Marketing Happy Hour - Level Up Your Pinterest Game | Pinterest Expert + Creator Jessica Morrobel

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, Jessica. Welcome to Marketing Happy Hour. How are you? Hello. I'm doing amazing. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast today. Super excited to be here. Yeah, absolutely. Well, we are very stoked to have you as well. So before we dive in here, lots to talk about, but we would love to know what's in your glass either this morning we're recording. Well, we're recording at about 12 o'clock. So midday here, but whether it's right now or just, what do you enjoy sipping on on a regular basis? So I am having water right now, staying hydrated, but I usually like to drink kombucha. I know it's definitely an acquired taste for some,

Starting point is 00:00:46 but it's definitely grown on me. And for like a true happy hour, probably an Aperol Spritz for, you know, the summer vibes in New York city. So speaking my language, there's nothing like New York city combined with an Aperol spritz. So I, I love that. I love that. I know I find myself trying to bring that Euro summer to New York city with some sort of, some sort of, some sort of drink. Yeah. That's awesome. Erica, what do you have this morning? Uh, well, I'm all about the Starbucks rewards points and they had like a triple star day yesterday. And so I got like an extra coffee to bring over into today. So that's what I have. It's a macadamia nut cold brew or something. It's pretty good. I'm loving it. So Cassie, what do you have?

Starting point is 00:01:40 I just have water this morning. I already had my caffeine, so I'm sipping on water here, but I'm hoping to have a kombucha later. Jessica makes me want one here soon. So hopefully that's next for me. Yeah. Love that. We're so excited to chat with you, like Cassie said, but before we dive in, could you just give us a bit of information around your background and kind of your journey as a creator? Yes, absolutely. So my name is Jessica Morvell. I also go by Jess and online. I go by Traveling With Jessica and I can be found across almost all socials at Traveling

Starting point is 00:02:20 With Jessica and on my website, travelingwithjessica.com. I am a travel and lifestyle content creator, influencer, speaker, and host based in New York City. And I absolutely love what I do and build in community here and across the globe. I travel quite a bit. So for me, it's really cool to be able to connect with my audience, not only here in the States, but internationally as well. And before becoming a full-time creator, I was actually in corporate marketing and I worked for Fortune 100 companies leading their marketing initiatives across a variety of different markets. So I'm here today, just really excited to talk a little bit more about my background

Starting point is 00:03:04 and of course, the next topic, which I will let you get into. So I'm an entrepreneur and a podcast host and a wife and a dog mom. And I say all that to say that I have a lot going on at all times. And there's certain part of the day where my energy and focus quite literally just goes out the window. I get really tired and I get stressed and overwhelmed and I found something that completely changes the game for me. I've been taking Magic Mind for over a year now and it's been the perfect addition to my daily routine. It's a mental performance shot that I typically take either in the morning or around my 2 p.m.

Starting point is 00:03:43 slump for enhanced focus and mental clarity. And it's filled with nootropics, adaptogens, plus over 100% of your daily vitamin C and D. Oh, and my favorite part, it has organic ceremonial grade matcha grown in Japan in it. And I highly recommend you giving it a try. So if you want to try it out, we have a code for you. HappyHour20, all capital, all one word. Use that code. You can get 48% off your first subscription or 20% off at a one-time purchase. So check it out.

Starting point is 00:04:13 Absolutely. We're going to be diving into Pinterest today, which is something we haven't talked a lot about on the show. And I know a lot of our listeners are really excited to learn more about. But I also, before we jump into that, wanted to ask you, what is your number one piece of advice for anybody listening who is a creator or an aspiring creator? And then I have a follow-up question after that about like how brands are working with creators, but want to hear your number one piece of advice for creators first? My number one piece of advice for creators is to

Starting point is 00:04:48 honestly love what you do. The saying, you know, if you love what you do, you'll never work in your life rings very true. So really maintain tunnel vision when you're creating your brand and posting online, because as we all know, the online world can be a bit volatile at times. And so it's really important to remind yourself of your why and why you're doing what you're doing, which is, you know, really ultimately something that you need to think through. So at the end of the day, doing what you love and coming through with authenticity, aka just be you. Because at the end of the day, there is someone out there who will resonate with you and with your content. Whether you're slicing bread, doing DIYs, talking about the legal world, or just doing beauty tutorials.

