Isn’t Pinterest just a platform for people to share photos of things?
Like a large virtual scrapbook.
Nobody wants another social network with no point. Is there commercial activity in the background?
Yes, there is. Affiliate marketing on Pinterest is a reality. “Can I utilize Pinterest as part of my affiliate marketing plan?” you ask yourself right away.
You’re about to find out whether you can do it or not.
Why Should You Use Pinterest For Affiliate Marketing?
Pinterest has a lot of potential for affiliate marketing.
For one, it’s a very visual platform. People go to Pinterest to see pretty pictures—which means that if you have good product photos, you’re already ahead of the game.
Secondly, people use Pinterest to find products they want to buy. Unlike other social media platforms, people are not on Pinterest to window shop—they’re there specifically to look for things to buy.
This makes Pinterest the perfect place to promote your affiliate products!
If you’re unsure how affiliate marketing works, it’s pretty simple: You find a product you want to promote, and you get a special link from the company that sells that product.
Then, when someone clicks on your link and buys the product, you earn a commission.
It’s a great way to make money online and especially effective on Pinterest.
So, how do you get started with affiliate marketing on Pinterest? Read on to find out!
What Is Pinterest Affiliate Marketing?
Pinterest affiliate marketing is the process of promoting affiliate products on Pinterest.
This can be done in a few different ways—you can create pins that link directly to the product, or you can create pins that link to blog posts about the product.
If you’re unsure what an affiliate product is, it’s simply a product you promote in exchange for a commission.
When someone clicks on your affiliate link and buys the product, you earn a commission from the sale.
It’s a great way to make money online and especially effective on Pinterest.
Why Is Pinterest Affiliate Marketing Effective?
Pinterest affiliate marketing is so effective because it’s a very visual platform.
People go to Pinterest to see pretty pictures, and if you have good product photos, you’re already ahead of the game.
Secondly, people use Pinterest to find products they want to buy. Unlike other social media platforms, people are not on Pinterest to window shop—they’re there specifically to look for things to buy.
This makes Pinterest the perfect place to promote your affiliate products!
If you’re unsure how affiliate marketing works, it’s pretty simple: You find a product you want to promote, and you get a special link from the company that sells that product.
Then, when someone clicks on your link and buys the product, you earn a commission.
It’s a great way to make money online and especially effective on Pinterest.
Ways To Make Money On Pinterest
There are a few different ways to make money on Pinterest.
Add Affiliate Links To Your Posts
One of the easiest ways to make money on Pinterest is to add affiliate links to your posts.
Whenever you create a new post, include an affiliate link or two. This will ensure that every time someone clicks on your post, they’ll also be taken to your affiliate product.
If they like what they see and decide to buy the product, you’ll earn a commission from the sale!
Drive Traffic To Your External Blog
Another great way to make money on Pinterest is to drive traffic to your external blog.
If you have a blog that’s full of great content, you can promote your posts on Pinterest and earn money from the affiliate links you include in your posts.
People will click on your pins, read your blog post, and then click on the affiliate links to buy the products you’re promoting.
You can also include affiliate links in your blog post descriptions, which will make it even easier for people to find and click on your links.
Step-By-Step Process To Make Money On Pinterest
I’m going to assume you already have a niche that you want to work with. If not, check out our list of over 80+ profitable niches. And that you’ve created a free Pinterest account.
What type of account should you use? A “Business” account has data analytics and the ability to run advertisements, but you don’t need one yet.
Plus, you may always convert your account to a Business account later.
So we’ll start with a personal account since it’s more convenient for novices. After you’ve supplied some essential information, it’s time to tell Pinterest what you’re interested in:
You must select at least 5 topics to get started. Your initial feed will appear like this: And now for our next step.
How To Create A Pinterest Board?
It would help if you created boards that will contain your pins.
Creating a board is simple:
Navigate to the top right corner of the Pinterest homepage and click on the plus sign (+). A pop-up window will ask you to name your board and select a category.
For our purposes, we’ll name our board “Best Products” and choose the category “Shopping.” You should also select a cover image for your board.
This is the image that people will see when they stumble upon your board.
Once you’re satisfied with your choices, click “Create Board.” Now it’s time to start pinning!
