It has the TikTok style “for you” and “following” pages, with Canva-style photo editing features, a Pinterest-style feel and grid, and a big emphasis on photo sharing like Instagram.

As a Pinterest strategist, I’ve been curious about this potential big competitor and want to share my thoughts on the new app, so far.

So, before we dig into the comparison – what is Lemon8?

It’s described as a “lifestyle community app” in the App Store. It’s made by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance and targets a “youthful community” for discovering inspiring content.

I posted on Lemon8 with my initial thoughts, as you can see on my Lemon8 profile, and wanted to expand to share how I feel it stacks up against Pinterest.

Because this app is brand new, I’m sure a lot will change but as of right now, here are my thoughts on the app as of April 2023.

Review of Lemon8

1. This app already gives me way more of a social vibe than Pinterest and definitely works as a big competitor to Instagram. I’m feeling inspired by the way Lemon8 has brought to life that element of aesthetic + community. You can design content within the app, it is heavy on the photo-sharing element and feels more interactive.

2. It’s also emphasizing, even more, how much keyword research is relevant across social media right now! I teach a lot about keywords and this app is another version of how important it is to make your content searchable.

3. I’m really optimistic about this app’s staying power, especially with seeing so many creators I love to follow on TikTok over here already. It’s still in the very early phases, but I see a lot of potential, especially with the app originating from TikTok’s creators. I have personally found that TikTok has understood the “for you” algorithm much better than Instagram has.

4. I would love to see the categories increase to work for more niches. This has always bugged me about Pinterest because a lot of business owners want to use it too, beyond content creators who are in the fashion, beauty & wellness space.

5. I’m big on branding and finding it hard to do that with the templates & fonts given on the Lemon8 app. I would love to see this app evolve with more Canva-like features and make it easier to use your own branding within the app!

6. I’m also curious to see how long the posts continue to see traction. One of the biggest benefits of Pinterest is that your content can get engagement for months and even years after you post. It’s too soon to tell how that will work on this app.

How Lemon8 compares to Pinterest

While these apps are similar, one of the biggest differences with Pinterest is the lack of social interaction. It has long been known more as a search engine.

Strengths of Pinterest include:

• Saving to boards and being able to organize ideas so efficiently
• The shopping element
• Easy to find what you’re looking for and able to click out to websites
• Better for business owners in driving traffic and sales

Strengths of Lemon8 include:

• Designing pins within the app. Idea Pins have this but it’s so limited
• Community vibes
• Caption-focused (people don’t seem to actually read pin descriptions & they’re often used as a summary for what people can expect when they click through)

Why Pinterest isn’t going anywhere

I often think that competition is a great thing – to help apps evolve and come up with solutions that are designed to benefit the users.

I think Pinterest can learn a few things from the way Lemon8 has set up the app for engagement and community building. And I would love to see Lemon8 include more features from Pinterest – like being able to drive traffic outside the app.

I love the Canva-style design element within Lemon8 and while we’ve seen this with Idea Pins and video-related creation within Reels and TikTok, this feels refreshing and different. It feels playful, which a lot of content creators have been craving.

Regardless of where things head with Lemon8, it’s exciting to see a photo-sharing app give Instagram some competition and I’m hopeful that it goes somewhere.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think about Lemon8? Have you hopped on yet?

Pinterest has over 450 million users every month, making it the perfect place for you to showcase your expertise, display your work, and give your best tips to your ideal audience.

If you’re already leveraging platforms like TikTok or Instagram and seeing success as a content creator, it can only strengthen your media kit to add Pinterest as another platform.

Let’s dive into 6 ways you can make some more money from Pinterest marketing.

1. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a popular way for bloggers and content creators to earn money.

As an affiliate, you promote products on your blog or social media platforms and earn a commission on each sale made through your unique affiliate link.

Pinterest is a great platform for affiliate marketing because it’s highly visual and allows you to create boards based on different product categories. You can also tag these affiliate links in Idea Pins, which can increase your chances of making sales.

To get started with affiliate marketing on Pinterest, find an affiliate program that aligns with your niche. Look for products that you believe in and would be excited to promote. Then create boards and pins that showcase these products and link to your affiliate link.

Pinterest has certain affiliate networks that are currently approved.

2. Sponsored content

Sponsored content is another way to make money on Pinterest. You partner with a brand and create pins that promote their products or services.

When creating sponsored content, it’s important to disclose the partnership. You’re able to do that inside Idea Pins.

To find sponsored content opportunities, reach out to brands that align with your niche. You can also join influencer networks that connect content creators with brands looking for sponsored content.

You’ll need to create a media kit to showcase your Pinterest stats and demographics to show the brand how you’ll promote their product, along with your past work.

