As a Pinterest strategist, there are a few questions that I commonly get asked, and there are also some practices I see still being implemented that are definitely ready to be retired. Curious to know what they are? Well, you’re in luck! Today I’m sharing five Pinterest practices that will help drive more traffic to your business!
I know what it’s like to feel as though you are constantly battling the fight of the algorithm and “what’s working now”. My goal today is that these five Pinterest practices & tips will give you some clear and direct answers to some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the platform!
Alright, let’s dive in!
Pinterest Traffic Tip #1: Don’t Worry about Searching for Group Boards
Remember how I said there are some top contenders for most frequently asked questions regarding Pinterest? Yup, questions about group boards are at the top!
People typically are asking:
“What group boards should I join?”
“How do I find group boards?”
“How do I request to join group boards?”
Here’s my short answer: don’t worry about group boards.
And here’s my long answer: people used to join group boards because they were finding that depending on the group board, they were seeing a major increase in their traffic. Years ago, we basically discovered a Pinterest “hack” in a way.
We discovered that we could increase the distribution of our Pins via group boards.
Unfortunately, hacks typically only work well for so long before platforms realize what creators are doing and then the jig is up. Now, I don’t think many creators were necessarily looking at group boards as a way to cheat the system, but when we get to the core of why Pinterest created group boards, it is off base.
Pinterest created group boards so that a small (keyword there small) group of like-minded collaborators could easily share ideas and inspiration. For example, I created a group board with my sister that was titled, “Baby Shower Ideas”, and we used it to plan our other sister's baby shower!
This was what Pinterest intended group boards to be used for all along.
So this is what I want you to do if you are currently already using group boards. I want you to go to both Pinterest and/or Tailwind and I want you to check out the performance of your group boards.
If you are seeing great results (let’s say one of your top-performing boards), then don’t give up on using that board! But if you aren’t seeing results and it’s not helping, or increasing, your Pinterest traffic? I’m giving your permission to leave the group board.
Why leave the board?
Well, you don’t need to clutter up your Pinterest account with boards that you aren’t pinning to regularly. Unless a board is clearly for seasonal content, you should be pinning to all of your boards regularly, because it should house the content that you are creating routinely.
What if you aren’t a member of a single group board? You can breathe a sigh of relief because I’m telling you, don’t worry about spending time searching for group boards to join!
I want you to take that precious time you were going to use towards searching for group boards, and put that extra time into your keyword strategy!
So if you aren’t a part of any group board, that’s okay! If you are, just take a peek and what’s going on and assess if they are boards that still need to be taking up real estate on your account.
Speaking of taking up real estate on your account, this brings me to tip #2.
Pinterest Traffic Tip #2: Don’t Slap up Reels and TikToks with No Strategy
Let’s break this one down a bit. I’m seeing TikToks and Reels being used on Pinterest and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing - unless they are lacking strategy and optimization.
I see this most commonly with Idea Pins. Creators will create 1-page Idea Pins and it will be a TikTok video or a Reel.
It’s important to use video content on Pinterest and it’s also a smart business practice to repurpose your content! So let’s talk about how you can do so strategically with your Idea Pins.
If you are going to use a Reel or TikTok video for an Idea Pin, you should do the following:
- Select content that is not random trends or humor, but content that would specifically serve your audience on Pinterest, and your unique niche.
- Download content and remove the watermark (Pinterest will start suppressing the distribution of these Pins if you don’t do this step).
- Upload content and follow best practices. You can learn more about best practices for Idea Pins here.
- Add title, description, and tags
- Add CTA
- Select cover photo
- Pin to the most relevant board
Hopefully, it’s a relief to know that you can and should use that amazing video content from other platforms on Pinterest! And remember, you can use the video content for your video Pins as well, so long as it’s linked and relevant content!
Looking for more smart business practices and strategy ideas for your business using Pinterest? Grab my FREE Pinterest strategy guide! This guide will help you in creating and implementing an effective Pinterest strategy that’s focused on getting you sales!
Okay, let’s keep moving. Time for tip #3!
Pinterest Traffic Tip #3: The Pinterest Mindset
I’ve seen within multiple Facebook groups other business owners chatting about Pinterest and let’s just say, my blood has been known to boil a time or two.
What makes my blood boil? The negativity surrounding Pinterest!
All platforms are ever-changing and evolving because they have to be! If platforms stayed the same, they would quickly become outdated and obsolete in this online world.
What I see are some business owners saying comments like:
“Pinterest doesn’t work anymore.”
“I gave up on Pinterest, and I recommend you do the same.”
“My Pinterest traffic tanked and I think all business owners are seeing this.”
I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.
I’m not a super woo-woo type of gal, but I do believe in the power of mindset. If you approach Pinterest from this negative angle, I think you’ll see negative results.
You’ll be looking for reasons why you should give up, or why you knew “all along that it wouldn’t work for your business”, rather than looking at what tweaks and changes you can make that will have a positive impact.
So please, I beg of you, give yourself the freedom to release any negativity surrounding Pinterest.
And really, this needs to be something you let go of in general. I think the quickest way we can sabotage ourselves, our business, and our effort is with our mindset if we aren’t careful.
I’ve been known regularly to get on a soapbox about the Pinterest mindset, so for now I’ll step back down and move on to tip #4!
Pinterest Traffic Tip #4: Lack of Content Diversity
We’ve got to say goodbye to the lack of diversity in our Pinterest marketing content! I’ve even had this experience with my own clients.
If my clients don’t have or create video content for their business, that means I either have to resort to stock videos (free videos from platforms such as Canva) or no videos.
Because I know video is important to use on Pinterest, I have tested stock videos on Pinterest.
When I use stock videos I’ve made sure that they obviously are relevant to where I’m directing traffic. So if it’s a blog post that’s talking about online teaching, I might use a stock video of a woman working on a computer.
However, I’ve noticed that these video Pins just do not really do well and it’s because there’s a lack of inspiration from stock videos. They feel generic and fake.
Now if you’ve had amazing success with stock videos, you do you! I’m just sharing my own experience with them.
So here are your action items for this tip. I want you to challenge yourself to share to your Pinterest account static Pins, video Pins, and Idea Pins on a weekly basis.
If you can’t share video Pins on a weekly basis, do it at least monthly. I also challenge you to use your own video content!
Don’t forget, you can repurpose video content you’re making on other platforms and you can use it for your video Pins and your Idea Pins!
If you’d like to learn more about content repurposing and how to approach that, you can learn more about that in this blog post!
We’re in the home stretch, my friend! Let’s go ahead and look at the last tip!
Pinterest Traffic Tip #5: Feel Free to Stop Using Hashtags on Pinterest
Yup, you read that right. Those 2-4 hashtags you’ve added to your Pinterest board and/or Pinterest Pins? You can forget them.
Pinterest has told us that they aren’t necessary. We know that Pinners aren’t using them to search for content but I think that some marketers want to hold onto them because they feel that it helps Pinterest index their content.
My advice? Save yourself some time and energy, and forget ‘em!
Instead, focus on having amazing and highly-optimized keyword-rich descriptions for both your Pins and your boards.
DO include keywords in your descriptions and include your most important message in the first two sentences.
DON’T include hashtags or any extra fluff.
That’s all for now my friend! Short, simple, and sweet!
Last Thoughts
Hopefully, you found these tips helpful!
Will you do me a favor? Comment below and let me know which of these 5 Pinterest practices you found surprising.
And just as a friendly reminder, if you’re looking to learn more about Pinterest, you can download my FREE Pinterest strategy guide today!
