DIY vs. DFY: What Pinterest Marketing Route is Best for You?

Congratulations! You’ve decided that Pinterest marketing is something you’re going to invest in for your business. But now comes the really important decision. Do you take the DFY or DIY route? You might be thinking, “I don’t know Emilee! Which path will lead to the best results for my business?” I’m glad you asked because that’s exactly what I’m going to help you decide today! 

 

What Does This All Mean?

 

Before we go any further, let’s explain both terms, DIY and DFY. 

 

The DIY (do-it-yourself) route means that you will be doing all of the work yourself. This means if you don’t know the first thing about Pinterest marketing, you’ll want to invest in Pinterest education. 

 

The other option is the DFY (done-for-you) route which means you will outsource your content to a Pinterest marketing expert who will do the work for you. 

 

Now that we have those terms under our belt, let’s look more in-depth at each option. 

After reading about both options my goal is that you have a clear decision and a precise action plan for how you’re going to tackle Pinterest for your business. 

 

The DIY Route

 

The other day I was listening to Rick Mulready’s podcast and he was discussing that if you end up outsourcing FB ads, he encourages business owners to “learn enough about FB ads to be dangerous”.

 

I realized that this idea pertains to everything in business (in my opinion). I definitely have my zones of genius, competence, and incompetence. 

 

But even if something is in my zone of incompetence and I end up outsourcing whatever the task is, I want to at least have a knowledge base to refer to in the future. I may need to have an educated conversation about the topic with whoever I’m outsourcing to, and also be able to have an understanding of what the results mean and the overall quality of work. 

 

In order to be able to “know enough to be dangerous” with Pinterest marketing, it’s important to do some type of Pinterest education.

 

People learn by doing and seeing what’s working for other people. Normally that approach works great, but with Pinterest being a visual search engine, it’s drastically different from social media platforms. 

For this reason, Pinterest instantly becomes more challenging and more difficult to just “figure out”. 

 

Within the DIY route, you arrive at two options for your business:

 

1. Learn enough to be dangerous, and then hand it over to someone else
2. Learn enough to be dangerous, realize you LOVE Pinterest, and do the marketing yourself.

 

So as you can see from the above two options, they both require you to learn about the platform first! I used to only offer the DFY route for potential clients until I began to see the desperate need for a DIY route. 

 

My solution to the DIY crisis was to create my own Pinterest marketing course. But before you start purchasing courses left and right (shiny object syndrome anyone?), take some time to really learn more about the DIY route.  

 

You can do this by downloading my FREE Pinterest strategy guide!  

Okay, back to reading. 🙂

 

If you’re still leaning towards the DIY route, I’m including a few more details that you need to take into consideration:

 

Consideration #1

Whether you’re already on Pinterest with an ineffective strategy, or you’re starting from scratch, you need to realize that you’ll want to invest in a course. 

 

It’s the fastest/most direct way to have success on the platform.

 

Consideration #2:

If you’re going to invest in a course, you’ll need to block out time to actually go through the course material. I always invest in courses that allow me to listen to modules. I often listen to them in the car or while I work out, then re-listen or take notes when I sit down and work if needed. 

 

Consideration #3:

You’ll have to set up your account or do a clean-up of your current account, based on what you’ve learned from the course material. 

 

Once you have created that solid foundation for your account, you can start working on what will be your weekly and monthly tasks. 

 

Consideration #4:

Once you’ve got a handle on creating and implementing an effective Pinterest strategy, you’ll want to streamline your process and decide when you’ll work on your Pinterest account. 

 

For some people this is monthly, for me and my clients, this is weekly. This is especially true with the creation of Idea Pins!

 

Consideration #5:

Think about where you are at monetarily. Does investing your time + money in a course make the most sense for you? If you haven’t noticed, there will definitely be a time investment with Pinterest marketing. Especially in the beginning when you’re just getting acclimated! 

 

Now that you have a good idea about what the DIY route looks like, let’s see what the DFY journey entails.  

 

The DFY Route

 

As I mentioned before DFY means “done-for-you”, so when you take this route, I recommend hiring a Pinterest strategist. 

 

This would be a service provider that specializes in Pinterest and understands the platform. They also need to know how to create a Pinterest strategy for your unique business and effectively implement said strategy. 

 

Pinterest is a beast in itself and it’s honestly a job to just keep up with the changes that are being made! 

 

Because of this, you’ll see the best results from someone who focuses on Pinterest. If you’re going to be paying someone to do it for you anyways, you might as well pay someone who is a true expert. 

 

When you go the DFY Pinterest marketing route, the following will need to be taken into consideration:

 

Consideration #1:

You will need to be in a place where you’re ready to commit to a monthly investment. Most Pinterest experts charge $500+/monthly for monthly maintenance. 

 

Understand that when you hire a service provider they are not only factoring in their time and expertise. It’s also about their taxes, banking fees, etc. So when you’re thinking about how much people charge monthly, remember this. They also need to be profiting after the costs of running a business (just like you!). 

 

The good news is that most service providers factor these costs into their package creation! 

 

Consideration #2:

If the person you’re paying is an expert, you’re also paying for their expertise, which will be reflected in their prices. 

 

I offer monthly management for both organic Pinterest strategy and paid Pinterest strategy (Pinterest ads), so my prices also differ depending on the type of service. 

 

For example, organic Pinterest strategy is not a premium service, whereas Pinterest ads are. Hence the price difference.

 

Consideration #3:

Think about what tasks/projects you’ll be outsourcing, and how long you’ll be hiring an expert to work on your account. 

 

For example, I have seen different service providers offering VIP days. During that one day, they get accounts set up and on the right path for a specific Pinterest strategy. They may also offer a brief training on the day of your Pinterest intensive. Unfortunately after that, the ball is back in your court. 

 

You’ll need to think about this! 

 

Do you have enough information and knowledge about Pinterest to really implement your own effective Pinterest strategy afterward? 

 

If your answer is “No!”, then compare the VIP day concept to my Pinterest course. 

 

Both are great options, but my course offers ongoing FB support, live calls about what’s working now, audits, and more. 

 

So even though you have to put in the work with the course, you’ll have ongoing support, which is essential with Pinterest!

 

Consideration #4:

You need to be in a place with your business that will set up a Pinterest manager for success. 

 

Not all Pinterest managers/strategists do this, but I require that my clients:

 

1. Have a plan for consistent content creation – regularly sharing fresh Pins is vital.
2. Understand the what and why of the maintenance package so we are implementing a cohesive strategy and not piecemealing things together. 
3. Have their own real estate – this means a confirmed domain to Pin to. I will not work with clients that are only Pinning to Instagram or TpT, just to name a few. 

 

NOTE: I will work with clients who are in the process of creating a website, but if they have no plans for a website in the future, that’s a different story! This isn’t because I’m trying to be difficult. I promise you will not yield the best results over time without a confirmed domain.

 

What’s Your Best Pinterest Marketing Route?

 

Every week, I tell myself, “Okay, Emilee, you don’t have to be so long-winded.” Here we are 1,500 words later. Haha! 

 

Hopefully, you have a clear vision of what the DIY and DFY paths look like. I’m also hoping you know which path makes the most sense for your business at this point in time!

 

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get this Pinterest party started!

 

The next step for the DFY Pinterest marketing route is to book a free discovery call with me today or read more about my DFY services here! 

 

Going the DIY Pinterest marketing route? Your next steps are to grab my FREE Pinterest strategy guide, then check out my signature course, Pinterest Marketing Magic, and enroll today!