Introduction:
Pinterest is one of the largest and fastest growing social media platforms, with over 400 million monthly active users as of 2022. The visual nature of Pinterest, with its core focus on sharing images and videos, makes it a uniquely engaging experience for users.
While many people use Pinterest for inspiration, fun, and planning, the platform also presents significant money-making opportunities. With the right strategy, you can start monetizing your Pinterest presence in several ways and turn your hobby into a profitable side business or even full-time income.
In this post, we'll explore the various options for making money on Pinterest, from building an audience to promoting affiliate links, selling products, and more. Whether you have a small following or a top Pinterest account with millions of engaged users, you can implement these tips to start earning an income from all your great content and ideas. Let's dive in!
Get Started on Pinterest
Getting started on Pinterest is easy and the first step to making money. Here are some tips:
- **Create a business account** - Convert your regular Pinterest profile to a business account. This will unlock additional analytics and allow you to buy Pinterest ads. Make sure to fully complete your profile.
- **Optimize profile**- Fill out your profile completely including profile and cover images. Include your website and relevant keywords in your bio to help people find you.
- **Create great pins** - Focus on creating eye-catching, high-quality pins using vertical images, minimal text overlays, and appealing color schemes. Check out what's working well in your niche and aim for a consistent visual style. Pin multiple times per day to keep your content fresh.
Grow Your Following
Growing your following on Pinterest is crucial for increasing engagement and driving traffic. Here are some tips for gaining more followers:
- **Follow others in your niche.** Take some time to search for influencers, brands, and everyday users who post about topics related to yours. Follow them and like and comment on their pins. This exposes your profile to their followers.
- **Comment on and like pins daily.** Engage with others' content by leaving thoughtful comments and liking pins. This helps get you noticed. Try to do this consistently every day.
- **Use relevant hashtags.** Include relevant hashtags in your pin descriptions and comments. This makes it easier for others interested in those topics to find your content and profile. Prioritize hashtags with higher search volume.
The more you interact with others, the more Pinterest will show your profile and pins to potential new followers. Pinterest is a social platform, so it's important to be social to grow your reach.
Create High-Quality Pins to Increase Engagement
Creating high-quality, eye-catching pins is crucial for getting more repins, likes, and clicks. Put time into optimizing your images and pin descriptions to stand out in the Pinterest feed.
Use Popular Pin Formats
Certain types of pins naturally attract more attention and engagement on Pinterest. Consider using these popular pin formats:
- **Quotes**: Inspiring or witty quotes over a related image work well. Quote pins are easy to make and repin.
- **How-To Pins**: Show a step-by-step process with a sequence of images and captions. Lists and tutorials perform very well.
- **Infographics**: Visual representations of data or concepts grab interest. Infographics simplify complex topics.
- **Products**: Showcase products with lifestyle images, prices, and shoppable links. Product pins convert when optimized.
- **Videos**: Embed YouTube videos or use Pinterest's video pin option. Videos bring pins to life.
Optimize Images
- Use high-quality, eye-catching images at least 1000px wide. Jpeg and png both work.
- Make sure the main focus and action are toward the center of the image.
- Add text overlays to images using Canva or other design tools.
- Repin and recreate popular types of images you see doing well.
Write Captivating Pin Descriptions
- Hook people's attention with irresistible titles using power words and emojis.
- Describe the image and highlight key details in the first couple sentences.
- Use relevant keywords people search on Pinterest.
- End with a clear call-to-action to repin, click the link, or learn more.
Following these tips will help you create pins that captivate audiences and drive high levels of repins, traffic, and sales. The better your pins, the more engagement you'll gain on Pinterest.
Leverage Affiliate Links
One of the best ways to make money with Pinterest is by leveraging affiliate links. An affiliate link is a special tracking link that gives you a commission when someone clicks on it and makes a purchase.
There are two main ways to use affiliate links on Pinterest:
Link to Affiliate Products in Pins
When creating pins, you can link directly to affiliate products on sites like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. For example, if you're pinning an image of a cute dress you found on Amazon, make sure to use your Amazon Affiliate link for that product instead of directly linking to Amazon. This way if someone sees your pin and buys that dress, you'll get a commission!
Some tips for affiliate linking pins:
- Only choose products relevant to the image and your niche. Don't spam products.
- Use clear call-to-action language like "Shop this dress" or "Buy this handbag."
- Test different affiliate products and track which ones convert better.
Use Affiliate Links in Profile
You can also add affiliate links to the website links section of your Pinterest profile. This is a great catch-all strategy that will earn you commissions even when people aren't clicking on your pins.
For example, add your Amazon Affiliate link as your main website URL. Or create links like "My Favorite Products" or "Gear I Love" that go to affiliate product pages.
The key is to make these profile links clearly related to your brand and niche so they look natural. Test out different affiliate link placements to see which get the most clicks.
Leveraging affiliate links is a reliable way to monetize Pinterest without having your own products. Just make sure to only promote relevant and high-quality affiliate products to keep your followers engaged. Track your affiliate links so you know which are earning you the most commissions over time.