3. Promoted pins

Promoted pins are sponsored ads that appear in a user’s feed, search results, or related pins. They can help you reach a wider audience and increase your chances of making sales or driving traffic to your website.

To use promoted pins, you’ll need to designate a budget. You can set a daily or lifetime budget for your campaign and choose targeting options such as demographics, interests, and keywords.

When creating promoted pins, make sure they’re visually appealing and relevant to your target audience. You can use A/B testing to determine which pins are the most effective.

According to Pinterest, their ads have a 2.3x more efficient cost than other social platforms and retail brands have seen 2x higher ROI, so it’s worth considering!

4. Offer products

If you have expertise in a particular niche, you can create and sell digital products such as e-books, courses, and printables on your website or through a third-party platform like Etsy or Shopify.

Pinterest is a great platform for promoting your digital products. Create pins that showcase your products and link to your website or online store where customers can purchase them.

When creating digital products, make sure they’re high-quality and provide value to your target audience. You can tag your products directly in the pins – whether it’s a standard or idea pin to increase your click-through rate.

5. Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website

Creating visually appealing pins that link to your website or blog can help drive traffic to your website. This, in turn, can increase your ad revenue or the chances of getting hired for content creation projects.

When creating pins, make sure they’re visually appealing and relevant to your target audience. You can also use Pinterest’s analytics to determine which pins are the most effective and make adjustments to your strategy accordingly.

Creating a funnel can help you leverage the leads you get coming in from Pinterest to convert them into sales!

6. Join the Pinterest Creator fund

While Pinterest has shut down the Creator rewards program at the end of 2022 where it was paying users to create Idea Pins, they do seemingly still have the option for you to apply for the Creator fund.

From the Pinterest website: “This new initiative is focused on the growth and success of underrepresented creators: people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The Fund’s goal is to foster creator talent through financial and educational support while aiming to make Pinterest an increasingly inclusive and diverse platform.” Applications are currently closed.

Up next: Learn how to create a cohesive, on-brand Pinterest presence.

With so many podcasts vying for listeners’ attention, it can be challenging to promote your show and attract new listeners.

One of my favorite platforms to reach a broader audience and grow my listener for Life Goals In Progress and Playground To Purpose is Pinterest.

In this post, we’ll explore six ways you can use Pinterest to get more podcast listeners.

1. Create shareworthy blog posts for each episode

Creating a blog post for each episode, also known as “show notes,” is a great way to provide additional context and information about your podcast.

However, instead of just recapping the episode, you can make your blog posts share-worthy by including additional information, tips, or insights that weren’t included in the episode. Or, at least structure them in a way that makes more sense in blog form: Outlined with subheadings.

Audio doesn’t perfectly translate to blogging, so repurpose the content in a way that works for the blog medium.

You can include quotes, images, links you mentioned in the episode, or other visuals that will make your blog post more engaging and interesting. This way, you can use your blog posts to attract new listeners and give your existing listeners something to share with their friends and followers.

2. Embed your podcast into your blog post

Once you’ve created a share-worthy blog post, it’s time to embed your podcast episode into the post itself with links on where they can listen.

This will make it easy for your readers to listen to the episode and encourage them to subscribe to your show. By embedding your podcast into your blog post, you can also help boost your show’s ranking on search engines like Google, which can help attract new listeners.

3. Create multiple pin graphics with call to actions

Time for some Canva pro magic!

Pinterest is a visual platform, so it’s essential to create eye-catching pin graphics that will encourage users to click through and listen to your podcast.

You can create multiple pin graphics for each episode, each with a different design, but with a consistent call to action to listen to the episode.

This will help you reach a broader audience and give you the option to test different versions of your promo graphics to see what captures the most attention.

4. Design an aesthetic roundup graphic of podcasts

Another way to promote your podcast on Pinterest is to create a roundup graphic of podcasts for your demographic.

You can include your podcast in the roundup, along with other podcasts that your listeners may be interested in. This will help encourage your listeners to share your content and reach new audiences. Make sure the graphic is visually appealing and aligns with your brand’s aesthetics.

For example, if your podcast is about social media marketing, you could do something like 10 Best Podcasts For Small Business Owners. Share the love! You could also tag the users included to encourage them to share!

5. Adjust the pin title to try out different versions

When publishing and scheduling pins, it’s important to test different titles and descriptions to see what resonates with your audience.

You can create multiple versions of the same pin graphic, each with a different title or description. This will help with finding the right keywords to reach your ideal audience. Try more than one thing to get your pin traction. You never know which version could go viral.

6. Create Idea Pins with snippets from the episode

Idea Pins are a new feature on Pinterest that allows users to create a series of images or videos that showcase an idea that someone can take action on.

You can use Idea Pins to share snippets from your podcast episodes, such as quotes or soundbites, in a visually appealing way. This will help you reach a broader audience and give your followers a taste of what your podcast is all about.