Starting point is 00:05:40 So be you and have tons of fun while doing so. Love that. That's so encouraging. I really appreciate you sharing that. And then I also have a question around, you know, what's your best piece of advice for brands who are either working with creators currently or looking to work with creators? You know, how can they best make sure that that relationship is a long one and a smooth one. Yeah, absolutely. For brands looking to work with creators, I think it's really important to work with creators whose style matches your brand. So be very clear from the get-go about your intentions, your goals, and expectations. Don't micromanage and trust the creator's expertise to connect with your audience authentically. So if you're coming to a creator,

Starting point is 00:06:32 whether it's on Pinterest or not, and you say, hey, we love your brand. We love your content. Tell us what specifically you love so that we can continue doing that for your friends and your audience. So at the end of the day, just to make sure there's alignment across the board. Yeah, absolutely. Could not agree more. Well, let's talk specifically about Pinterest. So very excited to hear how you are

Starting point is 00:06:58 specifically utilizing it both for yourself and just with brand partnerships as well. But in your opinion, why is Pinterest such a great place to be creating and sharing content? Yeah, absolutely. I think Pinterest is this treasure trove for creativity and inspiration. It's a place where pinners, consumers, creators go not only to create new content, but also to discover new ideas. And you think about weddings, you think about parties, you think about seasonal themes. A lot of folks are running through Pinterest to create boards and save these ideas that they can either replicate later or get inspiration from, which honestly makes it pretty great for showcasing not only your content from a creator perspective,

Starting point is 00:07:45 but also reaching an engaged audience, but also from a consumer perspective, being able to find inspiration. So those are just some of the reasons why I think Pinterest is such a great place to be creating and sharing content and consuming content. Yeah. So in terms of strategy, too, you know, depending on if a brand or even a creator and an individual is developing a strategy around Pinterest to use it for growth, discoverability, what have you, no matter if they're new or an existing brand on the platform, do you have any tips around building an effective and unique strategy for a brand specifically based on their goals? Yes, absolutely. I think first things first, because Pinterest is pretty visual forward, I think focusing on eye-catching visuals and just using clear keyword-rich descriptions can go a

Starting point is 00:08:42 really long way, especially on Pinterest, where you're really playing the long game versus other social platforms where you might get that overnight virality. That could be the case on Pinterest, but I really love it because you're building an audience over time versus pulling them in overnight. I would also say pinning consistently, whether you're a creator or a brand is really important. So showing up consistently and then joining group boards or even creating your own group boards from the brand perspective and inviting others to be able to pin to it. I think is a lot of fun and a great way to cultivate your own little community and, you know, on this awesome

Starting point is 00:09:23 corner of the internet. But at the end of the day, regardless of your creator or brand, it's super, super important to have fun with your brand with your with your creativity, because passion always shines through regardless of what perspective we're looking at this through. So making sure that you have those beautiful visuals, and those keyword rich descriptions will go a long way on Pinterest. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And with the visuals as well, I know nowadays there's so many different types of visual

Starting point is 00:09:54 sizes and things to post on Pinterest. Do you have any insights around that? Is there like a specific type of visual content performing best, or do you recommend just kind of trying a number of different things and seeing what happens for your brand? Definitely the latter. Share what you love with people on Pinterest and know that the right audience will come to you. I say that because I share a variety of different formats from short form videos to static shots to these beautiful editorial travel and beauty and pieces of content and photographs. So I would say really test, test and learn is what I

Starting point is 00:10:35 would say test and figure out what works for you. But I will I will always say that visuals like photographs and high quality images will always perform pretty well, especially the ones that really lean into the evergreen sphere. Yeah, for sure. No, that's great advice. And I'm curious too, on a profile standpoint, kind of how do you optimize your profile for discoverability there as well? You know, obviously there's individual post discoverability, but just to get your page kind of seen and out there, is there anything that you recommend doing on that front for that discoverability? Yes, I think we all love like a good catchy profile picture. So whatever,

Starting point is 00:11:19 whatever image you choose, make sure that it aligns with your brand identity. And if you're a creator, make sure that it matches your personality because we want to see that. So maybe that's an avatar, or maybe it's you, or maybe it's your brand logo, but using a professional catchy profile picture, whatever that means to you will go a long way, but also making sure that you have a keyword rich bio. Like any other platform, if you're a creator, you wanna make sure you have an email on there or a contact button. So brands know how to get in touch with you,

Starting point is 00:11:51 but this honestly applies for almost every other platform out there. What I would also say for anyone who's looking to optimize their profile on Pinterest is to organize your boards with clear titles and descriptions. And I honestly cannot say this enough. You want folks to be pinners and just consumers to be able to easily

Starting point is 00:12:11 find your content and be easily be able to easily go through your boards to find what they're looking for, whether it's beauty, travel, weddings, etc. But also whenever you're pinning, remember to to make sure that your pins link back to high quality content. So you want to keep it fresh and engaging. And when you're linking, it's really up to you to figure out what you want to link to, that might be, you know, your affiliate, and you might want to sell a product, or you might want to drive traffic to your website, or you might want to drive traffic to your Instagram or your TikTok. So just remember to do that as you're pinning content, whether it's video or short form content or really cute quotes

