
Visual similarities of the graphic to other pins of similar topics
The board title + description you're pinning to
The other pins in that board
Your link's meta description
If that link has been pinned before (by you or another user)
All that information helps it decide what your pin is all about, and Pinterest assigns your pin different "interests"
You can read this email to learn more about how to see these interests on already published pins!
Then, when a user searches for something on Pinterest, the algorithm uses the search term given plus the user's past engagement activity to return what they think the user wants.
If your content matches what the user is searching for, bada-bing, bada-boom, you've reached a new potential client and the algorithm has successfully done its job for all parties! 🎉
Alright bestie, I did promise this was going to be a back to basics series, and of course here I go writing one of my longest emails to date???
Ahh, saved by the bell.
If you're looking for a refresher on some basic Pinterest marketing terms, this week's blog post should be right up your alley...
30 Pinterest Marketing Terms You Need to Know
Week 1, done!
I'll be back next Thursday to talk about what every good house needs — a solid foundation!
SAME BAT-TIME, SAME BAT-PLACE?
Sarah
P.S. I have to tell you that while I was writing this email, the most magical lo-fi instrumental version of Willow (by Miss Swift herself) popped up in my Spotify queue. So obviously it's my duty to share it with you.