I love ones that are vlog-style with the inspiring sound clip from the episode.

Promoting your podcast on Pinterest can be an effective way to reach a broader audience and grow your listener base.

By creating share-worthy blog posts, embedding your podcast into your blog, creating multiple pin graphics, designing an aesthetic roundup graphic, adjusting pin titles, and creating Idea Pins, you increase your chances of getting your podcast to grow organically!

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First, here’s why email is actually SO important for your growth, especially if your primary marketing strategy involves social media.

Social media algorithm changes

Instagram’s algorithm changes regularly, and it can be difficult to maintain a consistent reach – especially in 2023. Building an email list ensures that your audience will receive your messages directly in their inbox, regardless of any algorithm changes.

1:1 communication

Email marketing provides direct communication with your audience, allowing you to send personalized messages, special offers, promotions, and updates about your business. This builds trust and loyalty with your audience. Plus, they can actually respond to you and it invites real conversation.

Diversify your marketing channels

Relying on one platform can be risky and leaves you vulnerable to changes in algorithms or potential account loss or suspension (or an account shutting down, like Vine or the potential TikTok ban). Building an email list diversifies your marketing efforts and you own your list.

Increased conversion

Email marketing has a high conversion rate, allowing you to nurture your email subscribers into paying customers.

Long-term relationship building

Email addresses are valuable assets that can be used for long-term marketing efforts. You can use your email list to promote new products, offers, or to retarget customers who haven’t made a purchase yet or recently.

Why you should create a freebie or lead magnet to promote on Pinterest

Creating a lead magnet is an good way to generate leads for your business.

A lead magnet is a helpful resource or offer that you give away in exchange for a prospect’s contact information, such as their email address.

By providing a free resource that solves a problem or addresses a pain point for your target audience, you can establish trust and authority in your industry and build a list of potential customers who are interested in your products or services. This allows you to nurture those leads over time and ultimately convert them into paying customers.

It’s also an enticing reason for someone to actually click through to your website and get on your list! Gone are the days where you can say “sign up for my newsletter” and have that be enough for someone to give you their email. Give them a bite-sized resource that actually helps them!

Here are some tips for how to promote your freebies on Pinterest:

1. Create scroll-stopping Standard Pins

The first step in using Pinterest to grow your email list is to create engaging pins that promote your lead magnets or free resource. Create images that capture attention (we use Canva!), compelling headlines, and clear calls to action to encourage users to click through to your website and sign up for your email list.

2. Use Idea Pins to promote your list

Does your free resource solve a problem? Do you have a newsletter made for a certain audience? Do a carousel-style idea pin that encourages people to sign up for the email list and shows how to do so. Idea Pins, as of early 2023, are not able to link out but that feature is being pushed out and will be available soon.

3. Optimize your website for conversions

Once users click through to your website from your Pinterest pins, make it as easy as possible for them to sign up for your email list. Use clear and prominent opt-in forms and landing pages that offer value to users and encourage them to sign up.

4. Create relevant boards

Creating relevant boards on Pinterest that align with your lead magnets or freebies can help attract users who are interested in the content you’re offering. Pinterest needs to index your content, and having clear board titles for your pins helps you reach the right people.

Pin relevant content to these boards and include calls to action.

5. Showcase your freebie

Give people a reason to click through to get your freebie. Show them a preview of what the free resource looks like on the pin image itself.

Create a mock-up of the resource that links to the freebie. Is it a multiple-page PDF? Is it a video workshop? Is it a deck? Give them a little taste of what they can expect!

6. Embed your free resource into your blog posts

Have blogs that are related to your free resource? Embed the opt-in form into your blogs to encourage subscribers to the blog content you’re promoting on Pinterest, too! You can even create graphics that have the title of the blog post with a call to action in the image for the free resource. That way, you’re not feeling like the promoting of your freebie is exhaustive and you can keep your feed feeling diverse while still getting a ton of pins about your email freebie.

7. Use Pinterest ads

Using Pinterest ads can be an effective way to promote your lead magnets or freebies to a larger audience. Set up Pinterest ads that target users who are interested in your brand or content, and include clear calls-to-action that encourage users to sign up for your email list.

Pinterest has the kind of reach that can help you grow your email list fast, if you have a resource that speaks to your audience’s needs, stops their scroll and captures attention, and provides a solution in the best way for your audience. Note that this definitely takes time and conversations with your audience to figure out! Play with it, and don’t be afraid to try more than one free resource to promote on Pinterest.

Speaking of Pinterest, pin these for later!

Blog posts are still a very relevant way to engage an audience.

Short-form content is definitely the IT girl of the moment, but don’t skip out on its bestie, long-form content because it’s useful for different reasons. Long-form content is still relevant because it allows for an in-depth exploration of a topic and provides valuable information for readers. It can also help establish expertise and authority in a particular niche, leading to higher search engine rankings and increased traffic to your website.

