#205: Pinterest Marketing Basics for Health Coaches with Jana Osofsky

Michelle Leotta:
Hello there, health coaches. We are back and today we're doing something pretty different. I don't even remember the last time that we mentioned Pinterest on the show. And today I've invited Jana O the Pinterest marketing expert for coaches to join us and teaches everything that we don't know. Jana, Thanks for being here.

Jana Osofsky:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be here and to, uh, to talk about Pinterest.

Michelle Leotta:
Yeah, well, I think we need this, like, we really need this. We talk a lot in here about Instagram. We've been hearing a lot of stuff about TikTok and I feel like Pinterest just kind of lurks in the background. It's been there for a long time and if you can do really good things with it. Yeah. Why do you think health coaches are well positioned to be making use of Pinterest?

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, that's such a great question. Um, so in inter interestingly, the platform in Pinterest has been around for about 10 years, about a decade. And when it first got started, obviously it was all about, um, crafts and recipes and weddings and very domestic kind of oriented things, which we still love it for. But over the last 10 years or so, it's grown tremendously. And the types of things that people are looking for on the platform, um, searching for all the time. And I'll, I'll mention that search word again and kind in a couple of minutes, cuz that's key, um, has just really, uh, diversified a lot. And so these days, um, and this was happening like even prior to the pandemic, but it really accelerated during the pandemic. Um, people are looking on Pinterest all the time for ideas and inspiration around their health and wellness and wellbeing and general, uh, physical health, mental health, all of those types of things, nutrition, fitness, um, mindfulness, just everything you can think of. It's really become a go to place and a feel good place for a lot of people who go there looking for ideas and, um, inspiration and things to try and do and buy, um, that help them to improve their lives in various ways. And health is no exception. So...

Michelle Leotta:
It sounds like a very action oriented group of people using Pinterest as opposed to like a mindless scrolling on Instagram. People are going there to do something.

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, it's very purposeful. Um, we always say people go to Pinterest for me time. First of all. So they're not really looking to necessarily be social. They're looking for ideas for themselves to improve their lives, their businesses. So again, they're looking for things to do and try and buy. And our job is to get in front of the people who are looking for the things that we help with on Pinterest.

Michelle Leotta:
So that sounds really, really well aligned with what we're doing as health coaches. I love that. Mm-hmm um, I wanna come back to a couple things that you said, but I'm remembering, oh, I know what you said is really important. People don't go there so much to socialize, right? So, I hear a lot of health coaches saying I don't want to be on Facebook. I don't want to be on Instagram getting the likes, the dopamine hits like all the, the negative side to being on social media. Sometimes we as health coaches, we don't wanna be there for ourselves. And I feel like Pinterest, correct me if I'm wrong. There's there's not as much of that. How is it different?

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, it's definitely, that's definitely a big part of why people are attracted to the platform as marketers, especially like solo entrepreneurs and coaches. Um, so Pinterest is a search engine, right? So people, and I don't know if everyone who's listening knows that, but I'll tell you more about that. So you get it cuz that's a big part of under, you need to understand to make it work for your business. And so people really do, like I said, go there for me time. They're not expecting a lot of conversation. There's not a lot of like commenting going on, on people's content or DMS or anything like that. Yeah. Um, and so you don't have to do engagement if you will, in the way that we think about it on social media to be successful on Pinterest, there are other things you need to do that are different than social media because it's not Pinterest, technically isn't social media, it's technically a search engine.

Jana Osofsky:
So, it's not necessarily like a lot easier, but I think it's more low maintenance in the sense that you don't have to go in and engage with people, in order to be successful, you know, with Pinterest marketing and to be fair in case anyone's listening and kind of knows about this, you do have the ability these days to comment, for example, on people's pins and whatnot, but it just doesn't happen that often it's not the norm on Pinterest. And again, that comes back to the reason why people are there. They're not there to like see what their sister did over the weekend or, you know, find out, you know, what Michelle, your last client said about, um, you know, uh, I mean you can put testimonies on there if you want, but it's, it's more about showing people things that they can in that, that they can try and be inspired by.

