Pinterest is not working for you? At all? Or it used to perform well in the past, but your stats went downhill in the last months?
You are not alone. I hear people complaining all the time. But, then some Pinterest accounts rock the stage. They show impressive numbers and even manage to grow from month to month. Why? What is the difference? And what are the main reasons why Pinterest does not work for some artists, shops, and other creative businesses?
Good and bad times: My Pinterest Experience
First thing first: I still think Pinterest is great. My account is now 7 years old. Currently, I have 25700 followers and consistently over 2 million monthly views, some months over 5 million. Every now and then, one of my pins goes viral. Just one example: One of my current Idea Pins is approaching the 2 million impressions mark. It now has 2950 repins, which means 2950 people and companies have saved it to one of their boards.
In addition, many of my old pins (that I uploaded years ago) bring me regular traffic and sales. Meanwhile, I can take a break from Pinterest for a few days (if I have the heart to) without my stats plummeting. Sound good to you? Yes, it certainly does.
Please not that I don’t write this to brag, but because I remember:
Times have been tough
I can assure you: it hasn’t been easy. I came close to giving up more than once. There were weeks and months when I had to be very disciplined to create at least 5 or 6 new pins every day. Nothing worked; the statistics were lousy. Believe me, I know how it feels.
What helped me to grow my Pinterest Account
What helped? On the one hand: just keep going. Not to give up. On the other hand: keep trying new things. See what works. Doing more of it, constantly refining.
Just one example: Video Pins. I didn’t feel like creating videos at first, but my account exploded when I uploaded the first video pins. After that, all crucial numbers went steeply upwards. Okay, at some point, almost everyone makes videos, and it becomes more challenging to let the account grow. However, I have learned a lot by working with video pins. This means that I now have a lead over many others. In one of my niches, my video pins are always on the top ranks in search results. That’s worth its weight in gold.
So is Pinterest the promised land of milk and honey? No, it certainly isn’t. But it’s the best damn site I’ve found so far.
So can you just create 4 or 5 random pins every day, and your Pinterest account will take off after a few weeks? Sorry, no. Absolutely not. Here’s the hard truth about Pinterest:
The truth about Pinterest (and why it is not working for you)
You have to keep at it. Pinterest is a long-term project, so you need to have perseverance and patience. Starting a new account? You shouldn’t get frustrated if not much happens in the first few months. The algorithm takes some time to figure out what topics you cover. There is an incredible number of pins on Pinterest, and countless new ones are created every day. Just indexing a pin (so that it has a chance of showing up as a result of a search) can take several weeks. And that doesn’t mean that it will be displayed immediately.
Be patient. It will be worth it in the long run. But, of course, there are more reasons why Pinterest is not working for some.
Top 3 Reasons why Pinterest is not working for you
Giving up too soon is by far the most common reason.
The second most common reason? The wrong strategy. Not having a clue how Pinterest really works.
Right after that comes reason number three why Pinterest is not working any longer: Being too inflexible, not adapting. Stubbornly doing what has always worked after all and then being unhappy and whining when it suddenly doesn’t work as well.
Pinterest is constantly changing. Is it sometimes too fast for me? Yes. Would I rather the developers fix the existing problems first instead of always trying new features? Sure. Is there anything I can do about it? I don’t think so. But I can try out all the new things. Video pins (excellent!), communities (hahaha, anyone remembers those? They so didn’t work and were quickly discontinued). Idea Pins (here, the jury is still out, but Pinterest seems to be going all-in on this new format). In general, I can only strongly recommend trying out anything new. You might be very pleasantly surprised.
I could go on for hours (I live, love, and breathe Pinterest), but I feel like I should be getting to the end of this. So, do you want me to summarize the essence of this long text again? Yes? Will do:
Pinterest is terrific – if you stick with it, have patience, and are willing to keep trying new things.
Have you tried Pinterest, and it didn’t work for you? Or have you not even thought that Pinterest could help your business? In either case, you’ve come to the right place. So how can I help you?
Pinterest Help and Resources
- with this blog. You will constantly find new articles that will hopefully help you on your Pinterest mission.
- if you are a Fine Art America artist, you can ask questions and read helpful Pinterest tips in this discussion: Pinterest For Artists: How To, Tips, Questions And Answers
- you want to take charge of building and growing your Pinterest account but don’t have the time or inclination to search all corners of the internet for the right strategy? Then my Pinterest course ‘How to sell more art with Pinterest’ will help you.
- you want to focus on your business. You are looking for a professional to build, maintain and grow a Pinterest account for you? Then you should check out my Pinterest Management Services!