Starting point is 00:12:51 on Pinterest. And don't forget to use the tag. Sometimes I think folks might forget, and I only say this because I used to forget at the very beginning of my Pinterest career, I would forget to use the tag. So make sure that you're including, you know, keywords in there, not only in your title, your description, but also be sure to use the tags that you'll find on the both mobile app version and desktop version of Pinterest to really help with the reach of your content on the platform. Yes, great advice. And a lot of people use Pinterest. Pinterest has these great search capabilities. And so when you have optimized your content that way, people can more easily best utilize Pinterest? You know, what is the typical Pinterest user looking for and how can brands step into that platform and provide value

Starting point is 00:13:50 to them? You know, you mentioned it a little bit of that high quality content and everything like that, but is there anything else that you would recommend brands do? Because I think a lot of brands just kind of throw up whatever content that's on their other platforms onto Pinterest and hope for the best. What do you think is working really well for brands on the platform? Yeah, absolutely. You know, because Pinterest is all about discovery, inspiration, and creativity, I do think that brands should focus on creating visually appealing, inspiring content that stands out regardless of whether or not they're using creators or influencers to generate that content for them. So as mentioned earlier, using high quality images and videos,

Starting point is 00:14:38 incorporating relevant keywords, creating boards that really reflect your brand's lifestyle and values, and then regularly updating your pins to engage with your audience and build a loyal following starting there will really go a long way. Yeah, absolutely. And then I'm also curious to hear if there's any opportunities on the platform to work with creators and have you kind of had experience in that area? Are there any like do's and don'ts for brands to keep in mind when activating creators on Pinterest? Because I know that that's kind of a different platform

Starting point is 00:15:11 than the traditional influencer marketing that we see on like, you know, TikTok and Instagram and things like that. Yeah, definitely. So Pinterest is definitely a great platform for collaborating with creators, especially around seasonal themes. So thinking back to school, the holidays, summer, winter, et cetera. especially on Pinterest, where you can give creators the opportunity to freely create to

Starting point is 00:15:46 help influence and showcase products and ideas effectively, especially across a different boards and different topics. But I in terms of some do's and don'ts, something that I would say to brands when it comes to do's is that you want to make sure that you're aligning with the right creators. So choose the creators whose style and audience align with your brand's values and goals. And I can't say this enough. This is the second time I'm saying it only because pinners and consumers, they can really sniff out when there isn't alignment. So having that natural fit can lead to more genuine engagement, being clear about communication and transparent about your goals, expectations and deliverables.

Starting point is 00:16:27 The same applies across all channels, not only Pinterest, but then also really lean into the creator expertise. The creators on Pinterest really know their audience. So they have rich insights into what works best

Starting point is 00:16:41 and then how they can craft content that resonates. So don't be afraid to get on the phone with creators to really understand about that and then engage creatively. So encourage creators, especially on Pinterest, because it's such a creative platform to think outside of the box, to really bring their unique perspective to the campaign, because creativity goes a really long way on Pinterest. So outside of that, like any

Starting point is 00:17:06 other campaign that you're working on, you know, test, measure, and then adapt. Something that I love about Pinterest is how rich the analytics are on the platform. So you can really track the performance of a, you know, of creator collaborations and then adjust your strategy based on what's working best. What I will say when it comes to don'ts from both a brand and creator perspective, and I mentioned this at the beginning, micromanaging. I think while guidelines are so important, especially on Pinterest, that it's such a great space on the internet,

Starting point is 00:17:39 really try to do your best to avoid stifling the creator's creativity with just overly rigid instructions and briefs. So going back to the do's, allow them to bring their own unique voice and style to the content and work with them to identify perhaps what Pinterest trends might be resonating with a campaign that you're working on at the time to make sure that you're getting the most reach and saves for said campaign. And then outside of that, for Pinterest, I will say that for this platform specifically, ignore the audience fit. And I know that sounds crazy, but don't just look at the

Starting point is 00:18:18 follower counts, especially on Pinterest. Saves and shares is a pretty great metric for the platform, but just make sure, you know, using this information that the creator's audience matches, it matches your target demographic for better engagement and results. So engagement, engagement over followers on Pinterest, 1000%. And beyond that, like I mentioned earlier, definitely don't overlook, excuse me, don't overlook authenticity because just force or overly promotional ad-like content is a little

Starting point is 00:18:52 bit of a turnoff, especially on a platform like Pinterest, where it's meant to be fun and creative and people are going there again for inspiration. So really trust the creator to create that high impact content on the platform. Yeah. And you've already showed so much just in terms of tips and insights as to encourage brands or even creators to get on the platform, begin using it for different collaborations. But I'm curious, just going a little bit deeper, do you have any case studies or even just examples of campaigns you've had the opportunity to work on just to further showcase how powerful Pinterest is as a platform?

