Hi Friends!!
Yes, you read that title right, I hit 1 MILLION impressions on Pinterest! Insane right?! Now I'm here to tell you how to do the exact same thing. But first things first, if you are reading this, and don't already follow me on Pinterest, stop what you are doing and hit that follow button...
My Pinterest Obsession
So I can't possibly start telling you all how I hit 1 million on Pinterest without giving a small backstory on my Pinterest obsession. Pinterest was my very first form of social media! I was on Pinterest before I even owned an iPhone to download the app. When I was younger, I was obsessed with DIY jewelry, acrylic painting, scrapbooks, and every other OG Pinterest craft. It wasn't until high school (2011-2015), that I started branching over to the fashion side of Pinterest (well after I had an iPhone and could download the app). It was at this time that Pinterest gave me my love of fashion! I would look at all things Lilly Pulitzer and Caltin Covington outfit inspiration.
Step 1: Have a business account.
Flash forward to when I started Just Gingerly in 2020, I changed my Pinterest to a business account. This allowed me to track analytics on my pins and run ads. It's 100% free to have a Pinterest business account, just like it is to have a business Instagram account. My favorite feature of Pinterest's business features is the ability to see analytics on current trends. Pinterest tells you exactly what people are searching for so you can create and tailor your content to give the people what they want!
Step 2: Create Idea Pins.
Idea pins are the reels of Pinterest. When Story Pins (Idea Pins) launched in 2020, I saw that there was an option to apply to be a tester before they were available to all users. This meant I was able to start creating Idea Pins before everyone else, which was extremely beneficial to my account. I did gain a few followers from having this feature early, but the biggest thing was the increase in my overall account engagement. Once I started posting my outfits as Idea Pins, my impressions stayed around 50K -100K.
Now when I post my content to Pinterest, I post an Idea and a static pin. I post everything I post to Instagram, Tiktok, and my blog to Pinterest. Just like TikTok, you never know what people will like on Pinterest. Trends change just as easily as they do on Tiktok as they do on Pinterest, so if you are posting a wide variety of content the more likely your account is to stay relevant.
For example, one of the biggest current trends on Pinterest is nail art. So every time I get my nails done I post an Idea Pin of my nails. I post three high-quality images and title the image of searchable keywords that are trending. Here is an example of my highest viewed Idea Pin. I also titled it "Milky White Nails| Engagement Nails" which are all searchable words! Here is a look at the overall engagement for this pin... insane right? A simple picture of white nails.
Step 3: Post static content.
Static pins are the OG pins of Pinterest. The ability to link an image on Pinterest is the key to monetizing your Pinterest. If you post the liketoknow.it links to your images on Pinterest, you've created a passive form of income for your LTK. The same goes for your blog links. Whenever I create a blog post, I create a blog post graphic to post on Pinterest with a link back to my post. This drives traffic back to your work for as long as the pin is posted.
I also use static posts to share my Instagram content. It is easy to share your posts back to Pinterest directly from Instagram. These pins aren't my highest-performing posts, but these posts tend to pop up on people's feeds that view a lot of your content.
Another way to increase the views of static posts is to use hashtags that contain trending keywords. My hight performing static pin is the pin that carried my page to over 1 million views this month. Once you see the pin, you'll understand exactly how I used the content to my advantage.
Right around the end of January, the impressions on this pin started to increase drastically. For obvious reasons. As I mentioned, nail art is a huge trend right now. So with it being Valentine's Day, my Valentine's Day nails from last year started to be seen again. This is why it's so important to share all of your content to Pinterest with easily searchable keywords. You never know when a trend will change or come back around. (Pro tip: when I saw that this static pin was generating over 300k views in a week, I reposted the content as an Idea Pin with the same title and got an additional 40k impressions from the same content.)
Step 4: Join group boards.
Group boards were a feature of Pinterest that I was completely unaware of until this year! I would recommend searching niche-specific terms to find groups that fit your category! For example, I am in fashion blogger groups! Joining groups builds your community on Pinterest and helps grow your following.
Step 5: Engage with other creators.
Just like every other platform, you have to be active! I am constantly using Pinterest for outfit ideas, home decor inspiration, and content ideas. If other creators see you popping up in their notifications they might follow along with you as well.
A common thought is that Pinterest is hard to use and understand when it is quite the opposite! I absolutely love Pinterest and seeing my account grow has been incredibly rewarding! Just because you have a small following, doesn't mean you won't see amazing results! It has also been super beneficial to have these incredible analytics when it comes to landing brand deals. Brands love to see that you know how to use Pinterest because it shows your ability as a creator to use SEO to reach audiences beyond your followers.
So there you have it! That's how I was able to hit 1 Million impressions on Pinterest as a small creator with under 1K followers! I hope this helped answer all of your Pinterest questions and inspires you to start utilizing this amazing tool!
