If you’ve spent any time around my website or this blog, you know that one of my core beliefs is that marketing your business as an online entrepreneur shouldn’t be an uphill battle. Which is exactly one of the reasons why I started specializing in Pinterest marketing to begin with! In a line-up of platforms, Pinterest just stands out to me. 

Why? 

Well, mainly because of the evergreen factor. A post on IG or FB may receive engagement for up to 48 hours but you’re content on Pinterest lives on FOREVER. Plus, Pinterest is a search and discover, traffic driving platform. If you’re goal is to get people to your website to sell them something, Pinterest makes far more sense IMO.

But I get it. There are SO many platforms out there. And if you’re still a solo-preneur, it’s impossible to be everywhere at once (if you’ve somehow figured this out, please let me know!). 

Which is why I aim to make Pinterest Marketing EASY. It doesn’t NOT have to be hard or take you 2 hours everyday, all month just to get visible. 

Keep reading for my top 3 tips for making Pinterest Marketing EASY.

Upfront Planning

We’ve all heard about batching when it comes to content creation, right? Do all your writing, then your editing, then your image creation, etc. Batching similar tasks together rather than jumping from step to step will ultimately save you time in the future. Also, batching in general will save you time as you won’t be wasting precious minutes everyday trying to post on the fly!

When it comes to Pinterest, I also like to batch. But before we get to that, there’s the pre-work. The pre-work is what will save you loads of time when it comes to your Pinterest marketing plan and the pre-work I’m talking about is:

• Keyword research
• Pre-writing your pin titles
• Pre-writing your pin descriptions

Having this work done and saved in a master template will save you HOURS in future pinning. This way, you won’t be trying to think of a clever pin description every time you sit down to upload your pins!

BONUS:

I just launched a program called Pinterest Plan on a Page where I show you the exact steps that go into the pre-work phase, plus how to do things like keyword research, keyword organization and ultimately content organization. We created an actual “Plan on a Page” for your monthly Pinterest marketing tasks. You can learn more about it by clicking the image below!!

Processes

I’m an ESFJ and Enneagram 3. If you know anything about these personality types, then you know they indicate that I love a good process or system (and they’re 100% correct). I have a process and system for everything in my business.

And the same needs to be true when it comes to your Pinterest marketing. Creating images and pinning when you have time, won’t do much for your overall success. Pinterest likes consistency.

The more consistent you are, the more the algorithm will recognize you, the more they will show your content. The more they show your content, the more people can engage which means they show your content even more – see how that works?

But in order to be consistent you need a process to help you do so. I’ve built mine out in Asana but you will need to determine things like:

• When will I review analytics from the previous month?
• When will I decide what content/products to focus on/pin design each month?
• When will I do pin design and how many will I do at a time?
• When will I schedule/post my pins?

Determining these aspects and adding them to your calendar will help you create your overall process that can be repeated each month.

Pin Templates

This is probably my top time saving hack, so essentially, I’m saving the best for last:)

In order to make your Pinterest marketing easy, you MUST have pin templates created for your business! Having templates already created makes batching your pin design a quick and easy task rather than an overall time suck.

I am not a graphic designer, nor do I play one on TV 🙂 So sitting down with Canva open to a blank canvas is not my idea of fun. But what I do for my clients’ businesses, as well as my own, is take the time at the very beginning, to design 10-20 templates that I can use each month, varying the image and text (and in some cases, the color) to create my monthly pin designs. 

Does it take me a bit to design the original templates, sure. But once they’re done, it’s off to the races.

QUICK NOTE:

As a bonus in my Pinterest Plan on a Page program, I give you access to 15 free standard pin templates, a whole section on how to make them your own with your personal branding PLUS a video training on how to design 5 pins in 5 minutes! Click here to access >> > Pinterest Plan on a Page

I hope this quick post has shown you 3 quick ways that you can make your Pinterest marketing easy! I break down each of these 3 tactics inside of Pinterest Plan on a Page and also give you the step-by-step breakdown for how to accomplish each one. Plus, of course, you get the actual Plan on a Page – what you need to do each month to keep the process going and see success on Pinterest. 

