We are all familiar with the BIG social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. But what about Pinterest? It seems like Pinterest could almost be considered the red-headed step-child that people forget about. Unless, of course, you’re planning a wedding or looking for a dinner recipe. As the lady-boss hosts of All the Social Ladies podcast mention, Pinterest is for the doers or as they call it “the planning network”.
Let’s see what we can learn from their conversation with Bri Foster, Pinterest’s Social Media Community Manager.
Social Media is About that Hustle
Ms. Foster has moved up the ranks of Pinterest throughout the last few years and along the way she has learned a plethora of skills. Foster mentions that the social media team at Pinterest is rather small, with a maximum of only three people on the team at any one time! Because of that, and other reasons, each team member must be well-rounded in the different tasks that a social media team performs.
In her interview with the hosts of All the Social Ladies, Bri, shares about how her job is different every day. She has found that working in social media, she must be able to wear multiple hats.
Along with wearing these multiple hats, she has learned to switch these hats many times per day and often quickly.
Working in social media requires flexibility and the ability to change directions on a dime. She shares that in a day she could work on “campaign coordination, trend spotting, analytics, content curation” and even “talking to influencers”.
Make Sure to Find the Balance
Bri also mentions the long days and late nights. She shares that there have been many a night that she was up working until three in the morning! But she shares that she would gladly stay up until 3 AM knowing that she is helping others. Because that’s what she believes the Pinterest platform provides for its users.
Through working all these late nights, Bri talks about finding the balance in her job. She mentioned the ever-popular “social media detox” and how that’s just not possible with what she does since working in social media is such an “on” role. Because this is the reality of working in social media, Bri has learned to ask for backup. To maintain a healthy balance, she also suggests muting certain topics for an hour during the day, etc. Bri says these types of choices are “worth it for mental sanity”.
Bri has learned that it’s really important to know yourself and your limits and to use your team for support.
Things we can learn from Bri’s experiences:
Trust your team
Learn to know when to ask for backup or support
Take breaks often
Turn off or mute certain social media topics that could be a distraction, even for an hour
Monitor your own personal social media platforms
Pay attention to possible burnout
Shout it from the Mountain Tops
What is Pinterest’s strategy on other social platforms? Bri talks about how she doesn’t shy away from using other social media platforms to shout about her platform. She knows that people who use Pinterest probably use Instagram or Twitter too. So she makes it her mission to share cross-platform and always redirect back to Pinterest.
“We have our platform and our value prop and what we need to do is shout that from the mountaintops. So if the mountaintop is Instagram, I will be there but I will make sure every post links back to Pinterest… Rooted in bring people back to the platform”
She shares about how throughout the COVID Pandemic there have been a lot of inspiration that has led to new campaigns: “Chefs At Home”, “Black Lives Matters” and her baby, the “Pinterest Shop”. Bri knows that the “pinners” who use Pinterest are serious about what they are searching for so she needs to be serious about bringing content based on current trends that are all backed by data. She makes sure that her campaigns aren’t “sales-y” either.
Conclusion
Even though Pinterest may not be the first social media platform you go to, it has its benefits. Through the conversation with Bri Foster of Pinterest on All the Social Ladies, we can take away a few important nuggets. Working in social media may be fun but it requires some hustle and flexibility. With all those tasks and to-dos, it’s important to find the balance. And lastly, when using other social media platforms, don’t be afraid to self-promote but always redirect.
Thanks for following along! If you are interested in learning more, check out some of our other blog posts on thesmmu.com. You can find more “Social Ladies” weekly on All the Social Ladies podcast here: https://anchor.fm/allthesocialladies/episodes/Show-251---Bri-Foster-of-Pinterest-emad4m. Don’t forget to get inspired on Pinterest!
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