Thursday Press #114: calling all main characters

[11 JAN 2024] your enemies-to-lovers arc is waiting!

Everyone loves an enemies-to-lovers moment.

Don't agree? Name one famous pop culture couple that weren't once enemies.

The Proposal, You've Got Mail, Vampire Diaries, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl, ACOTAR... I could keep going.

There's just something about raw animosity that makes you really root for romance, even if the two characters never end up together.

(You can't tell me there wasn't something a little suspicious about how obsessed Draco Malfoy was with Harry Potter...)

Well, guess what, bestie?

If you've ever wanted to be the main character in your own enemies-to-lovers storyline, 2024 is the year for you!!!

In 2024, I've unilaterally decided that I'm going to be writing the redemption arc for everyone's favorite villain — the algorithm.

(The Pinterest algorithm, specifically, but also the general concept of blaming algorithms for anything that doesn't go your way)

Not sure if you're gonna add this story to your TBR? Here's what you need to know:

The Main Character: You, a creative business owner with big goals and even bigger dreams.

The Love Interest: The Algorithm, mysterious, temperamental, and determined to bring you down... or is it?

The Conflict: You're both competing for your share of the most valuable commodity — attention.

The Enemies-to-Allies Twist: You realize you have a shared goal to keep your audience happy. After all, that's how you monetize that attention you're competing for.

The Allies-to-Friends Montage: You train your content creation muscles and test different things. Along the way, you learn more about your former-enemy-turned-friend, even coming to appreciate some of its quirks and why it is the way it is.

The Oh. Scene: Working together gets you both closer to your goals even faster, and just like that, you realize you're in love.

The End: You ride off into the digital sunset together, bringing in traffic, leads, & sales on autopilot.

This isn't just some Disney-worthy fairytale, though.

When you speak the algorithm's love language, it gives that love right back to you in the form of better reach & engagement.

& if you're not sure how to do that, that's exactly what I'm here for...

BELOW THE FOLD

Some creators love to tell you that they have the hack that'll finally "beat the algorithm" so you can explode your following and make tons of money overnight.

But are these hacks truly exclusive trade secrets? Or are they just basic human behavior???

Every "new" tip and trick is just a different way of dressing up the same thing that has always worked online — creating content that reaches and captivates your audience, keeping them on the platform longer.

Creating short, looping reels isn't a "hack," it just keeps users watching for longer.

>> You could also do this by creating content your audience actually wants to watch from start to finish.

Using "trending" hashtags or keywords isn't a "hack," it just describes your content to the algorithm so they can show it to the right people.

>> The number doesn't matter. The relevance does, and you can't fake that.

If you don't know why the hacks work, you're always going to be searching for the next one, leaving you reliant on whatever growth influencer of the day is sharing. 🙄

And while I'm happy to share all my Pinterest knowledge with you, I don't want you to have to rely on me to market your business on Pinterest.

When you truly understand your audience and the platform you're marketing on, you can create content consistently, confident that it'll work to bring in leads and sales for months, no matter what new trends or changes go down.

I might not be the expert on your particular audience, but I do have a pretty good understanding of the Pinterest platform & algorithm, if I do say so myself.

So, what is the Pinterest algorithm, anyway?

The first thing you need to know about the Pinterest algorithm is that it isn’t out to get you. It doesn’t even really care about you at all. (This is a good thing, I promise.)

The truth about the Pinterest algorithm is that its end goal is to make Pinterest-the-business more money. It does that by keeping users on the platform longer.

Y'know what kind of users stay on the platform longer? Happy users. Happy users are users that are being spoon-fed exactly the kind of content they're searching for and interested in.

So the Pinterest algorithm boils down to making Pinterest more money by connecting users to the content they want to see.

Remember! There isn't a living breathing human being deciding whether or not your content gets seen. I like to call the digital BTS of the Pinterest algorithm the Pinterest robots, and the robots need help understanding your content.

Those robots use a lot of different factors to understand what your content is about and if it's worthy of being recommended to Pinterest users.

When you know what those factors are, you're able to create content more effectively in a way that helps you meet your goals from Pinterest and helps Pinterest meet its goals, too!

It's a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" kind of situation. A symbiotic relationship, if you will.

Luckily, I've broken down all of those factors for you in this week's blog post!

How the Pinterest Algorithm Works in 2024

Knowing what to do isn't the same as knowing why or how it works, which is what I find most marketing education is missing.

These next two resources hit the nail right on the head, though.

In keeping with the bookish theme of today's email, I've got a choose your own adventure moment for you to keep learning (if you so choose)...

>> If you want to get super analytical about your Pinterest SEO (aka the foundation of the Pinterest algorithm), I recommend this course.

You'll learn how to find and use Pinterest keywords to get your pins ranking & growing without having to be an SEO expert, and it's all based on how the algorithm was actually developed to work.

>> If you want to learn how to apply that SEO knowledge to creating Pinterest content that converts your target audience to dream clients & customers, this training is for you.

If you're tired of investing time into Pinterest without getting the results you expect, this class will teach you the missing pieces to turn your effort into tangible impacts.

Okay, be honest with me, are you gonna be the main character in this story? Or are you going to be the doubting best friend whose name no one remembers?

I, for one, am ROOTING for you. I believe so strongly in your love story with the algorithm that I'm ready to carve "you <3 algo 4eva" into a tree somewhere. 🫶

WAITING FOR MY CALL FROM NETFLIX —

Sarah

TL;DR? I skip to the end sometimes, too. But this is one story you won't wanna miss — 2024 is the year you and the algorithm get your fairytale enemies-to-lovers arc. Are you in???