Building a Business and Podcast Around Marketing With Pinterest with Kate Ahl

 

“I love podcasting. It takes my connection with the audience to the next level.” -Kate Ahl Click To Tweet

Today’s Episode:

Kate Ahl is the founder of Simple Pin Media and the host of The Simple Pin Podcast. She launched her business in January of 2014, and by November, it was a full-fledged marketing agency. She now has a team of 40 and services hundreds of Pinterest accounts. According to statistics that Kate shared 93% of Pinterest users are looking to buy. Getting your content or product in front of those users is what Kate and her team do best.

Kate began her podcast in 2016 to teach, share her voice, and market her service. She interviews other people who are using Pinterest in creative ways to build their lists and increase revenue. Today, she shares her business journey including the results and lessons from starting a podcast. She also shares pinterest tips that others can use for their podcasts and enlightens us about Pinterest marketing and some of the benefits of Pinterest marketing. 

“People search for ideas on Pinterest. It’s very much an informer on what they are going to buy, do, or take action on later.” -Kate Ahl Click To Tweet

Show Notes

  • [03:08] We met in person at Social Media Marketing World in 2018.
  • [03:50] Kate’s podcast is The Simple Pin Media Podcast.
  • [04:21] Kate was doing Facebook marketing for a friend in 2013, when an algorithm change led to lost traffic. Kate and some of her friends migrated over to Pinterest with the hopes of long-term traffic. 
  • [05:16] Kate enjoyed marketing on Pinterest and the long-term stability of the platform.
  • [06:09] One of the main misconceptions about Pinterest is that it’s only for women. Pinterest warms up potential customers. Pinterest marketing is part of the awareness stage, because it is where people go to plan things.
  • [07:24] The leap from Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is a very hard mindset shift to make for some marketers. 
  • [08:58] It can be more difficult to keep track of ROI with Pinterest. 
  • [09:46] For Kate, her Pinterest goal is to get people to her podcast and blog. Her ROI is based on a lead, but it’s different for everyone. 
  • [10:43] Kate converts her podcast content into blog posts and sends her Pinterest traffic to those posts. Pinterest users are searching for content, so you could send them to a review or a tip. 
  • [11:37] Pinterest likes vertical images. Use that as billboard advertising or a hook. 
  • [12:04] Pinterest users have two habits. They either scroll mindlessly through the main home feed that they arrive on or they search for a specific phrase.
  • [13:45] Simple Pin was originally designed to be a side hustle. Things started to grow and Kate was building her voice. In 2016, she decided to podcast.
  • [15:45] She wanted to have good systems in place and outsource everything but recording. Knowing Pro Podcast Solutions was taking care of everything else gave her peace of mind. 
  • [16:35] Tools that Kate uses include PPS for editing, a spreadsheet for content management and their Facebook group to help surface content. 
  • [17:32] She tries to stay ahead and usually records on Thursdays. She also hired a podcast writer who makes the blog post. 
  • [18:39] Kate has a team of 40. The biggest part of her team is organic management for clients. She also has a small part of the team for marketing, affiliates, and launches. She has a community manager, herself, and an operations manager. 
  • [19:44] This year Kate is investing more into marketing and the podcast. 
  • [20:29] The scariest part of podcasting for Kate was just doing it and seeing how it would be received. She asks our team about stats and things like that. 
  • [23:18] Things that held Kate back were wondering if people would like the sound of her voice. Her and her husband also got sick and pushed the start back. 
  • [25:05] It’s normal to not go back and listen to your podcasts. 
  • [26:05] Kate’s parents are both entrepreneurs. She set a great example for them. She was impressed by their follow-through and perseverance. They also taught her great customer service. 
  • [29:37] Kate always thought she would be a teacher. She finally discovered her gift was in leadership and leading a team and building a business. 
  • [33:37] For Kate, her business shapes her podcast. 
  • [35:23] She defines success when her listeners actually put her tips into practice and then eventually come on as clients. Her goal is to empower clients to grow their business using Pinterest, so that they can afford to hire her team.
  • [36:29] The podcast has three goals new customers, new Pinterest professionals, and teaching people Pinterest marketing.  
  • [37:33] At a conference, a listener gave Kate a picture that her daughter drew while they were listening to Kate’s podcast together. 
  • [38:45] Your voice is being projected into people’s lives with a podcast. 
  • [40:31] Kate is reading Dave Ramsey’s Legacy Journey right now.
  • [41:10] One of Kate’s future goals is to do corporate consulting for big brands. 
  • [41:43] She has stopped comparing her business to others and stopped being afraid of making mistakes. 
“I fell in love with how easy it was to market on the Pinterest platform. I also found that I could break it down into actionable steps.” -Kate Ahl Click To Tweet

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