Check out the full details here, or message me to learn more!

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Have you heard of Pinterest Idea Pins?

If you’ve spent any time marketing your business on Pinterest, chances are you’ve heard about Idea Pins.

But if you’re newish, you may be wondering exactly what they are (or what they are not!). 

Are they like Instagram Stories? Can they drive traffic to my website? How do they grow my business?

Let’s dive into all of that!

What are Pinterest Idea Pins?

Straight from Pinterest, “Idea Pins are an evolution of Story Pins, with a fresh name to better match the uniqueness of a product that empowers creators to share long-lasting ideas and not ephemeral stories.”

Essentially, Idea pins are multi-page video and/or static pin images, designed to teach or tell a story. 

You can make Idea Pins right on Pinterest, either on the web platform or via the Pinterest app. As of the writing of this post, you have more creative options if you create your Idea Pins directly from the app. More on that later.

Pinterest wants you to use Idea Pins to build an engaged community inside the platform. And what’s best of all, is that Pinterest Idea Pins don’t disappear after 24 hours like stories on other platforms. They last forever which means long term engagement, reach and growth.

What you CAN’T do, is provide a link to your website via Idea Pins. And this is on purpose. They want to keep the user engaged on the platform.

The point is to inspire the pinner right on Pinterest. Teach them and inspire them to take action.

What are the features of Pinterest Idea Pins?

Idea Pin creation now includes:

• Video recording and editing for up to 20 pages of content
• Voice over recording so creators can add their own personal voice
• Music selection by Epidemic Sound
• Ghost mode transition tools (perfect for those before-and-afters!)
• Detail pages for instructions or ingredients
• Interactive elements like people tagging and stickers
• Product tagging via a link sticker (this includes affiliate product links)
• Paid promotion product tagging
• Multi-draft save so Creators can publish more ideas
• Export options to share content beyond Pinterest
• Topic tagging, a publishing feature that helps connect content to relevant interests
• The Creator Code – our content policy designed to keep Pinterest a positive and inspiring place

In addition to these features, you can also:

• Split video into multiple pages
• Add continues music 
• All “Takes” on your Idea Pins. This allows other pinners to submit their “take” on your Idea.
• Virtual try-on

How to create Pinterest Idea Pins

Currently, there are 2 ways to create Pinterest Idea Pins: via the Pinterest website or on the Pinterest app.

As a Pinterest Manager, I love the workflow (read, I’m used to the workflow!) of creating pin images (static or video) in Canva, downloading and then uploading to Pinterest via the website. Until the recent updates, this is how I have been creating my Idea Pins. 

Now that the Pinterest app has more features, like music and product tagging, via the app, I have switched gears. I am still creating most videos and images in Canva, but now I need to get those images to my phone in order to access the bonus features.

To create Idea Pins via the app:

Open the app and click the plus sign in the middle of the bottom tool bar

Select Idea Pin

Click the square in the bottom left corner to open and select your videos/images.

Once you select your video or image, use the tools at the bottom of the screen to add text, music, voice over audio, stickers and filters.

For a quick video tutorial on how to do this from your phone (and tag products), check out this Idea Pin!

Why should I use Idea Pins on Pinterest?

This, my friend, is the million dollar question! I am hearing this a lot from my community. New features can cause initial confusion and uncertainty. Plus, what if we go all in and they disappear? Then what?

What I can tell you about Idea Pins, is that they are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Pinterest has invested upwards of $20M in Idea Pins so I think it’s safe to say they aren’t going anywhere.

Plus, from my experience on my client’s accounts, they really are working to drive reach and engagement! 

Here are a few reasons you should start using Pinterest Idea Pins:

• REACH: Idea Pins are the current pin type winner when it comes to overall reach. They are seeing more impressions than other pin types and driving far more engagement.
• GROWTH: Idea Pins do not disappear after 24 hours which means your reach only compounds and continues to grow over time.
• PRODUCT TAGGING: You can now add link stickers to your Idea pins, linking everything from products on your site to affiliate links (including Amazon affiliates!).
• TAKES: Other pinners can share their “take” on your idea, driving more engagement on your content.
• SAVES: Unlike other social stories, pinners can save your Idea Pin and come back to it over and over. Research has show that Idea Pins are getting 41x more saves when compared to the static pin image
• WEBSITE TRAFFIC: At the end of each Idea Pin, users are given an option to visit your profile. Even though these Idea Pins are not clickable, research has shown that because of their reach, they are driving profile visits which are in turn leading to website clicks. Make sure your website is listed on your profile!