Michelle Leotta:
I think that's a really fantastic setup for success for health coaches on this platform. And I'm kind of kicking myself because years ago, let's see, I wanna say it was eight or nine years ago. So Pinterest was fairly new and I would, I'm not usually an early adopter. So, I wasn't doing much, you know, I had my health coaching business going and I have a lot of recipes on my website, but I was like, I'm not getting into that. I just can't do one more thing cuz that's how it often feels. I can't do one more thing. And one day I checked my Google analytics and my Pinterest traffic had surpassed traffic from Facebook, which had been a main driver at that point, even though I was doing absolutely nothing. So, then I started trying a little bit and it was going well for a while. I have fallen off the wagon, but here's my question. I used to put recipes on my website. Right. And then I would create this lovely graphic that I would pin to Pinterest or other people would pin to Pinterest. And it all was driving back to the recipes on my blog. Yeah. Can you use Pinterest effectively if you don't have a blog?

Jana Osofsky:
Mm-hmm yeah, you absolutely can. If you would asked me that question five, six years ago, I probably would've said you can, but it's really a lot easier to have a blog and to be, I mean, to be fair, even these days, if you have a blog, it's great to be able to pin Pinterest pins to your blog and have people land there. Right. If you're working hard to do that type of content. Um, but these days the platform has, um, changed a lot and grown a lot and there are different formats of pins on the platform. Um, and in fact idea pins are one of the most, um, basically the, the most engaging types of content on the platform. And those don't actually have to link to a particular piece of content or blog post. So a lot of people are taking the content that they're working hard to create, even on other platforms, for example, Instagram reels, Instagram stories, TikTok, and actually repurposing that content in an artful way.

Jana Osofsky:
Wanna make sure I'm clear about that, um, to put it on Pinterest, to get more reach for that content. Um, so you don't have to have a blog per se, but I always like to say with Pinterest, you do need to be creating some kind of content somewhere. So you either need to be creating content on social content, on your blog, on your website content directly on Pinterest. Any of those things can work. The only caveat I would say is that sometimes people think that they can just pin other people's pins to their boards and be more of a curator versus a creator. And that's not really what helps us to attract clients and actually make us money at the end of the day, we need to be creating content somewhere. So if it's not on your blog, you wanna be thinking, okay, where am I gonna create content right on Pinterest? Or am I gonna put my content somewhere so that someone, when they find me in search on Pinterest for my thing, they can go and look at that content. There needs to be something to draw them in. Right. So that's the only understood only thing I'd say it doesn't have to be a blog, but gotta have some kind of content.

Michelle Leotta:
Sure. Okay. And that content doesn't necessarily have to link to your website?

Jana Osofsky:
Correct.

Michelle Leotta:
That's important, I think cause a lot of health coaches don't have a website yet. Right. Mm-hmm but we are posting something to Instagram or we are creating recipes and maybe you're like, I don't know where to put this. Maybe you can just put it right on Pinterest.

Jana Osofsky:
You actually can these days, correct. There is um, a big movement to put content directly on the platform, which works really well. It's a win-win so, yep.

Michelle Leotta:
That is so cool. So I use Pinterest like as a user, you know, I have boards and boards and boards of recipes and things for my meal plan and I'm using it like that, but we know that's not the same as using it for your business as the business. You wanna be the one creating the content that other people are pinning. That's one reason it was working so well for me, way back when was because I was creating content and unbeknownst to me, people were pinning it

Jana Osofsky:
Amazing.

Michelle Leotta:
Let them do the work, right?

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, for sure. I love that. And so with Pinterest being a search engine, you know, let's say somebody is, um, a coach that specializes in, um, helping people get better sleep, right. And people search for something like get better sleep or um, evening routine or yoga before bed or yoga for better sleep or any of those types of things. If you create content on the platform or you add your content and pin it to the platform, when people search that they can find you and yes, other people can add your content as well. But you're right. As a marketer, we wanna be actively adding our own content to the platform so that when people search for the things that we help with, they'll find us and our content. So I love that, that you had people going to your blog and pinning your things to Pinterest and it resulted in, uh, visibility for you like passive visibility. Yeah. I love it. Love it.

Michelle Leotta:
So let me continue on that train of thought at the time I was creating a lot of recipes. Yeah. So we know Pinterest loves recipes and people go there for recipes. These days in my health coaching practice and many health coaches practices, we're not doing so much like recipe creation, right. Maybe we're not even talking about food that much. And it's other aspects of health and wellness. What kind of content does that lend to Pinterest?