And not to mention, it’s important to create content for a platform you actually own, like your website. You don’t own your Instagram account. Not the be the Debbie Downer here or scare you, but your feed could get hacked or disappear (or get banned!), so it’s important to not only diversify where you’re posting (by starting to post on additional platforms like Pinterest) but also to post on platforms you own, like your website.

So, let’s leverage that existing content you’ve already created, and get it over on your website!

Here are some tips for creatively using your Instagram feed to build out blog posts.

1. Sort through your Instagram posts and look for common themes.

One of the easiest ways to find inspiration for a blog post is to look at your Instagram feed and find common themes. For instance, you may find that you have shared multiple posts on the same topic, such as healthy eating or travel destinations. You can then take these common themes and combine them to create a robust blog post.

For example, if you’ve shared multiple pictures and captions about your travels to Japan, you can combine these existing posts to create a robust travel guide for Japan. You can write about the top places to visit, local cuisine, and what you can skip.

I also did this quick exercise for a client who had a content pillar of hormone health and she had multiple Instagram posts on her feed about each phase of your menstrual cycle – how to eat, workout, and live your life according to them. I went through and found all of the similar posts and broke them down into multiple blog outlines.

2. Use your captions as blog post intros

Your Instagram captions can be a great starting point for a blog post. They can provide a brief introduction to the topic you want to explore further in your blog post. Take a look at your captions and see if there are any that could be expanded into a full blog post. You can even use the same or similar wording to create consistency between your Instagram and blog content.

For example, if you shared a post about how to stay motivated to exercise, you can use the same caption as the intro to a blog post on the topic. You can then expand on the tips you shared in the caption and provide more detailed explanations.

When trying to figure out how to expand, think about:

• Personal examples
• How it can specifically be implemented: step-by-step details
• What would be helpful to expand on? Don’t just add words to add words

3. Break down carousel posts with multiple points into a blog

Carousel posts on Instagram allow you to share multiple pictures or videos in one post, and you can use them to your advantage when creating blog content. If you’ve shared a carousel post that covers multiple points on a topic, you can break down each point into a separate blog post.

For instance, if you shared a carousel post on IG about the 5 different ways to style a little black dress, you can break down each styling tip in a blog post with a similar title. You can then embed your carousel into the post to make it more dynamic.

4. Look at analytics for your top posts. Is there a topic that is the most popular? Expand on it.

Looking at your Instagram analytics can provide valuable insights into what type of content your audience enjoys the most. Take a look at your top posts and see if there is a common theme or topic that your audience engages with the most.

You can use this information to create more content on that topic – or simply use your posts as an outline and expand on them in a way that works for a blog.

For example, if you’re a beauty blogger and your most popular posts are about sunscreen, you can create more blog posts on the topic. You can write about the best sunscreen products for different skin types, tips for achieving healthy and glowing skin with sunscreen, and common sunscreen mistakes to avoid. Use the content that is already working and go deeper.

Your Instagram feed can be a great source of inspiration and material for your blog posts. By sorting through your posts, using your captions, breaking down carousel posts, and analyzing your top posts to leverage what’s working, you can build out your blog content and engage your followers on multiple platforms. So don’t be afraid to leverage the power of Instagram to grow your blog and engage your audience.

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And I’m not just talking about scrolling and creating your vision board, because I feel like we all love Pinterest personally. But, I’m talking, sharing your content on Pinterest.

Pinterest is a super visual platform that offers an excellent opportunity for your creative business to showcase their brand aesthetic.

From the colors, fonts, and imagery used in your pins to the overall vibe of your profile, your brand aesthetic plays a crucial role in attracting and engaging your target audience on Pinterest. Here are some tips for crafting a cohesive brand aesthetic on Pinterest:

1. Define your brand identity

The first step in creating a cohesive brand aesthetic on Pinterest is to define your brand identity. What is your brand all about? What values do you stand for, and what makes you unique?

When I kick off with a Pinterest client, I’m thinking about their main pillars and their target demo. What makes them unique? What’s their specific voice and vibe? And how can we create boards and a cohesive vibe that represents that?

2. Use your color palette

Your color palette is one of the most critical elements of your brand aesthetic. Choose colors that align with your brand identity and use them consistently throughout your pins and profile. You can use tools like Adobe Color to create a color palette or Pinterest itself to create color schemes.

3. Use consistent fonts but add some flair

Fonts also play a significant role in your brand aesthetic. If you have branding, use it! Don’t stray from your branding. You want your pins to be recognizable, so when someone is scrolling and already knows you, they immediately know it’s your content.

If you don’t already have professional branding, you can find some good font combinations on… you guessed it, Pinterest.