Final Thoughts

Are Pinterest Idea Pins easy to create? Not always. Are they clickable? Sadly, no. But are they driving growth on the client accounts I manage? Absolutely. 

Just like Instagram is rewarding users in the algorithm for using Reels, Pinterest is doing the same with early adopters of Idea Pins. So, if you have a business account that you’re aiming to grow, give these new pins a go and see what happens! And you never know, your reach just may explode!

As always, drop me a line if you have any questions!

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If you are someone who makes money from affiliate sales and promotes affiliate products, in order for those offers to be seen, you need a traffic generator sending regular traffic to your website. You need Pinterest! The more traffic you have the more opportunity there is for your products to be clicked on or purchased, in turn making you money.

But it’s more than just pinning to your affiliate links on Pinterest. You have to have a goal and a strategy to go along with that goal to consistently make affiliate sales. So today I’m sharing 3 ways you can get more eyes on your affiliate products to increase revenue and affiliate sales. 

1. Blog Posts

Put your affiliate products in your blog posts instead of just sending people to the affiliate product. Doing this is important for a few reasons.

First, a blog post regarding the affiliate product is able to give your reader more context. It tells a story and gives them visual images to go along with it. In a blog post you can clearly tell your audience why you like a particular product and how it helps make your life easier. 

Secondly, having a blog post about the affiliate product on your claimed website means your content has the ability to receive a higher distribution across Pinterest, i.e. more impressions. 

Let me explain.

Just like Google, when a user searches on Pinterest, Pinterest is “checking out” the content on the website you’re liking to. And when doing so, they are checking for a few things:

Do the keywords on the website match the keywords on the pin?

Are the images on the website the same, or similar, to the images on the pin?

Does the URL keywords match the keywords on the pin?

Is the title of the page the same or similar?

Is this website the claimed website for this Pinterest account?

These are just a few of the things the Pinterest algorithm is checking for, but overall, the more consistency there is between the pin and the content on your website, the higher your distribution across the platform.

So circling back to the top, when you write a blog post on your claimed URL about a particular affiliate product, and then include your affiliate links within the blog post, you’re going to rank much higher (i.e. MORE EYES!) than if you just sent traffic straight to your affiliate link. When pinning to the affiliate link only, and the URL is not an extension of your claimed website, that pin will not receive much distribution across Pinterest. 

This can translate into real dollars! Because the higher you rank, the more visibility you have. And the more visibility, the more opportunity for someone to click on your image!

2. Keyword Research

We send traffic to the blog posts because it solves a problem or helps your audience see how this product could be used. And you’re using Pinterest as your traffic generator because you know your audience is searching there for the solution you or your products can provide! 

But. Are you targeting the right keywords?

When you write this blog post, I challenge you to ask yourself, “If I were looking for this product, what words would I type into the search bar to find it?”

Likely, the affiliate product is solving some sort of problem. And understand what words someone would use to find it is key. 

Let’s say you’re writing about your favorite sustainable cleaning products. What words would someone type to find your blog post? Likely some of the following:

• Sustainable living
• Sustainable products
• Eco friendly

Decide on your main topic. In this example, I would go with sustainable products.

Type sustainable products into the Pinterest search bar and pay attention to the drop down options. These are keywords!

When I typed this in, the options I see are:

• Eco friendly
• DIY
• Design
• Ideas
• Zero waste

These are all keywords that you should use when writing your blog post, as long as they are applicable to the affiliate product. 

Other areas to use the keywords: you pin tite, pin description, blog title and blog URL. Again, back to the consistency I talked about in the last section. The more consistency Pinterest sees in your content when it comes to a relevant search, the higher your ranking potential. But you have to make sure you’re targeting the RIGHT keywords that you’re writing about.

