Coco Bassey
Coco Bassey

Blogger, Influencer and Pinterest Content Creator, Coco Bassey, shares how Pinterest differs from other social media platforms, and how brands can leverage the medium to their advantage.

Beauty News: Tell us about your role as a Content Creator for Pinterest.
Coco Bassey: I started blogging in 2013 and as other social media outlets rolled out, Instagram became my secondary outlet for content creation. But throughout my journey, Pinterest has always been my number-one tool that I’ve used for my business to drive traffic to my website. And it’s been a great way for me to grow my online community.

BN: How do you use Pinterest and how did the partnership come about?
CB: I’ve been using it since I published my first blog posts. All of my photos always get posted on Pinterest. What I love about Pinterest that makes it so different from other social media outlets is that people are specifically coming to Pinterest to get inspired. They’re looking at the beautiful content that lives on the site, but when you’re clicking on a Pin, it takes you somewhere you can find more information about that image or that short video clip. It almost serves as a search engine, but a search engine for creators and creativity. So Pinterest is such a tool for any digital creator, if you’re looking to boost your exposure and growth.

BN: Do you play in all different categories or is it specific to beauty?
CB: I started out in fashion and since then I branched out to other areas. I’ve done a lot of beauty and skin care. I’ve worked with a lot of lifestyle brands, as well. Right now, it’s all about that full, 360-degree content — I think people are a lot more interested in getting to know the people they follow in our entirety; they want to know who we are beyond the clothing we wear or how we do our makeup.

BN: What do you do to raise awareness of Pinterest for your community?
CB: Pinterest is really great because it’s very keyword driven. Whatever it is that I am creating, it’s based on what people are looking for seasonally. So that’s what I’m always fitting into the descriptions I’m using on my pins. It’s also informing the kind of content that I’m creating on my website. So if I have a blog post that’s published, I’ve made sure that the descriptions that are going up on Pinterest match the blog posts and match the kind of search terms that people are looking for. For example, right now, a lot of people are looking for nail inspiration, so I created a post going through some of my favorite nail colors for spring. That was a post that performed really well, from a web traffic and conversion standpoint, so it just goes to show how well data-driven content creation works. The Pinterest team has also been instrumental in providing those kinds of insights to creators. That’s something I definitely don’t take for granted, because that level of support from a social media outlet is unmatched—in terms of analysis and support.

BN: What does Pinterest offer that other social platforms don’t necessarily?
CB: A lot of people see posts on social media, as something you create and it goes live and then you forget about it 24 hours later as it goes lower in your feed, and people stop digging that deep to find it.

On Pinterest however, whatever you’re posting is truly evergreen thanks to its unmatched search engine functionality. A good example of this was back in the day when I used to do cooking content on my blog. I created this dessert, and for several years, that was my top performing blog post, because it was doing so well on Pinterest. This is because it was such a unique recipe, something that’s so specific, that not a lot of other people were creating anything like it. That definitely shows the power of Pinterest as a search tool. It’s something that a lot of brands would benefit from as well; to make their products more easily findable with powerful imagery and great keywords, to make it easily searchable. It’s a great way to really grow awareness. And then once you have your foot in the door, you can bring people in with an additional call to action to help grow your audience or customer base from there.

BN: Is there anything new that Pinterest has launched that you think brands should know about that that’s helped you as an influencer?
CB: Last year, Pinterest launched Pin Stories, which have been a lot of fun. It’s similar from a user experience standpoint to an Instagram story, because you see it in frames. But on Pinterest, again speaking to the power of Pinterest, it’s evergreen. So it doesn’t expire after 24 hours. I have a number of story Pins on my page that follow specific themes, whether it’s how to do certain kinds of makeup or how I style a trend three ways. Pin Stories basically serve as a mini guide for people to use. The impressions have been incredible on my Pin Stories too, and that really has supercharged my growth over the past six months .

BN: What else would readers want to know about Pinterest?
CB: I get a lot messages from other creators asking how to grow on Pinterest. Just like any other social media channel, it’s really all about consistency. The nice thing about Pinterest is that you’re not dealing with that kind of traditional feed. It’s all very search based. So, it’s not weird to post to Pinterest up to 30 times a day. You schedule your pins out in advance and you can have that running while you continue scheduling. So it’s something that’s constantly running and you can just set and forget. The more content you have out there, the more easily you’ll be found. That’s what it all comes down to. That’s been a big part of my growth, which is how the Pinterest team discovered my accounts in the first place, and working with them has helped to double those efforts.

To learn more about what Pinterest can offer you and your brand, make sure to attend CEW’s Trend Talks featuring Pinterest on April 28 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.