Jana Osofsky:
Oh yeah. No. I mean there's when, so I do keyword research for clients on my, when I do done for you Pinterest set-ups. And I do it with clients when I work with them one to one, you know, to set it up with them. So I do tons of Pinterest keyword research. It's like my favorite thing to do, which is good, cuz I do it a lot. And um, there's all kinds of things being searched. So everything you can think of really around, um, you know, mindfulness, um, meditation, getting better sleep nutrition, um, all kinds of aspects of nutrition. So nutrition for, you know, hormone, balancing nutrition for fertility, you know, I mean like literally everything you can think of, there are things being searched on Pinterest and we can tell what's being searched because we do keyword research and we do keyword research because we wanna be intentional about using the keywords that people are searching for the words that they use when they are looking for the things that they wanna like for, you know, about the problems that they wanna solve or the things that they're looking for information about.

Jana Osofsky:
Um, I actually listened to one of your podcast episodes recently that really was like a big aha moment where you were talking about, um, I think it was, it was about, um, what does a health coach do, I think, or how do you answer the question from someone when they ask you what's a health coach, you know? And um, the thing that really ranks so true for me about that is that we, you, you were talking about how we really need to use the words that our clients use, that our ideal clients use as opposed to like the lingo or the jargon that we use. And that's a skill that's really important with Pinterest marketing. Cause we have to figure out what people are searching for on the platform in order to be able to use those keywords intentionally and get found by the right people. Um, and sometimes people hear that and they think that sounds a little like Google, like trying to get found on Google. And it is, it's a lot like that because Pinterest is actually a search engine like Google.

Michelle Leotta:
Have you ever noticed like what you type in when you're searching for something, right. Like sometimes I'm on Amazon and I'm like thing with wheels, plants, right? That's the search term. Cause that's what comes outta my brain.

Jana Osofsky:
Right.

Michelle Leotta:
But it's never the, the fancy, special word for that thing. Every day thing that somebody comes up with in a, in two seconds as they type it in. Right. So that's a really good tip to think about using the words they use. You guys hear me talking?

Jana Osofsky:
Yes. So important.

Michelle Leotta:
Talk to us a little about the path that we would expect someone to take from they search, they find a piece of our content. Then what, like then what do we want to have happen if at the end of the day where let's say signing private clients into a three month coaching package.

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah. Yeah. That's a great question. So it depends on what kind of pin they find of yours. So there's different formats of pins on the platform, but I'll kind of focus on two of them that are the most common. So if there's an idea pin that they find of yours and they consume that idea pin, which is just basically gonna mean they're clicking through multiple sides because an idea pin is kind of like a carousel post a little bit in that way, but it's, it's incorporates some video typically as well. So it's kind of like if a, like an Instagram story and a carousel post post kind of had a baby is sort of what these little guys are like. Um, at the end you'll have a call to action for them to do something. So the best calls to action can be to save the pen or to, um, visit your profile.

Jana Osofsky:
So, it's important these days. And part of what I teach in my programs is to make sure that your profile on Pinterest is actually, um, optimized and set up properly for conversion so that people know when they land there, what they can do next. Um, and then if it's a standard pin, then they would actually click on a link and your call to action would be to click on that link. Um, although we don't like to use, I don't like to use click on the link language. I like to use, read the blog or get the list or download the checklist or something like that. Um, and then they would land on a page, you know, on your website, presumably. Um, so there's different paths that people can take, but a lot of times people go through your profile and I personally, um, there's a lot of ways you can do this in a lot of ways, you can monetize your Pinterest audience, but I really like helping people to grow their email list using Pinterest.

Jana Osofsky:
So, if someone lands on your Pinterest profile because they were interested in something that you taught them or help them understand better, or they tried an idea that you gave them and they were like, wow, that was really good. It worked, you know, like my shoulder feels better or whatever it is and they land on your profile. You want them to know what to do next. And I personally think it's a great idea to have them grab something that's a free lead magnet so that you can keep in touch with them. Um, but that's not the only way to do it. There are a different paths people can take. So they would presumably go pin to profile, to lead magnet. And now they're on your email list and you can have all kinds of other conversations with them, whether that's selling something or having them follow you on Instagram or coming to your Facebook group or signing up for a webinar or whatever it is that you like to do to convert people

Michelle Leotta:
Perfect. That fits in line exactly with what we teach inside my course, healthy profit university and have all different ways of attracting our target market online in person. But no matter what, we then want them to get onto our mailing list, cuz it's from there that all the magic typically happens. It would be very, absolutely rare for somebody to arrive on your Pinterest profile page or a pen or something and go, oh, book a free call. And they're like, okay, I'm gonna book a free call with this person. Maybe,

Jana Osofsky:
It happens. But every now you have to have some more like no interest built up before someone's willing to take that emotional risk really to like get on a call with a stranger , you know?