3. Create shop the look pin images

So you have the blog post and you’ve done your keyword research, now let’s create a shop the look pin to go with your blog post!

Over the course of the last several months, many users have seen an increase in their overall analytics when they use another pin type other than the standard pin image. As a reminder, the pin image types you can use are:

• Standard (static) pin image
• Carousel pin 
• Video pin
• Shop the look pin
• Story pin

In this example, since we are promoting affiliate products, we want to use a shoppable pin, meaning we can tag our products using our affiliate links right on the pin. Even more, for the overall pin link, you can add the link to the blog post for the affiliate product, adding even more validity and consistency for your content.

To learn how to create a Shop the Look pin, you can learn about it in this article, 4 Pin Types you NEED to use for Affiliate Sales on Pinterest.

Way 4 – Create a strategy

Any good marketing plan needs a strategy in order to work. And Pinterest is no different.

In order to get your affiliate products seen so that you can make money, you need a strategy that encompasses several different areas. 

Starting with a clearly defined goal will help guide your overall strategy but it’s not all you need. I recommend you also understand the keywords that target your ideal audience, optimize your profile with these keywords, design pins with your audience in mind and decide on overall pinning strategy (i.e. how many times per day is ideal based on the content you have?). 

Having an overall strategy is necessary to help you achieve your ultimate goal!

ACTION STEPS

1. Create blog post
2. Keyword research
3. Shop the look pins
4. Create a strategy! 

If you don’t have a Pinterest strategy, the time to invest in managing Pinterest or you want an expert to drive traffic to your affiliate products, there are a few ways I can help! 

If you are an action taker and you know that if you had an expert create a strategy for you, you could implement it, then The Basecamp Package is perfect for you! This is a full 1:1 strategy package designed with your specific goals and business in mind. 

Or maybe you know you need more eyes on your website in order to sell affiliate offers or digital products. You have a freebie that you’re ready to leverage for serious website traffic growth. If this is you, then check out The Ascent monthly management package!

Either way, If you’re looking to grow your audience through a new channel, let’s chat! Pinterest can do wonders for your website traffic. The more traffic you have, the more opportunity you have for conversions. And who doesn’t like the sound of that?!

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If you’re a blogger who promotes affiliate products, then this post is for you! Today, I’m sharing the 4 pin types you NEED to use to make affiliate sales on Pinterest!

Did you know that there are multiple pin types on Pinterest, aside from the standard, static image? I’ve talked about them before in previous posts, like this one, but today I’m going to dive a bit deeper into why affiliate marketers should be varying types, and how they can do so to increase traffic and overall sales.

Let’s dive in!

Pin Type 1: The Standard Pin

Yes, the oldie but goodie! The standard pin image is by far the most commonly used pin type across the Pinterest platform. It is also the easiest to create and they still work for affiliate sales!

When Pinterest was first created, people were pinning anything and everything. Square images, vertical images, horizontal images where some of the picture ended up cut off…you name it! There really was no standard.

Until a few years later when Pinterest came out and updated pinning guidelines stating that vertical was the way to go. 

Your vertical pin images should have an aspect ratio of 2:3. What does this mean? It means  that your Pins should be 600px x 900px OR 750px x 1125 OR 1000px x 1500px.

Optimizing your images for Pinterest is a crucial step in the overall pin creation process! Pinterest has found that vertical, optimized images perform 2-3 times BETTER than non-optimized images. 

So if you find that most of your image stock consists of landscape images, don’t fret! Upload those images to Canva and try to crop them in a way that works vertically. Then try adding more vertical images to your workflow in the future.

To increase affiliate sales, use standard pin images to link to your blog posts with affiliate products!

Pin Type 2: The Video Pin

If you’ve spent any amount of time on this blog (or my Instagram page), you already know that video is all the rage on Pinterest! In fact, with things like Reels, Stories, Lives and TikToc, video content is becoming king in the online space. 

Which is why you absolutely need to be leveraging video pins to make money with affiliate sales on Pinterest!