Choose two or three fonts that complement each other and use them consistently throughout your pins and profile. This will help create a cohesive and recognizable brand identity.

To add emphasis and create scroll-stopping images, add emphasis on your pins. Emphasizing or bolding important words can capture attention quicker.

4. Curate images that align with your brand

The images you use on Pinterest should align with your brand identity and color palette. Curate images that are visually appealing and align with your brand’s message. Using a mixture of original and curated images will help keep your profile fresh and engaging.

Need to use stock photos? Here are some good ones:

• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Adobe Spark
• Pixabay
• Dreams Time
• Death To Stock
• Styled Stock Society

5. Use pin templates

Creating a consistent style for your pins is essential to your brand aesthetic on Pinterest. This includes using the same font, color palette, and imagery in each pin. Consistent styling will help your pins stand out and make your brand more recognizable to your audience.

Use templates from:

• Canva
• Creative Market
• Envato Elements
• Etsy

Alternatively, if you have it in the budget, you could hire a designer or use your current designer to create templates for you to work with.

6. Create board cover images

Organizing your boards by category and using branded cover images will help create a cohesive profile aesthetic. Use your brand colors and fonts in your board covers to tie them into your overall brand aesthetic.

I don’t always create board covers for clients I’m working with, but if it works for your branding and helps you make everything feel more on-brand, I recommend doing that.

Basically, just create a simple template alternating your brand colors with the title of your board in the image.

7. Keep things clear over clever

While it’s tempting to make your board titles look aesthetic, avoid it.

Board titles and descriptions are important for helping users discover your content on Pinterest.

Use clear and descriptive titles and descriptions that reflect your brand values and messaging, and use keywords that are relevant.

8. Be consistent in tone and messaging

Consistency in tone and messaging is key to creating a cohesive brand aesthetic on Pinterest. Use a consistent brand voice in your graphics and board descriptions, and make sure your messaging is aligned with your brand values and positioning.

While people aren’t reading your pin descriptions much (except on Idea Pins), you still want your tone of voice to feel on-brand.

Crafting a cohesive brand aesthetic on Pinterest requires a combination of defining your brand identity, choosing a color palette, using consistent fonts and imagery, and organizing your profile.

By creating a consistent style for your pins and profile, you’ll attract and engage your target audience, build brand recognition, and drive traffic to your website. Take the time to define your brand’s aesthetic and create a Pinterest strategy that aligns with your brand identity.

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What should you prioritize next year? What content actually resonated with your audience? You can intuitively gather this information, but I like to do some analytic digging to see what the top-performing posts were.

You can use this same system for other content marketing platforms. If you have Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or a podcast, use this same step-by-step system.

Blog Audit Steps

1. Start by pulling the data

First look at the full year of what the top blog posts were. Note that the newest ones won’t have had as much time to accrue pageviews.

You can pull this data from Google Analytics or I’ve used the Jetpack plugin for WordPress.

Look at your top-performing posts and your bottom-performing posts.

You’ll this as information on what to write about in 2023, what to make adjustments to, and how to create better content for your ideal readers. More on this later!

2. Review the data and categorize

Your lowest-performing posts could mean a few different things. It doesn’t always mean that the content wasn’t good – or that you shouldn’t continue to post it. But it does mean that it hasn’t gotten traction.

Here are a few reasons why your blog post might have flopped:

• It hasn’t gotten enough promotion. Have you pushed it out more than once or twice? Across platforms. What does well on Google rankings might vary from Pinterest or Instagram.
• It needs some tweaks to become more valuable and worth reading.
• It’s not targeted enough to your ideal audience.

3. Audit your top-performing blog posts

First, plan to promote these top posts even more – or repurpose this content, so you can embed a YouTube or TikTok video to the post.

If they worked on one platform, it’s possible that they’ll work for others.

If they need updates to stay relevant in the new year, make those changes. For example, as 2023 approaches, can you make any timely changes for your promotion?

Example: Your Guide To Better Health Habits
More Relevant Update: Your Guide To Better Health Habits In 2023

4. Make a spreadsheet for your updates (if you have a lot of blogs)

You can create a spreadsheet like I did above. I have two tabs inside my ClickUp doc for my blog audit. One with overall notes about what I’ve learned while looking through the top & least performing posts.

And other is a spreadsheet with four columns to keep track of edits and re-promotion for past blog posts. As we talked about earlier, some of your top-performing and least-performing posts need more promotion.

• Blog post headline (with link to blog post to make it easy!)
• Pageviews
• Does the blog need more promotion? (Y/N column)
• Does the post need updating? (Y/N column)
• Done (Check box)

All I did to create this spreadsheet was copy over the information and added the tabs for promotion and updates!

This way, I can keep track of the blogs that need updates and when I’ve made them. We have over 900 posts at Life Goals, so this checklist will help me to keep track of the progress because it won’t happen within a day.

