Today I want to take a look at 7 of the most common rumors that float around regarding Pinterest and determine the truth about them. You might have heard and believed these to be true, however we are dismantling them, so that you can continue to create great content on Pinterest!
It’s possible to have some incredible results from using Pinterest marketing that will amaze you with the power of Pinterest.
“Before getting into the topic it’s important to dispel the biggest mischaracterization of all. Many people assume that Pinterest is a social media platform and use it accordingly. That is a misconception that needs to be addressed. Pinterest is actually a visual discovery engine of images posted and shared among users.”
So let’s get started looking at the things that distract from the primary goal, which is creating great content and moving forward in your business- let’s bust some myths!!
MYTH #1
USING A PINTEREST SCHEDULER WILL HURT YOUR PAGE VIEWS AND SO YOU SHOULD ONLY EVER LIVE-PIN.
Using a scheduler means that you are Pinning without having to be tied to your computer. Who has time to sit down and live Pin twenty times a day? Tailwind is an example of a great API scheduler, and they not only provide excellent analytics for your account but because they know the best times of day for Pinning results, they can schedule your Pins for those key times without it falling to you to be available to live Pin at those times.
We’ve tested live pinning as a team for 1-week stints and one month periods of time neither has resulted in immediate or long-term growth. The important part is that you’re consistent on the platform.
MYTH #2
YOU SHOULD USE HASHTAGS IN YOUR PIN DESCRIPTIONS.
Pinterest says of hashtags, “They tend to confuse people and send them to other people’s content.” If you are working with a brand and have a specific hashtag for that campaign, then by all means use it. Otherwise, you are likely driving folks away from your own content to that of others. Why would you do that?
MYTH #3
YOU SHOULD PIN 100+ TIMES PER DAY.
Pinning more doesn’t equal gaining more pageviews. Strategy is what gains you pageviews. If you want to increase follower numbers without pinning tons of times per day you have two options — pin strategically giving your followers exactly what they want AND install the MiloTree app.
Pinning more doesn’t equate to gaining more pageviews. A great strategy is what gains you pageviews.
So how many times per day should you Pin?
Most experts seem to agree that 5-10 Pins per day is a great starting point, but instead of getting stuck on more Pins, focus on Pinning quality Pins. Once you start gaining some traction, and you have more content to share, you can always slowly work your number of Pins up. Consider though, that Pinning more than 30 times per day has not shown a marked increase in pageviews.
Here’s a great post where we broke down pinning frequency.
MYTH #4
DELETING PINS WILL HELP YOU SHOW UP IN SMART FEED AND WILL HELP YOU GAIN MORE TRAFFIC.
Trying to find “tricks” or “hacks” to help you “beat the system” will never work. If you have a smart Pinterest strategy, you won’t be Pinning content that isn’t directed to your specific audience. If that content is good enough to be Pinned to start with, then it is good enough to leave and wait for it to pick up movement; and that movement may take a month and it may take 6 months.
The only reason to delete Pins is if you need to clean up your boards and make them reflect your content better. (If you are moving toward being a healthy food blogger, you may want to delete all those chocolate cake Pins from before.) Streamlining for a purpose is fine; trying to find a way to “work the system” is not.
MYTH #5
GROUP BOARDS DON’T WORK ANYMORE.
Group boards must be evaluated to see if they are still a good fit for you. Here is a post on cleaning up your boards if you need to do that.
The reason to join a group board is so that you have a place to share your content; if you have no content that matches the board, then you shouldn’t be a part of it. If the board has too many contributors, then the possibility of spam is so much higher.
Collaborating with people in your line of business is also a great way to join relevant group boards. By creating a secret board with those fellow creators, you have access to all of their content to Pin, and likewise they have access to all of your content.
Be sure to have plenty of your own personal boards on your page; around 70% is a good number to shoot for. If you only have group boards, then you aren’t giving your audience a way to get to know you.
MYTH #6
PINTEREST WILL PENALIZE YOU FOR SWITCHING TO A BUSINESS ACCOUNT BY NOT SHOWING YOUR PINS, AND MAKING YOU PAY FOR ADVERTISING.
Pinterest is a discovery engine, and they want people to find great content on their site.
Creating a business account will help you to gain so much, from Promoted Pins, Rich Pins, analytics, etc. Pinterest actually rewards business accounts, and you can be certain that your content will be seen when you convert your personal page to a business one.
MYTH #7
PINTEREST WILL DROP MY PIN VIEWS AFTER A PROMOTED PIN CAMPAIGN, IN ORDER TO MAKE ME KEEP PAYING.
If you think about what a promoted Pin campaign does, it is exactly the opposite of this myth. Once you promote a Pin, then every time someone re-Pins it, it goes further and further out to more people. Even when your campaign ends, those re-Pins stay out there and continue to get spread organically.
“I really want everyone to feel a sense of relief…that they don’t have to do anything to try to game the system. You can really just focus on creating good content, identifying with your audience and your ideal prospect…that is when the magic happens.”
Pinterest doesn’t give you immediate gratification or results. Pinterest is a “slow burn”, a long term solution. You have to be willing to wait for the results, and that traffic will keep going up once your Pins start getting circulated. So, be patient.
