51: Everything You Want to Know About Pinterest Marketing with Sarah Burk
Board setup, pin strategy, ugly recipe pins, and... Threads drama???
You’ve been telling yourself you’ll figure out Pinterest “later” for how long now? A year? Two? Five?
Meanwhile, there are hundreds of millions of people on Pinterest every single month actively searching for the exact content you’ve already created. And you’re letting all those beautiful blog posts collect dust in your website like it’s some kind of digital graveyard!
Which is why I sit down with Sarah Burk — Pinterest manager, book hoarder, and the person who’s been managing my Pinterest for years (yes, I literally don’t even log in) — to talk about why Pinterest isn’t just another social media platform and how it makes you money. You’ll learn everything you need to have in place so you don’t waste your time posting fuck-ass pins.
Rapid-Fire Squirrel Brain Questions
Here’s what we learned about Sarah in her round of squirrel brain questions:
If she could gather “nuts” like a squirrel: Books. She recently bought another copy of a book she already owns two or three copies of. It’s a nut, so she had to get it!
If she had to get one phrase tattooed on her face: “Fun Fact” — because apparently she says it too often.
If there were a museum about her, what would be in the gift shop: Books (obviously), postcards, anything cat-related, coffee, and those grammar-correcting pencils. Also, fall colors, earth tones, cozy muted lighting, a chair with a blanket, and probably some kitschy trinkets.
Her walkout song: “Backseat Driver” by Orla Gartland (with runners-up of “Vigilante Shit” and “Pink Pony Club”).
Do You Really Need Pinterest?
If I were to push Sarah onto a stage with a microphone, she’d say that more people should be using Pinterest, but a lot of people shouldn’t.
For example, if you’re a local shop serving only your tiny town with no online presence, don’t waste your time.
But for everyone else — especially if you’re a service provider with any kind of educational content — you’re leaving money on the table.
The problem, though, is that most people who can benefit from Pinterest aren’t ready for it yet.
Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest isn’t about creating NEW content but about using what you already have.
Pinterest is where you take your existing blogs, guides, freebies, and resources and market them to people who are actively searching for that exact content.
People on Pinterest are used to clicking through to websites. They’re looking for the full recipe, the complete tutorial, and the detailed guide. They don’t want to see a reel that links back to the same reel they just watched. They want MORE.
So if you don’t have that “more” yet — if you don’t have blogs, if you don’t have a website with actual content, if you don’t have resources to send people to — you’re not ready.
And that’s okay! Just build the content first, then come back to Pinterest.
“But No One Will Read My Blog” LIES!
I’m going to share an analogy that I came up with during this episode: You’re walking down the street, and you see a hot girl.
She’s beautiful, her outfit is immaculate — like the kind of outfit where you’re jealous because you never would have thought to put that shirt with those pants. She’s cool, she’s funny, she’s smart, she’s awesome.
And then you see her fuck-ass boyfriend.
You know the one. He’s on his phone ignoring her. He looks like he sucks. And you’re standing there thinking, “What is the POINT of that, Miss Hot Girl? Why are you doing this?”
But the thing is… there’s someone for everyone.
Unfortunately, Hot Girl loves that man. They’re happy, and you just have to accept that what works for them works for them.
Now apply this to your blog.
You think no one’s going to read it because YOU wouldn’t read it. But there’s a blog for everyone. There’s an audience for everything. And if you use Pinterest to market your blog in a way that attracts the right people, you’re going to find your audience.
Stop assuming no one cares just because you’re not the target market for your own content.
Pinterest SEO
Pinterest is primarily a search engine, not social media.
Most people go to Pinterest looking for something specific. They’re not just scrolling for dopamine hits. Instead, they’re searching for “high protein breakfast ideas” or “how to write a homepage” or “website copywriting tips for beginners.”
And if your content isn’t optimized for those searches, Pinterest has no idea what the hell you’re talking about or who needs to see it.
This is where Pinterest SEO comes in — and by that, Sarah means using the actual words people are typing into the search bar.
Everything from your profile description to your board names to your pin descriptions needs to include relevant keywords so Pinterest can connect your content with the people searching for it.
Before you post anything, you need to think about: What are people searching for? What keywords are they typing in?
Then you need to use those keywords everywhere.