5. Review your audience

Now that we have our top posts settled, it’s time to look at our demographics.

Are you hitting your ideal demographic? Take a look at your analytics to review who you’re reaching. Can you make it more specific to better align your content to your target market?

6. Review your process

Have you been consistent with your blogging this year? How has your posting schedule worked for you? Are you repurposing your content?

If you do this for other social media platforms like Instagram, it might be worthwhile to create a process for repurposing your content in a way that is more efficient for your workflow.

Look at your sales process

If you’re selling products or services and using a blog to get visibility, how are you taking someone from a blog post to taking action?

Do you have a funnel set up? A funnel is basically a flow that you set up intentionally to move someone from free to paid content. This could look like an email sequence that you have people come into from an opt-in for a free resource embedded in your blog posts.

What happens when someone lands on your blog post? Evaluate your current systems and see if there’s a way to make it better for the upcoming year. Do your funnels need an update?

7. Create your 2023 blog plan

Use all of this information to craft your blogging strategy going forward.

Create a content plan for what you’ve learned about these results. Are there patterns from the top-performing posts?

Use all of this information to guide your new content plan for 2023. What do these posts have in common? How can you do similar posts without competing with your own work?

Other metrics you can audit and review:

• Site speed
• Bounce rate
• Dead links (I use this dead link website in order to look at those)

How to use this content audit process for end-of-year reviews on social media platforms

Go through these same seven steps, but evaluate based on metrics most important to the app. Hint: it’s probably not follower count!

For Pinterest, you’ll want to look at sales, outbound links, or saves, depending on your business goals.

For Instagram, you’ll want to look at your top performing posts and engagement.

–> Ask yourself, what platforms do I want to focus on in the new year? Can I leverage existing content on other platforms like a blog?

Do some further research on brands who are doing a great job, and adjust your strategy to do more of what’s working, eliminate what’s not, and try out some new techniques to continue testing.

It’s totally normal to go through an auditing process and get frustrated that you didn’t perform as well as you hoped. Instead of getting discouraged, remember that a lot of “going viral” is luck – and it’s important to keep trying new things and see it as an experiment.

Sometimes content that takes very little time can perform better than the content you worked hours on. And even more importantly, sometimes you can’t force results. Just keep putting content out there, and something you’re not seeing results on now could still do well in the future.

It takes time to get visibility sometimes, and that’s just part of content creation and marketing!

Even if you’ve been using Instagram to market your business for the entirety of your business, Reels can feel super overwhelming and like a foreign concept. 

For most people, it feels silly to be pointing and dancing. You’ve probably thought at some point, “are people actually going to take me seriously after I do this?” The answer is yes, but the good news is that you don’t have to point or dance to have a successful Reels strategy.

This feature has come out a little over two years ago, and it has been evolving ever since Instagram introduced it to its platform. You now are able to browse more effects, record up to 90-second videos, and even schedule some of your Reels in advance.

Sit back, relax, and try not to panic while we chat about the 5 practical ways you can start utilizing IG Reels for your business.

1. Set up your account for success: switch your account from a “Business” account to an “Entrepreneur” account.

Making sure your account is on the correct settings is actually an extremely important first step to making fire IG Reels. For business accounts, they do not have access to a full music library, so you need to make sure you are under Entrepreneur.

Do this in 2 Easy Steps

1. Go to edit profile and tap on the category section
2. Search for Entrepreneur and click done

2. Create a plan you can stick to!

Consistency is really key for algorithm, so if you are going to post 10 Reels one week, and then no Reels for two more weeks, I’d say it’s time to adjust your plan.

A practical tip I always tell my clients is to pick two days out of the week you are going to post Reels, and only create one for each of those days. That gives you eight Reels for the month, and your audience will know what to expect from you.

3. 80/20 ratio

80% of your Reels should be business related, and 20% of them can be personal. Still, I would err on the side of caution with the personal Reels because since this tool has the capacity to reach a LOT of people, you do not want to pull in an audience that isn’t actually interested in your business.

It’s better to keep it on-brand that way you can create an audience that is engaged, and willing to give you money!

4. Make sure to make some of your Reels in outside apps!

This might be controversial, but the Instagram app is super glitchy and I know SO many people who have lost all their work right before they were finished and had no way of retrieving it.

For simple lip-sync trends, Instagram is fine to use, but if you are making anything that includes more than putting text over the screen, I recommend using CapCut or Inshot for that.

5. Share every Reel to your story (and re-share)

This might sound obvious to some people, but even as a pro myself sometimes I skip this step and realize all the people I possibly could have missed reaching without remembering the simple act of sharing the reel I worked so hard on to my stories!

Also, re-sharing a Reel a few days, weeks, or even months later is HUGE way to give an old Reel some traction and get it in front of some people who might have missed it.

