Are Group Boards dead? Can they even be bad for you?
No. And yes.
No, they are not dead. At least some of them are alive and kicking.
Yes, participating in the wrong Pinterest Group Boards can hurt your account.
But let’s start earlier:
What is a Group Board, and how does it work?
A Group Board is a collaborative, invitation-only board. Someone creates a regular board and then invites other pinners to join the board. As soon as they accept the invitation, they can save pins into this board.
Why this type of board can be so useful
Let me explain the power of group boards with an example.
Sue just created a brand-new Pinterest account. She has one follower so far (her mom).
Helen has been on Pinterest for three years and has gained 7.600 followers by now. She runs several group boards. If Sue gets an invitation for Helen’s group board, she has the (theoretical) chance that her Pins will get seen by 7.600 followers. Of course, this is not the exact way it works. Due to the Pinterest algorithm that creates the Smart Feed of every pinner, Sue’s Pins will be shown only to a fraction of the 7.600 group board followers. Anyway, a fraction of 7.600 is still much better than one, right?
Group Boards are great for new Pinterest accounts
Joining the right group boards will give new and small Pinterest accounts a boost!
The more followers you already have, and the more established your account is, the pickier you will get when it comes to group boards.
Strong and weak group boards
Pinterest is all about inspiration and engagement. Consider this when looking into group boards (the ones you are pinning to). Do yourself a favor and check each group board before you ask for an invitation.
How is the quality of the pins? Are there any spam pins that don’t belong to the topic of the board? How about repins? Do other people (contributors, followers) save some of the pins into their own boards? Or is the whole board just a dumping ground for pins, without any engagement?
How to find group boards for artists?
Pinterest search
Make a list of all the topics that will be of interest to you and your potential buyers). Search for these topics, using the board search. Look for boards with a circle symbol (filled with profile pics).
Let’s assume you are a Fine Art America Artist (FAA is my favorite Print on Demand site) and want to join an FAA group board. Fine Art America has become a well-known brand, so people interested in buying art may search for this term.
Open the group boards that could be a fit, check the pins and the board description. If you like what you see, save the board to your list.
Google search
Example: A Google search for “Pinterest group boards for Etsy sellers” will provide some great results:
Look at accounts from other artists
Do you know some artists that are doing great on Pinterest? Take a look at their boards. Which group boards did they join? This is a quick and easy way to find valuable group boards.
Facebook Groups
There are some groups on Facebook where group board owners can post links to their boards, and pinners can apply to get an invitation. Search for “Pinterest Group Boards” on Facebook, then choose “Groups”.
Pingroupie
Pingroupie is another smart way to find the right boards. Their site manages a database of group boards and is searchable. If you used them in the past you will notice that they got rid of some really useful features lately (and they completely changed the user interface).
Anyway, Pingroupie can still be useful for us so let’s take a look:
To stick with the example from before, I did a search for “fine art america” and ordered the list by followers.
Some time ago it was possible to sort by repins, which was more useful.
Group boards are still an underestimated way to generate more traffic for artists. This is the reason why I wrote two lessons for my online course on this critical topic.
My Pinterest Online Course “How to sell more art with Pinterest”
You will find detailed step-by-step instructions on how to find group boards and how to join them (which can be difficult these days, but I will provide some tips and strategies to get those invites). I also put together a list of great group boards for artists — with instructions on how to join the respective board!
Apart from this, you will learn how to create engaging Pins that will drive traffic to your Artist Website, how to come up with great descriptions and keywords, why Video Pins are so powerful right now, why Shop the Look Pins can boost your sales (and how to create them) and much more.
Why not register for the free trial and read the first three lessons for free? Here ya go: https://pinterest-marketing-for-artists.thinkific.com/enroll/146176?et=free_trial
One last thing (Fine Art America Group Board)
Are you a Fine Art America Artist? If so, why not join my FAA group board Fine Art America Art Prints for sale? If you are no FAA Artist yet, you might consider joining this Print on Demand site because their team does really care for artists.
Here you have it: Why group boards are an essential way for artists to grow their reach and five ways to find the best ones.