The SEO Cake (Yes, It Has Layers)
Sarah calls it the “SEO cake” because Pinterest is trying to collect as much information as possible from multiple sources to figure out what the hell you’re talking about and who needs to see it.
Pinterest is just an algorithm. It can’t read your mind or magically understand that your blog post about “homepage essentials” is relevant to someone searching for “what to include on my website.”
So you have to spell it out, multiple times in multiple places.
Layer 1: Your Profile. Your profile description needs keywords. Not just your name and a cute tagline, but actual searchable terms that describe what you do and who you help.
Layer 2: Your Boards. Board titles and descriptions are another signal to Pinterest. When you pin something to a board called “Website Copywriting Tips,” Pinterest starts to understand the context of that pin based on the board it lives in and the other pins on that board.
Layer 3: Your Pins. Both the pin title AND the pin description need to be keyword-rich and descriptive. This is where you get specific about what’s actually in the content you’re linking to.
All of these layers work together to create a complete picture for Pinterest about what your content is about and who should see it.
Also, you can test different keyword variations by creating multiple pins for the same blog post.
If you post 5-7 pins for the same resource, each one can target slightly different keywords:
“Homepage copywriting tips” vs. “How to write your homepage”
“Website copy” vs. “Website copywriting”
“Copywriting for beginners” vs. “Copywriting 101”
And because each pin has its own little bubble on Pinterest, you’re not annoying anyone by posting multiple versions. Each pin is reaching different people searching for slightly different terms.
Setting Up Your Pinterest Account (The Basics)
Make it a business account. It’s free, and you get analytics!
Claim your website. This tells Pinterest, “hey, this site is mine, and I’m going to be linking to it a lot.”
Create your boards. Think of boards as categories. If you’re a website copywriter like me, you’d have boards like:
Website Copywriting
Copywriting Tips
Copywriting for Beginners
SEO Tips
Email Marketing
Newsletter Content Ideas
Aim for 10-15 boards to start. Board titles and descriptions should include keywords — and yes, they should be basic as hell.
“This board is all about writing newsletters, including newsletter content ideas, how to write an email marketing newsletter, and newsletter tips for businesses.”
Something like that.
Write good pin descriptions. Again, keywords. Be descriptive, and help Pinterest understand what your content is about so it can show up in the right searches.
How to Create Pins for Marketing on Pinterest
Sarah’s advice is to post at least one pin per day.
And before you freak out, this just means creating multiple pins for the same piece of content and spacing them out over time.
Let’s say you write a blog post called “Five Questions Your Homepage Must Answer.” You can create 5-7 different pins for that ONE post:
How to Write Your Homepage
Homepage Copywriting Tips
What Your Homepage Needs to Include
Five Questions Your Homepage Copywriter Must Answer
Homepage Copywriting Formula for Business Owners
Five Homepage Copywriting Tips You Don’t Want to Miss
Homepage Copy That Converts
Each pin has a slightly different title, a different design, and targets slightly different keywords. Some will perform better than others — and that’s the point. You’re testing what resonates.
Don’t Post Everything at Once
This deserves its own section because it’s that important.
If you batch-create 30 pins (which is a great idea, by the way), DO NOT — and I mean capital D DO NOT — publish them all on the same day.
Space them out.
If you can commit to posting daily, great. Post one per day. If you know you’re not going to be able to get back to Pinterest for two months, schedule them every other day and let them run.
The frequency and quantity you post will impact how quickly you see results and how quickly you grow, but that’s just the nature of any marketing platform. More activity = faster results.
But whatever you do, only do what you can actually sustain.
Pinterest is a long game. It’s not a sprint. So if you burn yourself out posting twice a day for two weeks and then disappear for three months, that’s worse than consistently posting every other day for the entire year.
And, by the way, you don’t need some fancy third-party scheduling tool. You can schedule directly in Pinterest up to 30 days out.
If you already have a scheduler you love, use it. But don’t let “I need to find the perfect scheduling tool” become another excuse for not starting.
Pinterest’s native scheduler works just fine.
What You’re Actually Testing
When Sarah says you’re testing what resonates, this isn’t some scientific A/B test where you’re analyzing “green pin performed 3% better than blue pin, therefore all future pins must be green.”
No.
You’re just looking for patterns over time, rather than hyperfixating on any given pin’s individual performance.
