#069: How to Get Traffic From Video on Pinterest with Kristen McDonnell

ByJillian Leslie

Pinterest continues to make changes to their platform for the good of the user.

The latest update is video. Yes, you can now upload video pins to Pinterest.

Today I’m talking about Pinterest and video with my guest, Kristen McDonnell.

She has a very successful Youtube channel, Studio Knit, where she teaches people how to knit.

Her Youtube channel has over 190K subscribers, and she has published over 300 videos.

Kristen is sharing how to succeed with video on Pinterest and drive traffic to your site!

How to Get Traffic from Video on Pinterest | MiloTree.com

Knitting A Business Together

Kristen’s background is in marketing and communications. One of her hobbies is knitting.

In January of 2014, she started her YouTube channel to offer better quality videos to teach knitting.

Kristen was working full time, and after a couple of months on YouTube, she was signed on by a company for her videos.

How to Do Video on Pinterest

While it seems like video on Pinterest has good reach, many people are not seeing people click through to their sites.

That has not been Kristen’s experience, however.

Kristen has been focusing on video with Pinterest since December and she has seen amazing results.

Out of her top 20 pins that are driving traffic, 18 of them are videos.

Why You Should Start Experimenting With Video on Pinterest to get Traffic

Kristen makes her videos for herself on her own time.

Pinterest’s three goals this year are IPO, video, and creators.

If Pinterest identifies video as a priority, it’s something you want to take seriously as a marketer.

 

Tips from Pinterest on Optimizing Video

In the first 2 months of 2019, there were as many new videos uploaded to Pinterest as in all of 2018.

They’ve seen 5 times the number of uploads in the past 6 months as the prior 6 months.

Pinterest Video currently performing best:

  • Short 6 – 20 seconds in length
  • Camera angle top down
  • Quick cuts
  • Discourage talking people
  • Discourage sound
  • Best verticals: Food, DIY, Beauty, Fitness
  • Vertical video 2:3 gets better engagement than square 1:1
  • They receive twice as many square videos as vertical… (This may be why people think video isn’t working for them!)
  • Better creator recognition and monetization with brands in the works!

Monetizing Her Knitting Business

About 50% of Kristen’s income is from her website ad revenue. She uses MediaVine as her ad network.

At MediaVine, they are very interested in video. Kirstin can track her RPM, (revenue per thousand) on YouTube and her blog.

The money she’s making per view is higher from people watching videos on her blog versus from YouTube.

It’s another reason Kristen is pulling back from focusing solely on YouTube. She makes more money driving people to her site.

YouTube ads, Facebook videos, Amazon affiliates are all sources of income for Kristen.

Kristen also sells digital products, such as her knitting patterns.

Getting Click Throughs

Kristen is going through her video library and re-editing everything specifically for Pinterest.

A lot of people are posting videos that were made for a different social media platform, but the vertical video is doing better for Kristen.

Pinterest is clear that for the static videos, they want 2×3  size videos. Kristen has lots of horizontal and square videos, but she’s putting in the work to give Pinterest what it wants.

Kristen will use a video with a static photo under the video, showing the final product.

The most popular tool for making videos is called Filmora. It is a good way to get started editing videos for Pinterest.

Preferred Video Format on Pinterest

Kristen doesn’t just use a static image with a video underneath.

One simple video you can make is using a static photo, and having it move around. You can add some text over it, and just have the photo moving for extra depth.

Kristen’s best-performing image begins with a static photo of a piece of knitting and ends with a short video of her hands knitting.

Kristen’s videos range from 15-30 seconds. They’re just long enough to entice people to repin or click through to her site.

Kristen has done longer videos, about three minutes with her talking, but for the most part she has short, silent video.

You need a call to action in your videos to give people something to respond to.

Adding Videos To Pinterest

To add a video to Pinterest, you just download the file and upload it like you would with a picture.

Videos cannot be scheduled through Tailwind as of right now.

Pinterest does have a scheduler. You can schedule up to 30 videos, but it seems a bit glitchy after 25.

Kristen uses an Excel spreadsheet to make sure her videos are going to the right boards at the right time intervals.

When Kristen is scheduling videos, she pulls up the website, and once the video is on Pinterest, she can add the click through, just like with a photo pin.

Find your video on your desktop, add the title and description, your keywords, and hashtags.

Kristen puts out three to four videos a day. Most are old pins that she is pinning to a new board.

How to Get Traffic from Video on Pinterest | MiloTree.com

Sharing Videos Elsewhere

Kristen will take the vertical videos she created and put them on Facebook, where they are performing very well.

You could also take those videos and share them onto your Instagram stories or IGTV, because they are both vertical views.

Using MiloTree For Blog Growth

MiloTree is one of the very first things that Kristen did when she began to be intentional about growing her blog.

She has had it since the fall of 2016.

Kristen immediately started using her MiloTree Pinterest pop-up, and then after YouTube was added, and she began using that.

Last week after listening to a podcast episode about Instagram, Kristen went to MiloTree and also got our pop-up for Instagram to grow her followers.

The newest popup is for Etsy. It takes people from your blog to your Etsy shop. Kristen is also just starting to use that one.

Kristen only just began focusing on Pinterest about two years ago.

When she started using tactics from the Simple Pin Podcast, her website exploded over a short period of time. Since then she has been able to quit her job and move to full-time entrepreneur.

Because of the MiloTree app, Kristen went from 0 to around 80K new followers.

Paying For Ads on Pinterest

Kristen promotes her blog on Pinterest, but once they’re on her site, they can see all the other avenues she has, and products she offers.

Pinterest ads are interesting because even though you stop paying for them, they continue to promote your pins.

Kristen has put some money into a video pin to see what happens, and she is getting good return on that investment.

Before, it was a long term game, but now videos are giving returns so much faster because Pinterest is promoting them above all else.

Riches Are In the Niches

People want to do so much, but I want to encourage you to go deep on the one thing you are passionate about.

Kristen is the perfect example of that. She found her sweet spot and has dedicated her focus to that.

Pinterest has invited Kristen to Knit Con, which is an employee conference. Kristen is going to Pinterest to teach a knitting class at the conference.

What Type of Online Entrepreneur is MiloTree Right For?

Are you serious about growing your online business (advanced beginner and above)? Have you got some traffic but you know you need more?

Let your MiloTree pop-ups help you get to that next level by converting your visitors into email subscribers and social media followers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube. Sign up today!

Install your MiloTree pop-ups on your site in under two minutes.

Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

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TIMESTAMP

  • Intro
  • 2:21 Knitting A Business Together
  • 10:45 Video for Pinterest
  • 12:00 Process For Creating Videos
  • 12:58 Monetizing On Knitting
  • 17:53 Getting Click-Throughs
  • 24:04 Video Format
  • 28:45 Adding Videos to Pinterest
  • 33:45 Sharing Videos Elsewhere
  • 35:03 Using Milotree For Growth
  • 40:40 Paying For Ads on Pinterest
  • 43:42 Riches Are In the Niches

 

Read the podcast transcript here:

 

Want to learn more about how to use Pinterest to grow your business? Here are more podcast episodes we recommend: