This interview is with Laura Rike, CEO at SimplyPintastic®.

Laura Rike, CEO, SimplyPintastic®

Laura, welcome to AdvertisingExperts.io! Could you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your journey to becoming an expert in leveraging Pinterest for lead generation?

I'm Laura Rike, and my journey to mastering Pinterest marketing for lead generation started over a decade ago when I first stepped into the world of digital marketing as a virtual assistant. I quickly fell in love with the creativity of design and the strategy behind tech and analytics, but it was Pinterest that really captivated me. I realized early on that Pinterest was more than just a platform for pretty pictures—it was a powerful tool for driving traffic and generating leads. After years of learning and experimenting with various marketing channels, I saw a gap in how businesses were using Pinterest. Most people were treating it like a social media platform, but I knew it had the potential to be a major driver of organic growth. That’s when I decided to specialize, helping businesses and entrepreneurs use Pinterest as a lead-generation machine—consistently bringing in new clients and boosting their online visibility. Along the way, I developed a system that’s not about overnight success but about building long-term, sustainable growth. My Pintastic Growth to Greatness framework helps purpose-driven business owners attract the right kind of leads with the right kind of strategy—balancing awareness, consideration, and conversion content in a full-funnel approach. By focusing on organic methods and scaling with Pinterest ads, I’ve helped my clients bring in over $50k in monthly revenue and rank on the first page of Google, all through the power of Pinterest. But more than the numbers, it’s about helping people grow their businesses in a meaningful way. Today, I’m proud to have built SimplyPintastic®, where my team and I partner with business owners who are just as passionate about their impact as I am. My goal is to give them the tools they need to succeed on Pinterest without the overwhelm. I like to think of myself as the “lead-generation gardener” of the Pinterest world—planting seeds that turn into sustainable growth for the businesses I work with.

Your expertise in using Pinterest for business growth is truly inspiring. What initially drew you to this platform, and how did you discover its potential for lead generation, particularly for service-based businesses?

Thank you! What initially drew me to Pinterest was its unique blend of creativity and strategy. When I first started exploring the platform, it was seen mainly as a place for inspiration—recipes, home décor, and DIY projects. But I quickly realized there was so much more beneath the surface. Pinterest isn’t like traditional social media where people come to connect with friends or engage in conversations. Instead, it’s a search engine, and users are actively seeking out solutions, ideas, and resources to help them take action.

That’s where the potential for business growth really hit me. I saw an opportunity to leverage Pinterest’s search-driven nature to create content that would reach people in the discovery phase—long before they even knew they needed a service. I began experimenting with using it as a tool to drive targeted traffic for my clients, specifically those in the service-based sector. What I found was that Pinterest could do more than just bring visitors to a website—it could attract the right visitors, those already in a mindset of solving a problem or making a purchase. And for service-based businesses, this was a game-changer. The real breakthrough came when I shifted my focus to optimizing Pinterest not just for traffic but for lead generation.

Service-based businesses often struggle with how to market themselves without feeling overly salesy, and Pinterest allows you to softly guide potential clients into your ecosystem through value-rich content. I started building strategies that aligned Pinterest content with lead magnets, email sign-ups, and ultimately, conversion funnels designed specifically for service providers. I discovered that the key is to create a balance between awareness, consideration, and conversion content—so you’re nurturing leads at every stage of their journey. It’s about showing up with the right message at the right time. And for service-based businesses, Pinterest became a reliable source of high-quality leads that felt more organic and authentic than other platforms. Once I realized how powerful Pinterest could be for long-term growth, especially for businesses with a purpose-driven mission, I knew I had found my niche. Today, it’s my mission to help others unlock this potential and grow their businesses in a sustainable, impactful way.

You've mentioned that Pinterest is a 'goldmine' for lead generation. Can you share a specific campaign or strategy that yielded exceptional results for you, and what key takeaways our readers can implement in their own Pinterest marketing?

One of the most powerful campaigns I’ve worked on involved a boutique coaching business that was struggling to consistently attract qualified leads. Before working with me, they relied heavily on word-of-mouth referrals, and while their services were transformational, they couldn’t seem to grow beyond their existing network. They felt stuck and overwhelmed, knowing they needed more visibility but unsure how to scale without burning out.

When we began, their biggest concern was time. They didn’t have the bandwidth to dive into complex marketing strategies or spend thousands on ads. That’s when Pinterest became their secret weapon. Together, we built a lead-generation strategy that positioned them as the go-to expert in their niche. But the real magic wasn’t in just creating pins—it was about speaking directly to the pain points of their ideal clients. We focused on content like “How to scale without burning out” or “How to attract high-paying clients,” mirroring exactly what their audience was searching for.

Each piece of content led to a free, value-packed lead magnet that showcased their unique coaching approach. We also optimized their Pinterest profile to align with their authority in the space. The results were almost immediate. Their pins started driving consistent, high-quality traffic to their website, and their email list grew by 300% within just a few months. But more importantly, these were not just casual leads—these were people who were actively looking for solutions and ready to invest in their business growth.

The convenience of this system was a game changer. They no longer had to chase leads or spend hours on cold outreach. Instead, potential clients were coming to them, already primed and excited for what they offered. It saved them from exhausting sales calls and freed up their time to focus on delivering their services.

Not only did their revenue skyrocket, but the strategy became an ongoing, automated source of leads. Pinterest continued working in the background, bringing in new clients long after the initial campaign ended.

For anyone looking to replicate this success, the takeaway is simple: Create content that directly addresses your audience’s struggles, offer a valuable solution, and let Pinterest do the heavy lifting of attracting leads. With the right approach, Pinterest can become your most powerful lead-generation tool—working for you even while you’re busy serving your clients.

Many businesses still associate Pinterest with purely visual content like recipes or DIY projects. How can service-based businesses effectively showcase their offerings and attract their target audience on a visually driven platform like Pinterest?

Many people still think Pinterest is just for recipes, DIY projects, or visual businesses, but that’s a huge missed opportunity—especially for service-based businesses! Pinterest is actually a powerful search engine, and users come here because they’re already problem aware. They know what challenge they’re facing, and they’re actively looking for solutions. That’s where service-based businesses can step in and thrive.\n\nEven if your service isn’t visually driven, you can use Pinterest to attract your ideal clients by offering exactly what they’re searching for—solutions. Your potential clients aren’t just passively browsing; they’re actively seeking out guidance, tools, and expertise to help solve their problems, whether it’s scaling their business, streamlining a process, or making improvements. Your content needs to show up when they need it most.

Here’s how service-based businesses can effectively use Pinterest:

Visualize Your Value: You may not have a tangible product to photograph, but you’re delivering transformation. Use Pinterest to highlight the impact of your service. Create graphics, infographics, or visuals that showcase testimonials, process breakdowns, or even before-and-after results from clients you’ve worked with. It’s about showing the outcome of working with you—an outcome that Pinterest users are already aware they need.

Valuable Content is Key: Pinterest users come to the platform to solve problems, so meet them where they are. Create pins that lead to helpful blog posts, webinars, or guides that address their specific challenges. For example, if you’re a business coach, you could create content around “how to scale without burning out” or “how to attract premium clients.” These users are already problem aware, and your content offers the answers they’re searching for.

Target the Right Keywords: Since Pinterest functions like a search engine, keywords are essential. Optimize your pin descriptions and boards with the exact phrases your audience is searching for. If you’re a financial planner, for instance, you’d use keywords like “retirement planning tips” or “debt reduction strategies.” That way, when users search for solutions, you’re the one providing them

The best part about Pinterest is that it’s an evergreen platform. Once you’ve created and pinned your content, it keeps working for you, driving traffic and leads to your site long after you’ve posted. It’s like a lead-generation machine that runs in the background.

You've emphasized the importance of keywords in Pinterest marketing. What advice do you have for businesses when it comes to researching and selecting the right keywords to optimize their pins for lead generation?

Keywords are absolutely essential in Pinterest marketing because they’re how people find your content. Think of Pinterest as a search engine, much like Google, where users type in specific phrases to discover solutions to their problems. If you’re not using the right keywords, you’re missing out on connecting with those actively looking for what you offer.

Here’s how to nail your keyword strategy for lead generation:

Start with Your Audience’s Pain Points: The first step is to get into the mindset of your ideal client. What problems are they trying to solve? What questions are they asking? Use these pain points to guide your keyword research. For example, if you’re a business coach, your audience might be searching for phrases like “how to scale a small business” or “attracting high-paying clients.” These phrases should be at the heart of your Pinterest content because they’re directly aligned with what your audience is searching for.

Use Pinterest’s Search Bar: A great hack is to use Pinterest itself for keyword research. Start typing in a keyword related to your business in the search bar, and you’ll notice Pinterest auto-suggests popular phrases that users are already searching for. This is gold because it shows you exactly what people are looking for on the platform. Those suggestions can help you refine your keywords to match what’s trending.

Leverage Long-Tail Keywords: While broad keywords like “business growth” or “marketing tips” might seem appealing, they’re highly competitive and often too vague. Instead, focus on long-tail keywords—phrases that are more specific to your niche. These longer, more detailed keywords, such as “how to attract clients through Pinterest” or “organic lead generation strategies for coaches,” may have less competition but attract higher-quality leads.

Check Out Your Competitors: Look at the profiles and pins of businesses similar to yours. What keywords are they using in their pin descriptions and board titles? While you don’t want to copy them exactly, this can give you insight into what’s working in your niche and help you identify keywords that you might not have thought of.

Ultimately, the right keywords act like a magnet, drawing your ideal clients to your content. If you can match what they’re searching for with the solutions your business provides, Pinterest will become a powerful tool for lead generation.

Pinterest ads have been a game-changer for your business. Can you walk us through your process of creating high-converting Pinterest ads, from targeting the right audience to crafting compelling visuals and ad copy?

Pinterest ads have been a game-changer for my business and for many of my clients, especially when it comes to generating leads and driving conversions. Here’s my process for creating high-converting Pinterest ads, from start to finish:

Start with Audience Targeting: The magic of Pinterest ads begins with targeting the right audience. Pinterest allows you to get specific with both interest categories and keywords. This combination is key because it ensures your ads are showing up in front of people who are actively searching for or interested in your niche. For example, if I’m targeting business coaches, I’ll use keywords like “how to grow your coaching business” paired with interest categories like “small business” or “entrepreneurship.” This creates a more focused reach.

Psychographics Over Demographics: One of the most powerful aspects of Pinterest ads is being able to target psychographics, not just demographics. Instead of simply focusing on age, location, or gender, you can drill down into user behaviors, interests, and motivations. This helps you reach people based on how they think and what drives their actions, making your ads feel more relevant and personalized. For example, targeting an audience interested in “self-growth” or “business success” can be much more impactful than just targeting people in a certain age range.

Crafting Compelling Visuals and Ad Copy: Your visuals need to catch attention and speak directly to your audience’s needs. It’s crucial to weave your target keywords into every element of your ad—from the pin title and description to the visuals and even the boards your ads appear on. But it’s not just about being keyword-rich; the visuals need to connect with your audience’s pain points. I’ve found that using unusual calls-to-action—like “Discover the secret to landing high-paying clients” or “Don’t miss this strategy for scaling fast”—can spark curiosity and get people to click.

Hyper-Relevance from Start to Finish: It’s important that everything—from the pin design to the landing page—feels cohesive and hyper-relevant. The visuals of your ad should seamlessly connect with the messaging on the landing page. This continuity builds trust and reassures users that they’re in the right place. If your pin promises a specific result, your landing page should deliver that same promise without distraction. Keeping this consistency improves conversions because it prevents any friction in the user journey.

You've highlighted the power of retargeting with Pinterest ads. Can you share a specific example of how you've successfully retargeted your audience on Pinterest to drive conversions?

Retargeting with Pinterest ads is one of the most powerful strategies to turn interested leads into buyers, especially when paired with other ad platforms like Facebook. Let me share an example of a recent campaign where retargeting played a crucial role in driving conversions.

I worked with a service-based business that had been running Facebook ads to build their email list. They had thousands of opt-ins, but they weren’t seeing a lot of those leads convert into paying clients. That’s where Pinterest retargeting came in. We knew these leads had shown interest—they had already engaged with the brand—but they needed a little extra push to take the next step.

We set up a Pinterest retargeting campaign specifically aimed at those Facebook leads, creating visually appealing pins that addressed their specific pain points and desires. The beauty of Pinterest is that users are often in a different mindset when they’re on the platform—they’re in a discovery mode, looking for solutions. So, we crafted ads that reminded them of the value they’d already seen but took it a step further. These ads had direct calls to action, like “Transform your business today” or “Don’t miss out on this limited-time offer,” which spoke to the urgency of solving their problem.

Before they opted in, these leads were curious but unsure. They knew they had a problem and were gathering information. During the retargeting phase, they were reminded of how our service could specifically solve that problem. After seeing our Pinterest retargeting ads, they were ready to make a decision. The landing pages were hyper-relevant to the Pinterest ads they clicked, making the entire process feel seamless.

The benefit of using Pinterest ads in this way is that it taps into users’ subconscious need for continuity—they already know your brand from Facebook, and now they’re seeing you in a different light on Pinterest. Retargeting them on a new platform makes your message more memorable, and it turns those curious leads into ready buyers faster than relying on just one ad platform alone.

Within weeks, we saw a significant increase in conversions. Leads who had opted in through the Facebook ads were now becoming purchasers through Pinterest. The convenience of retargeting across platforms meant we didn’t have to start from scratch—we simply built on the interest we’d already captured.

Using Pinterest retargeting to complement other ad traffic, you can effortlessly turn opt-in leads into paying customers.

Beyond driving leads, how else has Pinterest contributed to your overall business growth, whether it's brand awareness, community building, or establishing thought leadership?

Pinterest has been more than just a lead-generation tool for my business—it’s become a cornerstone of my entire growth strategy, weaving together brand awareness, community-building, and thought leadership in a way that feels organic and effortless. Let me share the story of how it has shaped my business in ways I hadn’t even anticipated.

When I first started using Pinterest, my main focus was on generating leads. But as I began to dive deeper into the platform’s potential, I realized that something bigger was happening. Every pin I posted didn’t just bring immediate clicks—it kept circulating, reaching new people months, even years later. Suddenly, my brand was appearing in front of thousands of potential clients, not just once but over and over again.

The beauty of Pinterest is in its longevity. One well-crafted pin could work like a digital ambassador for my brand, constantly driving awareness, even when I wasn’t actively promoting it. Over time, this constant visibility helped cement my business in the minds of my audience, making them familiar with my name before they even knew they needed my services.

But that’s only part of the story. As more and more people discovered me through Pinterest, I saw my community begin to grow. People who clicked on my pins often went on to explore my website, sign up for my email list, and eventually engage with my webinars or other offers. These weren’t just casual followers—they were people who felt connected to the value I was providing. Pinterest was helping me build a loyal, engaged community.

That connection went deeper than just traffic numbers. It was about nurturing relationships with people who found real value in what I was sharing.

Then came the shift in how people started to perceive me as an expert in the industry. As I consistently shared tips, strategies, and case studies on Pinterest, I wasn’t just another marketer—I was becoming a thought leader. Each pin that led to a blog post, a success story, or an insightful resource strengthened my reputation. Without having to shout about my expertise, my content was doing the talking. It wasn’t long before speaking opportunities, podcast invites, and collaborations started to come my way, all stemming from the authority I’d built on Pinterest.

Pinterest wasn’t just a tool—it was a foundation. It brought my business into the spotlight, built a community around my brand, and positioned me as a go-to expert in my field supported by my other marketing efforts too!

What's one piece of advice you would give to businesses that are just starting out with Pinterest marketing or hesitant to explore its potential for lead generation?

One piece of advice I always give to businesses just starting out with Pinterest marketing—or those who might be hesitant about its potential—is to stay consistent and get your foundation right before diving in. It’s easy to get excited and start pinning everything, but taking the time to set up your account properly from the start can make all the difference. First, make sure your Pinterest profile clearly reflects your brand. Optimize your bio with the right keywords, and organize your boards in a way that speaks directly to your audience’s needs. This foundational step ensures that when people land on your profile, they instantly see how you can help them.

From there, it’s all about consistency. When it comes to pinning, don’t just focus on volume—focus on balance. You need a healthy mix of content every day to target people at different stages of their journey. This means including awareness pins that introduce your brand and what you stand for, consideration pins that educate and nurture your audience, and purchase pins that drive direct action, like buying a product or booking a call. By maintaining this mix, you’re ensuring that you’re reaching potential clients no matter where they are in their decision-making process. And remember, consistency is key. Whether it’s 5 pins a day or 15, stick to a schedule that works for you and your audience. Pinterest rewards those who are active over time, so think of it like planting seeds—each pin is a new opportunity to grow your reach and engagement. But without the right foundation and strategy in place, you won’t see the results you’re hoping for. Take your time, set things up the right way, and stay consistent with a balanced pinning strategy, and you’ll start to see Pinterest become a reliable source of leads for your business.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

If there’s one last thing I’d add, it’s this: Pinterest is a long game, but it’s one that pays off in lasting ways. Unlike other platforms where your content has a short shelf life, Pinterest continues working for you, driving traffic and leads long after you’ve pinned something. So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results—stick with it, refine your strategy, and give it time to grow. And most importantly, remember that Pinterest is more than just a marketing tool—it’s a way to connect with people who are actively looking for solutions. When you approach it with the mindset of genuinely helping your audience and creating value, the leads and conversions will naturally follow. Stay patient, stay consistent, and you’ll see the impact unfold. I’m always here if you have more questions as you dive deeper into Pinterest!