Starting point is 00:19:31 Yes, I love this question. I absolutely 1000%. I actually worked on a campaign last year with Pinterest where we highlighted Sephora at folds for the holiday season. And it was so much fun. It's really one of those like dream come true campaigns. And we actually created a variety of pins focusing on products for every loved one, which was great because the campaign was reaching pinners wherever they are, regardless of who they were looking to get gifts for, if they were even looking to get

Starting point is 00:20:05 someone a gift for the holiday season. So I thought it was a really, really great way. And it had fantastic success. And it really demonstrated the power of Pinterest, just looking at the number and impressions and conversions on that campaign. Because like I mentioned earlier, people are going on Pinterest to seek inspiration, but also with the intent of either buying something or saving something to buy it later or to be inspired by it down the road. So just keep that in mind as you're working with creators on the platform. Because that's keeping that in mind for this campaign really led to long term success with it. But that's an example of one of the campaigns that I worked on with Pinterest. I love that you mentioned that people are going on Pinterest

Starting point is 00:20:49 with the intent to buy. I think that's a very unique audience that's looking at the platform. So always good to reiterate that, but we are moving on to the final question, which is one of our favorites that we ask on the show. And that is just, what do you know now that you wish you knew earlier on in your career? Or I guess we can spin it to, to like earlier on in your creator journey. Yeah, that's such a great question. For me, what I wish I knew earlier on in my career was the importance of staying true to my unique voice and style. I think in this industry, Pinterest or not, sometimes we could get caught up with imposter syndrome or, you know, just comparing ourselves to others. At least I speak for myself. And I really had to break out

Starting point is 00:21:43 of that and reconnect with my why and really find my voice, my style, my community, understand what they were coming to me for and not being ashamed to tap into that a little bit more. And I recognize that authenticity, although it's a word that's like severely overused today, it still holds true that authenticity and just being yourself really resonates more with audiences than trying to fit into a specific mold and for me that's exactly what I tried to do at the beginning of my creator career was trying to fit into a mold or trying to speak a certain way or wear certain clothes or create content or edit content a certain style because I kept seeing it

Starting point is 00:22:21 trending online and I had to take a step back and recognize, you know what, Jessica, you have your own unique voice, your own unique style, perhaps we'll go through a variety of different iterations, which I have traveling with Jessica has evolved. But it's led me to discover, you know, and find power in my voice and my brands and build community based on that. So at the end of the day, stay true to your unique voice, your unique style, be you and have the most fun because I said it before and I'll say it again,

Starting point is 00:22:52 but trust your community will absolutely find you and they will love you for you just being you. Oh, so good. And that's such good, just life advice in general as well. So thank you for sharing that, Jessica.

Starting point is 00:23:05 You've already mentioned it a few times, but would love to close out with just a reminder of where we can follow you online. See your Pinterest on that platform as well. What are all the channels, the website, everything we need to know to follow along with you? Yes, absolutely. You can follow along with my adventures and updates across different platforms, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Tik TOK at traveling with Jessica across all of them. And of course my website traveling with jessica.com in case you're looking for more tips or even ideas

Starting point is 00:23:42 for your next travel adventures. So come hang out. I'd love to have you and I'd love for you to be a part of this awesome community. Amazing. Thank you so much, Jessica. We really appreciate all your tips and insights today. And thanks for sharing them with our audience. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the marketing happy hour podcast if you enjoyed this episode please remember to subscribe rate and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform if you want more of marketing happy hour but don't know where to start we invite you to download our free marketing happy Hour Starter Kit at marketinghappyhr.com forward slash starter dash kit. This interactive magazine style PDF walks

Starting point is 00:24:32 through who we are, includes helpful resources like a marketing term glossary and the printable daily planner sheet that we actually use ourselves, and contains clickable links to our episode recommendations by subject area. Not to mention all the fun extras like a quiz, the link to our Marketing Happy Hour Insiders Facebook group, a word search, a playlist, a goal setting guide, content inspo by month, and more. It's our hope that you'll dive into this resource and walk away more confident in your career journey with a group of industry pals that you can lean on for advice and support. Snag your free starter kit today at marketinghappyhr.com forward slash starter dash kit for all of the info you need to become a Marketing Happy Hour insider.

Marketing Happy Hour - Level Up Your Pinterest Game | Pinterest Expert + Creator Jessica Morrobel

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