How I Grew my Pinterest from 2K Monthly Viewers to 100K in 6 Weeks
Back in April, I recommitted to my blog. I love Instagram for my business and have been steadily growing there for the last 8 months. Alas, Instagram is notoriously unfriendly for external links. It is a challenge to drive traffic off of Instagram to a blog. On the flipside, Pinterest is ripe for clicking. Pinterest is a visual search engine more than a social media platform. The intent of its users is to discover information and click to read more, not just scroll. I signed up for Pinterest when the platform first launched in 2010. Those days you needed an invite from another user to get started — remember those days? Back then, I thought Pinterest was great for lifestyle inspo. I had a board that read “future apartment” and “dream dog breeds” — yes, I fantasized about the dog I’d get *one day.* I never really considered Pinterest for business unless I wanted to randomly post a blog or share a freebie from time to time. When I got serious about growing my blog, I gave Pinterest a second look. While I by no means consider myself an expert Pinterest marketer, I will say it was pretty easy to achieve early success on the platform once I implemented a content strategy. I started this Pinterest strategy on April 16 with 154 followers and 2,000 monthly viewers. As of the date of publication on June 2, I’ve grown to 282 followers and 100,000 monthly viewers — oh, and my website traffic increased 308%. Here's exactly how I grew my Pinterest account from an average of 2,000 monthly viewers to 100,000 monthly viewers in just 6 weeks.
Optimized Bio & Boards
Ascent StoryCraft pinterest bio
Like all online platforms, optimizing your Pinterest bio is the first place to start. If you’re using Pinterest for business, I recommend setting up a business account instead of a personal account. You should also verify your website. Verifying your website isn’t too hard even for the tech-challenged, like me. Plus, Pinterest’s help center has step-by-step guides to streamline the verification process. Just like Instagram, your Pinterest bio is searchable, so using relevant keywords that explain what you do and who you serve will help others searching for your style of content easily find your profile. Your profile is also a great space to include a Call to Action or CTA. For example, my CTA is a Tiny-URL link to my free opt-in offer.
Keyword Research
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is more important on Pinterest than on any other social media platform. Just like in your bio, you’ll want to include relevant keywords in the titles and descriptions of your Pinterest Boards, as well as your actual Pins and Pin descriptions. Keyword research is more challenging and time-consuming for website copy and blog posts, but it’s much easier on Pinterest because you can perform keyword research right on the platform. Use the search bar to type in a term relevant to your content, and you’ll get an auto-filled list of related terms people are searching for about the subject. Just make such you’re searching “All Pins” (see below).
Idea Pins (Formerly Known As Story Pins)
Here is where Pinterest is becoming more like other social media platforms. Formally called Story Pins, Ideas Pins aim to empower anyone with a business account to create inspiring content and better interact with their audiences, building more engaged communities directly on Pinterest.According to Pinterest, “The number of Idea Pins created daily has grown by nearly 4x since January. With these updates, we’re highlighting the people behind the content and encouraging Pinners to follow creators and engage with the ideas they find.”I’ve been posting Idea Pins at least 5 times a week since April 16, and the return on investment has been huge! I recommend using relevant keywords in your Idea Pin title since you don’t get a description for Idea Pins. Honestly, I don’t have much extra time to create all-new Idea Pins, so I repurpose Instagram Stories and Carousel Posts, which comprise most of my Idea Pins. Though I haven’t tried it myself, reposting Instagram Reels or TikToks as Idea Pins has also been a successful way to grow your Pinterest account, according to other marketing professionals.
Tailwind
The most intimating aspect of Pinterest that prevented me from getting started was the number of times it’s recommended to post a day. The recommended minimum is 3 Pins per day, with a maximum of 30 Pins per day. That sounded like a full-time job, and I wasn’t sure if I could succeed on the platform without a serious time commitment. Tailwind, a scheduling app, truly solved this problem for me. I was able to batch create content and schedule 200 Pins in about two hours. I upgraded my account to include the “Tailwind Create” add-on, which allowed me to design pretty and properly sized Pins right on Tailwind.
Facebook Groups
Keywords and Tailwind were the two biggest factors for my early Pinterest success. Still, I learned a lot and connected with many wonderful fellow bloggers using Pinterest in Facebook groups. Free-to-join groups like Empire Business Alliance and Blogging Boss Chicks are helpful communities that provide tips, tricks, and encouragement. Many of the members are absolute pros and taught me things I'd never thought to ask, like Pinterest Group Boards and Pinterest Hashtags are outdated practices — Who knew?! Plus, these types of Facebook groups allow you to share and promote your Pins on select days, which gives a nice boost to your engagement while allowing you to connect with and form relationships with other bloggers and Pinners. With billions of Pinterest users, you’ll be sure to find an audience on the platform interested in all your great content. Happy Creating! Cyndi, Owner of Ascent StoryCraftLet’s Get Social! Connect with Me On: Instagram |Pinterest| Facebook