Reels can be super fun, but it takes some planning, time, and commitment to really nail it down and see the results from it. Hopefully, these 5 tips inspired you to start creating!

There are a lot of simple ways to add pinterest habits to your pinning routine, so you can make the process to getting more visibility effortless!

Whether you own a small business, you’re a content creator or a blogger, Pinterest is a powerful platform to leverage for long-term visibility.

Pinterest habits for brand visibility in 2023

1. Make multiple graphics for every piece of content

Gone are the days when you can repost the same graphics over and over again. Basically, think about quality over quantity now.

Pinterest wants you to have “fresh content” as you would have on any other social media network. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t promote that blog post a million times – just use different graphics to do it!

Whether it’s a blog post, a podcast episode, or a YouTube video, make multiple images to promote the piece.

There are tons of templates on Canva for you to use for free that will give you a diverse range to promote! But, I like to keep it on brand, so that when one of my pins comes up – whether it’s for me or a client, it’s clear without them even seeing the brand name that it’s time. That’s brand recognition, friend!

I can’t tell you how many times people say, “I can’t remember where I found you, but it was probably Pinterest.” If for no other reason than they continue to see and recognize our pins on the platform.

2. Play with different keywords

One of the best Pinterest habits to get into is adjusting the headlines and descriptions of your pins, each time you pin for the same piece of content.

Give yourself an opportunity to reach more people by trying out different keywords.

Keywords are what someone is searching on Pinterest. And Pinterest figures out who to push your content out by the keywords you use to describe the image or video you’re pinning.

Short-tail keywords:

Blue swimsuit

Long-tail keywords:

Midnight blue one piece swimsuit for summer

Use more long-tail keywords, but also, diversify your descriptions for the pins you promote, leading back to the same content. Why not try different ways to talk about the same image, to increase your chance of being seen for them!

3. Use Tailwind to schedule in advance

Tailwind allows you to see when the best time to pin, based on your engagement.

You can also visually plan your feed, and schedule your pins months ahead! Tailwind is still the best platform around for this, and it’s a Pinterest-approved platform.

Get a free month of Tailwind through our referral link.

4. When you post a TikTok or a Carousel, repurpose it into an Idea Pin

TikToks and Reels are performing really well on Pinterest, when they are around inspiring others to do something.

Not everything (especially some trends) will work for Pinterest, but a lot of the content that is motivational, inspiring, educational, or shows someone a new perspective or way of doing things, can go viral.

Why not make the most of content you’re already creating?

Take off that watermark, and repost it as an Idea Pin. 

Idea Pins are Pinterest’s feature that is similar to TikTok and Reels which is basically a carousel of images and videos to show someone how to recreate an idea. But, there’s no problem with creating an Idea Pin that is just a singular video (aka a repurposed TikTok video.)

You are allowed to tag related keywords, and even tag approved affiliate products! You can add stickers, sounds, and split the clips inside the Pinterest app.

Oh, and Canva Pro is definitely the easiest way to resize your carousels from Instagram to fit with the Idea Pin sizing!

5. Create a Pinterest funnel

You want to bring value to your audience, so think about where you’re directing them and what they want to find when they click through. What’s the funnel experience?

Ideally, the Pinterest funnel would look like this:

• Lands on page   Reads blog post Downloads freebie Goes through email sequence Buys service

Or…

• Lands on page Sees more details about the shoes that she loved on Pinterest Adds to cart Purchases Added to email list Receives discount code for next purchase Becomes a repeat customer

Otherwise, they might get to your page and feel like, “This wasn’t what I was expecting to find” and simply drop out. Or, they might be interested in your content, but because you don’t have a call to action, exit and never find you again.

Create an opportunity for people to get more value from them, even if they’re not immediately ready to work or buy from you.

6. Respond to comments

Gone are the days when Pinterest is just a search engine. It’s now operating as a social media network too. And that means the algorithm is factoring in comments as a part of the engagement.

Make responding to the comments part of your pinning routine. And try finding a few accounts to engage with regularly too.

7. Keep up with trends

Pinterest is always months ahead of trends, and it’s the go-to place where people are planning for their future. Use the free tools they offer like trends.pinterest.com, so you can be ahead of the Pinterest trends.

This will definitely increase your chances of virality, and help you figure out what keywords are spiking in popularity.

Are you already doing some of these Pinterest habits? Which ones will you get started with implementing?

With that in mind, today I’m sharing 10 Instagram accounts that are business-focused in one way or another, and many of them have incredible resources to share from their businesses, too. If you’re looking for some serious business inspiration, get ready to go on a follow spree.