For example:
If every single pin you make with the keyword phrase “how to” gets tons of clicks and saves, and every single pin with “X ways to” gets nothing, that’s a pattern worth noting.
If your photo-based pins consistently outperform your text-heavy designs, that’s useful information.
If nobody ever engages with your fall-colored pins in the summer, but they pop off in October, that’s seasonal data you can use.
But you’re not obsessing over whether Pin #4 got 2 more saves than Pin #7. That level of analysis will make you lose your mind, and it’s not actually helpful because there are too many variables at play.
Does Pinterest Actually Make You Money?
Do you actually make money from Pinterest? Do you actually get hired from Pinterest? Is it fucking worth it or not?
Yes, but maybe not the way you think.
It’s rare for someone to see a Pinterest pin, immediately click through, and buy your $500 course.
The actual Pinterest journey looks like this:
Someone searches for “website copywriting tips” on Pinterest. They find your pin. They click through to your blog. They read it and think, “Damn, this girl knows her shit.”
They see you have a newsletter. They subscribe. They get nurtured through your emails. Maybe they download a freebie. Maybe they buy a template. Maybe they decide they don’t want to DIY their website after all, and they hire you.
THAT’S how Pinterest makes you money.
It’s the top of the funnel.
I get messages about once every two weeks from people who say, “I found you on Pinterest, and now I’m stalking you on Instagram.”
But I also get messages from people who’ve been on my email list for years who say things like, “I’ve been following you forever — I think I first subscribed from some freebie you had on Pinterest.”
They think. They’re not sure. Because by the time they’re ready to buy or hire you, they’ve been in your ecosystem for months (or years), and Pinterest was just the starting point, they’ve long forgotten about.
But the truth is that they probably got on your email list because they found you on Pinterest first. They probably started following you on Instagram because they clicked through from a Pinterest pin. They probably heard about you from a friend who also found you on Pinterest.
Pinterest is the original finder, even when it doesn’t get credit for it.
What Sells Directly on Pinterest
Whether Pinterest drives direct sales or just awareness super depends on your business model.
Lower-ticket digital products tend to sell more directly:
Templates (especially Canva templates, Showit templates)
Courses under $200
Digital downloads
Any product that solves an immediate problem
If you’re selling a $47 website copy template, someone might see your pin, read your blog, think “I need this right now,” and buy it that day.
Services and higher-ticket offers = longer lead time:
Copywriting services
Design services
Coaching or consulting
Courses over $500
For service providers like me, the Pinterest-to-client journey takes longer. People need to be nurtured. They need to see that you know your shit through your free content before they’re ready to pay you thousands of dollars.
The One Thing That Matters More Than Anything Else Is…
…good content.
You can be as consistent as you want on Pinterest, have perfect SEO, and design the most gorgeous, jaw-dropping pins.
But if your content sucks, none of it matters.
Pinterest can get people to your website, but it’s YOUR job to convert them. Your blog needs to be helpful, your newsletter valuable, and your offer something they actually want.
Sarah said to me in the episode: “One of the reasons you were so successful is because your content is so good.”
And she’s right. People always want to reverse-engineer my success by copying my Pinterest strategy or my email sequence or my course structure.
But they’re skipping the part where I spent years grinding out blogs and free content and actually helping people before I had anything to sell.
You can’t skip that part!
Point of the Story
Pinterest is a long-game marketing strategy that works when you have good content to share, somewhere valuable to send people, and the patience to let it compound over time.
SARAH BURK LINKS
— Follow Sarah on Instagram
— Check out her website
— Check out our Pinterest Blogging workshop
— Check out all of Sarah’s important links
— Read all about the Threads drama we mentioned here
— Sarah’s walkout song
BTL LINKS
— Use code “MILLIONAIRE” for $100 off my website copywriting course, Site Series Sprint.
— Join the Point of the Story community on Slack.
— Leave feedback or episode requests in our Suggestions Box.
— To stay up to date with all things Point of the Story, follow on Instagram and Substack.
— Follow me on Instagram, Threads, and Substack.
— Subscribe to my newsletters Tuesday Table of Contents for one marketing tip, once a week and Millionaire Moment for the insider tea on how I plan to make $1 mil in sales by my 31st birthday.
— Check out my website betweenthelinescopy.com.
This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.