What Paula Deen’s Cookin’ on Pinterest, Y’all

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What Paula Deen’s Cookin’ on Pinterest, Y’all

March 9th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Paula Deen, the sassy, southern sweetheart of the Food Network, was one of the first “celebs” on Pinterest. I put “celeb” in quotations because the chef’s digital presence is actually managed by a team of two.

Jonathan Able and Lisa Scarbrough oversee Deen’s social media activity, which means curating content, posting recipes, engaging fans and, above all, upholding Deen’s unique brand. If you’ve ever wondered who’s behind the chef’s twangy Twitter voice (“Have y’all been able to try these Southern Side Dishes? I love ‘em for weeknight meals.”), look no further.

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As the online editor for Pauladeen.com, Able manages content and messaging for all of Deen’s digital presences, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. Scarbrough is Pauladeen.com’s in-house programmer and community manager. Both help populate Deen’s Pinterest account with original recipes and finger-lickin’ photos.

While other brands have chosen to pin relevant content from around the web, Deen’s Pinterest page is comprised mostly of Pauladeen.com recipes. That’s not to say the team isn’t listening to its followers. “We try to break our recipes down into fun and friendly categories and subgroups based on what we hear the fans looking for,” says Able. “A lot of what we post is often fan-suggested.”

And what recipes are fan favorites? Desserts, of course. Among Deen’s 42 boards, you’ll find categories named “Gooey Favorites” and “Sweet Savannah Treats,” the pins of which are dripping with — you guessed it — butter.

“Pinterest users tend to gravitate towards our more whimsical recipes and food how-to’s,” says Able. “For instance, our pie decorating article did very well on the platform because it has beautiful step-out photography to go with it.”

Anyone who has watched Paula Deen on TV will immediately understand where that sense of whimsy comes from. Deen’s personality is loud, proud and sometimes even a teeny bit off-color. That charisma comes through her Pinterest page, too. Just check out the board titled “LOL” to see Deen riding on a stick of butter.

Able and Scarbrough have managed to find a way to communicate not only Deen’s sense of humor, but her brand as well. “Paula is all about sharing. She shares her food, home and lifestyle, and Pinterest seems to really get that,” says Able.

But determining that Pinterest would be a good community fit was only one part of the equation. Deen’s team decided to jump on Pinterest as soon as the network broke into Pauladeen.com’s list of top five traffic sources, says Scarbrough. “Pinterest users were already pinning our content before we got on board. Within the first week, we had over 25,000 followers, and we had only sent out two tweets about the Pinterest account.”

It seems that fortune has fallen into the laps of Paula Deen and her team members. Much of it has to do with Deen’s already famous cooking (read: evergreen content), but Able also attributes their Pinterest success to the network’s ease of use. “The best thing about Pinterest is that it’s not work at all, so posting new content is fun for both us and our users.”

So, get ready for more butter! What is your favorite Paula Deen recipe? What board would you like to see added to her Pinterest page?