When the Pinterest algorithm updated at the beginning of 2020, with it came some changes as to how they prioritized content. We’ve talked before about the NEW vs. FRESH content, but along with that is video pins.

If you’ve done any searching on Pinterest lately, you may have noticed that many times there is a video pin in the top line of your search results. That’s because Pinterest is trying to encourage the use of video pins, so when they are keyworded correctly and relevant to the search topic, you bet they’re going to be prioritized.

Plus, Pinterest really likes it when you utilize their new features 🙂

For bloggers who are promoting affiliate sales, this is the perfect pin type to increase traffic to your website and ultimately your affiliate products.

For example, if you are a fashion blogger doing a video try-on on Instagram, repurpose that into a video pin! Or maybe you’re really good at Reels on Instagram. Perfectly primed for Pinterest. 

If I want to create more of a design around a video, I like to use Canva. They already have some design templates for video pins that work great. Here’s an example of a video pin I created for a client in Canva:

Pin Type 3: The Carousel Pin

Very similar to the Instagram Carousel post is the Carousel Pin. Just like Instagram, the Carousel Pin is designed by using multiple images that the user can swipe through. However, unlike Instagram, Pinterest allows you to attach a NEW URL to EACH image. This is the key feature of Carousel pins!

Let’s start with an example. 

Let’s say you are a lifestyle blogger and with Thanksgiving right around the corner (true story at the writing of this post!), you want to feature your most popular Thanksgiving blog posts that are full of your favorite affiliate products and links (ex. Thanksgiving outfits, decor, recipes, etc.)

Start by creating a pin on Pinterest. Drag and drop or upload the main picture you wish to feature. Add your Pin title, description, and the URL that this image should go to. TIP: don’t forget your keywords in the pin title and description!

Next, select “Create Carousel” at the bottom of the image. You can do this for up to 5 images. Link this to the main URL that features your first image.

For the second image, you want to highlight your Thanksgiving decor post. Follow the steps above, but when you get to where the URL goes, use the URL that links to your Thanksgiving decor post! 

Does this again for all the Thanksgiving posts you want to include, making sure you update the URL and pin title/description each time.

Again, similar to video pins, Pinterest is prioritizing use of one of their newer pin types. Check out the stats below from a recent carousel pin I created for one of my clients. The result was an increase in overall site traffic which then led to more affiliate sales.

Pin Type 4: Shop the Look Pin

Lastly, and probably one of the best pin types you can use for affiliate sales on Pinterest, is the Shop the Look Pin. 

These are great for gift guides, round ups, clothing/outfits and more! It can be a little tricky as not ALL affiliate links work here (sorry, Amazon affiliates), but the majority of times, my clients’ affiliate links work for shopable pins.

Similar to the Carousel Pin, you start a Shop the Look Pin by creating a new pin image on Pinterest.

Once you upload the image you would like to use, on the left side of the image, you will see a small menu with a pencil, shopping tag and a trash can. Click on the shopping tag.

After you click on the shopping tag, click the plus sign, then URL. Add your affiliate link and see if it’s applicable, click the image you’d like to use and wah-la. You’ve added your first product tag!

Of course the benefit here for bloggers that also do affiliate marketing, is that users can essentially shop your image and go directly to your links straight from the Pinterest platform. This pin type makes affiliate sales on Pinterest simple and achievable.

And there you have it. The 4 pin types you NEED to use for affiliate sales on Pinterest! I use a variety of all pin types for each of my clients to create a unique strategy based on their overall Pinterest goals. If you’re curious as to how to implement using alternate pin types into your Pinterest strategy, or just want an expert to do it for you, drop me a line and let me know! My affiliate clients LOVE my Ascent package for the traffic it drives to their website and affiliate products!

NOTE: The 5th pin type, the story pin, was not addressed in this article due to the overall topic of increasing affiliate sales. The story pin is designed to give users a step by step process to follow and does not have an option to link outside of Pinterest. Since this article was about driving traffic to YOUR website and affiliate products, this pin type does not apply. If you’re interested in learning more about Story Pins, send me a message and let me know!

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