Promote Your Pins
Once you've built up a collection of high-quality pins, it's time to promote them to drive more repins, likes, and clicks. Here are some effective promotion tactics:
Share pins on other platforms
Don't keep your pins isolated to Pinterest alone. Share them on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to expose them to new audiences.
Cross-promoting your pins can help them reach hundreds or even thousands of new potential pinners. Just make sure to tailor your posts for each platform.
Run Pinterest ads
Pinterest ads allow you to target your promotional pins to specific demographics and interests. You can choose to promote your pins, boards, or website.
When running Pinterest ads, focus on promoting your best performing pins that align with your target audience. Monitor performance data to see which ads generate the most repins, site clicks, and engagement.
Pinterest ads can be an affordable way to expand your reach. Start with a small daily budget and make adjustments based on the results.
Offer Paid Products
One way to make money on Pinterest is by selling digital products, patterns, or templates directly to your followers. This allows you to earn passive income from your pins.
Some ideas for products you can sell include:
- Digital downloads like planner printables, wall art, coloring pages, fonts, or templates for budgets, social media posts, meal plans etc. These are easy to make and require no shipping or physical inventory.
- Patterns and tutorials for DIY, crafts, sewing, knitting, crochet, jewelry making, woodworking etc. Offer the pattern as an instant download.
- Ebooks, guides and courses on topics like photography, cooking/baking, fitness, blogging, and more. These don't have to be super long to sell. Even a short focused guide can generate sales.
- Stock photos and graphics that people can use for blogs, websites, social media posts, printables etc. Make sure you have full rights to sell them.
The key is creating high-quality products that provide value. Take inspiration from trends and interests in your niche.
Make sure your pins showcase images of what's included and clearly explain what customers will get when they purchase. Drive them to a direct link for checkout on Etsy, PayPal, Gumroad or wherever you are selling your digital goods.
Selling products rather than just promoting affiliate links allows you to earn much higher profits. And digital products involve minimal extra effort on your part once initially created.
Curate Group Boards
Group boards on Pinterest allow you to collaborate with others around shared interests and amplify your reach. They're an excellent way to make money on the platform if used strategically.
You can join existing group boards in your niche to get exposure to new audiences. Look for high-quality, active group boards with engaged followers and compelling content. Avoid spammy or low-quality group boards.
When you pin content to group boards, remember to be thoughtful about your pin descriptions, keywords, etc. Follow the group board rules and pin only relevant, high-quality content. This helps build relationships with group board admins and positions you as a valuable contributor.
You can also create your own group boards around topics you're knowledgeable about. Curate boards with a specific theme and invite others to contribute. Make sure to promote your group boards on your profile, in your niche communities, etc.
The key is engaging members and providing value. Group boards allow members to support each other through cross-promotion and content sharing. Be an active admin - share member pins, comment on pins, and encourage engagement.
Well-managed group boards can expand your reach, relationships, website traffic, and ultimately your income. Just be sure to keep adding value for your group board members.
Drive Traffic to Website
One of the best ways to make money with Pinterest is by driving traffic from Pinterest back to your own website or online store. You want people to not only see and engage with your pins, but also click through to see more of what you have to offer.
There are a few key strategies for driving website traffic through Pinterest:
- **Link your pins back to your site.** Every pin should link back to a relevant page on your website. This gives viewers a clear next step for engaging further with your content, products, or services.
- **Optimize your website for Pinterest.** Make it easy for Pinterest users to share your pages and content back to Pinterest. Add Pin It buttons, linked images, and other seamless ways to enable repinning.
- **Create landing pages optimized for Pinterest traffic.** Design targeted landing pages that convert the Pinterest audience that arrives there. Make compelling offers and calls to action tailored to Pinterest users' interests and behaviors.
- **Promote your best content.** Identify your top-performing website pages and actively promote them on Pinterest with eye-catching pins. Drive more repins and clicks to build authority around that content.
Driving website traffic from Pinterest takes strategic pinning and website optimization. But the highly targeted, high-intent traffic Pinterest provides can significantly boost your revenue. Focus on giving viewers a clear path from pin to website to convert that traffic into sales.
Track and Analyze Results
Tracking and analyzing your results is crucial for understanding what's working well and what needs improvement on Pinterest. Here are some tips:
- Install analytics software like Google Analytics or Pinterest analytics to monitor traffic and engagement. Look at metrics like page views, bounce rate, time on site, and conversions.
- Pay attention to which pins are getting the most repins, clicks, and engagement. These are your top performing pins so look for trends and patterns.
- See which pins are driving the most traffic back to your site or blog. Then create more pins like your top traffic drivers.
- Look at when your followers are most active on Pinterest and schedule your pins accordingly. The analytics can show you peak traffic times.
- Regularly check your Pinterest profile analytics to see which boards and pins need more promotion. Identify any weak areas.
- Track ROI by seeing which Pinterest efforts result in sales, email list signups, or other conversions. Know what's generating revenue.
- Don't get discouraged by pins that flop. Keep optimizing based on the data. Kill what doesn't work.
- Use the analytics to shape your Pinterest marketing strategy going forward. Continuously refine over time.
By closely monitoring performance data, you can refine your approach for making the most money on Pinterest. Keep testing and improving!
0 Comments