Michelle Leotta:
Yes, to use their time, that way. I'm really like all my brains all fired up back here, all these different ways that we could be using Pinterest and oh, why aren't we doing it? So I'm appreciative of this conversation just to get the conversation going for many of us, Hey, maybe it's a better place to be than Facebook than Instagram. I mean, how much of a return are we seeing on the time that we put into these platforms? Yeah. On Pinterest, how do you know you're doing well? Like you're not getting likes in the same way.

Jana Osofsky:
Right? Yeah. We still do look at some of the engagement metrics, but they're not like comments and likes. It's more like, are people saving your pins to their boards? Which means they're interested in them, how much reach are they getting? Are they visiting your profile? Things like that. I like that one that profile visit metric is important to me, but you know, it's getting harder and harder on all platforms to measure. Um, and to see the path that people are taking, um, for various reasons, including the way the platforms are changing and also, um, like privacy stuff that's going on with people clicking onto links and things like that. So I, I would be, uh, Pinterest is it is getting harder track, but there are some ways to do it. You can look at those engagement metrics. You can look at some of the conversion insights, um, in the dashboard and Pinterest, but it's not super easy but you can do it. You can look and measure certain things that, you know, are indicators that you're you're, you're moving forward.

Michelle Leotta:
Interesting. I mean, I like not having those vanity metrics where you spend all day going like, Ooh, did I get another like, Ooh, did I get another? Like, and it makes you feel good, but I actually did nothing for you. I'd rather know that maybe somebody hit my website directly because of something I pinned on the platform.

Michelle Leotta:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Michelle Leotta:
Okay, cool. Well, we are almost out of time, but you told me that you have a free class for all of our health coaches. So can you talk a little bit about that?

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, absolutely. So I have a free Pinterest marketing masterclass and it's, um, it's called the five secrets for using Pinterest to grow your audience on autopilot and get clients. And I created it really to have a place where people can learn for free and really just kinda like dip their toe into the Pinterest waters and learn the basics. The 101 things that you need to know about Pinterest marketing to approach it properly and not like waste time basically. So you can get better results faster. Um, and there's also a good amount of info in there to really help people decide if Pinterest is a good fit for their business based on how they like to create content, how to figure out if people are really actually looking for the thing that you help with on Pinterest, things like that. Um, so you can, you can access that at janaomedia.com/freeclass. Or, on my website, it's, um, pretty prominent, but it's /freeclass for anybody who wants to spend a little time, grab a notebook and a pen and sit down and learn all the Pinterest 101 basic things in, in one, you know, one sitting and they wanna learn that from me for free . So that's there for you.

Michelle Leotta:
I think that is a fantastic resource and like any other platform I, I assume you would agree the real best way to learn is to get in there and start doing it. Even just messing around a little bit. You get a feeling the platform.

Jana Osofsky:
Yeah, totally a hundred percent.

Michelle Leotta:
And at the same time you can be in there figuring out what to have for dinner tonight. So it's a win-win for all of us.

Jana Osofsky:
You could, you could. Yeah, just set a timer on that one.

Michelle Leotta:
For sure.

Jana Osofsky:
...I mean, not a food timer, but like a timer for your time. Cuz it's a rabbit hole, right?

Michelle Leotta:
It can be right. But I mean, oh all the gluten free dairy free, this, that, and the other recipes. I mean I'm on there all the time just for that reason, but I am so glad to hear that there are other ways to be using Pinterest and that we don't have to have a website and that it doesn't sound like the kind of energy suck that some other, um, platforms are other ways of, you know, reaching our audience.

Michelle Leotta:
That's accurate

Michelle Leotta:
So this is fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for joining us.

Michelle Leotta:
Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me.