10 Instagram accounts to follow for serious business inspiration

1. @createcultivate

In need of a dose of colorful, girlboss high vibes? Check out Create & Cultivate’s feed. As an offline, in-person event producer, Create & Cultivate is all about connecting women both online and in real life to help them create and cultivate the career of their dreams. The conferences feature ultra influencers and celebrities that share their stories, offer advice, and what it means to them to be a modern woman in the working world. I personally have a goal to attend one of these events in the next 1-2 years.

2. @erinmayhenry

The ultimate personal branding goddess, Erin May Henry is one of my favorite business gals to follow on IG, because she has the BEST energy out there. Seriously, getting on my feed in the morning and seeing her stories (she’s Australian so her day begins hours before mine) and how excited she is to be doing the work that she loves to do and the advice she offers her tribe –– her energy is contagious. She’s the founder of @gamechangercompany and offers a variety of services to help entrepreneurs build their audiences and make money online. I actually prefer her IG stories and YouTube videos because seeing her through video is so much better than a static image with a caption, she’s that animated.

3. @girlsbuildingempires

As an avid quote lover and reader, the girls building empires feed is right up my alley. Their feed is a mix of more traditional themed pink, black, and white quotes in addition to these amazing illustrations that feature females with quotes on their clothes, cups, etc. Adore the high vibes they are creating. #girlpower 

4. @growyourbizng

While going through my own follow spree, I recently found Ifeanyi Julian Etuokwu-Oludumila, or #FabulousJulian, the brains behind @growyourbizng. As a marketing specialist, Julian shares actionable business tips, advice, offers, promotions, and #truthbombs that resonate with entrepreneurs everywhere. I love her cohesive feed and lively personality.

5. @jennakutcher

The ultimate online business powerhouse, Jenna Kutcher knows how to do online business through and through. She offers a variety of online courses –– all with a common goal of helping you be more successful in business. Jenna shares a variety of content on her IG, and I truly enjoy seeing her share both her professional and personal life on her account. She’s real, raw, and a great storyteller, too. The @goaldiggerpodcast is her podcast’s feed, which is also chalk full of business best practices, inspiring stories, and tips to help you rock your business.

6. @lifegoalsmag

If you’re as obsessed with becoming the best version of yourself as me, then you should definitely follow Life Goals Mag! A plethora of inspiration awaits you: self-care ideas, tips for living in the present, gorgeous quotes, links to latest LGM articles, and more. Shout out to LGM founder, @coleyln for this joy-inducing online space and community.

7. @mariahpcoz

I love it when someone has niched down and rocks at what they do, and Mariah Coz does that! She is an expert in launching courses, hosting webinars, and building evergreen funnels for business-related purposes and can talk shop about these topics all day. Her feed is all business related content, and I so appreciate how specific she gets within her content and how authentically herself she is. Mariah has a lot going on –– she hosts periodic masterclasses, runs an accelerator program, offers free trainings, and she hosts a podcast. 

8. @melyssa_griffin

A true OG online business entrepreneur, Melyssa Griffin has been in the online business game a longgg time. I’ve been following her for years and years (when her website was the Nectar Collective – now it’s her name), and her content is detailed, relevant, and most importantly, actionable. Her content is also varied. She has a ton of resources for blogging, using Pinterest for your business, how to build online courses, and so much more. From this list, I’ve been following her the longest and have gotten so much value from her expertise.

9. @samlaurabrown

If I lived in Australia, Sam and I would be good friends (so I tell myself). Sam is the creator of Smart Twenties, which has been rebranded to Sam Laura Brown (rebranding to your actual name is definitely a trend I’ve been seeing from bloggers who are evolving to build businesses). She is incredibly down to earth, shares the real struggles and doubts of running a business, dealing with Imposter Syndrome, tips for mastering your mindset, how to get the most out of reading personal development books (most helpful tips I’ve gotten from her!) and so much more. It has been a pleasure to watch her personal growth journey over the years, and she’s truly taking off in her business. So well deserved. 

Sidenote: we’re both obsessed with Brooke Castillo, Oprah, and plants – what more could I ask for in a friend?!

10. @theblogmarket

The Blog Market is a creative community for freelancers and bloggers, and it’s IG feed has a serene lifestyle vibe with business tips and tutorials spread throughout lovely lifestyle images. You won’t regret following this handle.

Alright, now it’s your turn. I want you to jump on Instagram, and do the following two things: 

1. Go through who you’re following and unfollow anyone who consistently makes you feel negative emotions when you see them pop up on your feed.
2. Click through the links above and follow the ladies who speak to your heart, the ones you believe will help you take yourself to the next level.

That’s all! Enjoy these resources, LGM fam.

PS: If you enjoyed this article, check out our other related ones below:

• 10 Best Instagram Accounts for Self-Care Inspiration
• 7 Instagram Accounts to Follow for High Vibe Inspiration
• 7 Authentic Women in Wellness to Follow ASAP on Instagram