How To Create Your First Pinterest Affiliate Pin?
To create your first affiliate pin, you need to find an image that matches the product you want to promote.
The image should be high-quality and professional-looking. You can use your images or find stock photos from sites like Unsplash or Pixabay.
Once you’ve found the perfect image, it’s time to create your pin.
Navigate to the site where the product is sold and copy the URL of the page. Then, head to Pinterest and click on the plus sign (+) in the top right corner of the screen.
A pop-up window will ask you to choose what type of content you want to pin. For our purposes, we’ll select “Website.”
Next, paste the URL of the page you want to promote into the “Source URL” field and add a description for your pin.
Then, click on the “Create Pin” button.
Your new pin will now appear on your Pinterest feed.
Images For Your Pins
As I mentioned earlier, using high-quality images for your pins is important.
Your images should be bright, colourful, and eye-catching. They should also be relevant to the product you’re promoting.
People are likelier to click on a pin if they’re interested in the image.
You can use your images or find stock photos from sites like Unsplash or Pixabay.
Make sure that the images you use are high-quality and relevant to the product you’re promoting.
Finding Tags For Your Pins
When creating a new pin, you’ll have the option to add tags.
Tags are keywords that describe your pin and help people find your content.
For example, if you’re promoting a product that helps people lose weight, you might use the tags “weight loss,” “diet,” and “exercise.”
You can also use tools like Tailwind to find the most popular tags in your niche.
To do this, create a free account and enter a few keywords related to your niche. Tailwind will then show you the most popular tags for those keywords.
You can add these tags to your pins to help people find your content.
Finding Keywords For Your Pins
Just like with tags, you’ll also want to use keywords in the descriptions of your pins.
Keywords are words or phrases that people are searching for on Pinterest.
For example, if you’re promoting a product that helps people lose weight, you might use the keywords “weight loss,” “diet,” and “exercise.”
You can use tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or KWFinder to find popular keywords in your niche.
Then, add these keywords to the descriptions of your pins to help people find your content.
Using Multiple Boards
To maximize your chances of success with Pinterest, you should create multiple boards.
Each board should focus on a different niche or topic.
For example, if you’re in the health and fitness niche, you might create boards for “Weight Loss,” “Exercise,” and “Healthy Recipes.”
By creating multiple boards, you’ll be able to reach a larger audience and promote more products.
Building Your Audience
Once you’ve created your pins, it’s time to build your audience.
Following other users in your niche is the best way to do this.
When you follow someone, their pins will appear in your feed. And if they like your content, they may also follow you back.
You can also join group boards. Group boards are boards where multiple users can contribute pins.
This is a great way to get your pins in front of a larger audience.
To find group boards, search for keywords related to your niche on Pinterest. Then, look for boards that have “group” in the title.
For example, if you’re in the health and fitness niche, you might search for “health and fitness group boards.”
When you find a board you want to contribute to, contact the owner and ask if you can contribute.
Most board owners will be happy to let you contribute, as it helps them fill their board with high-quality content.
Another great way to build your audience is to participate in Pinterest challenges.
Pinterest challenges are contests where users create pins around a specific theme.
For example, a challenge might be to create a pin about your favourite summer activity.
To find challenges, search for keywords related to your niche on Pinterest. Then, look for boards that have “challenge” in the title.
For example, if you’re in the health and fitness niche, you might search for “health and fitness challenges.”
When you find a challenge you want to participate in, follow the instructions on the board.
Most challenges will require you to create a pin and include a specific hashtag.
By participating in challenges, you can get your pins in front of a larger audience and win prizes.
Surge Your Boards with Pins
To get the most out of Pinterest, you need to pin regularly.
The more pins you have, the greater your chance of being seen by other users.
Ideally, it would help if you were pinning at least 50 pins daily.
You can use tools like Tailwind or BoardBooster to automate your pins.
With these tools, you can schedule your pins in advance and have them posted automatically.
This way, you can continue adding new content to your blog or website without worrying about manually adding new pins daily.
Follow Others in Your Niche
One of the best ways to grow your Pinterest following is to follow others in your niche.
When you follow someone, their pins will appear in your feed. And if they like your content, they may also follow you back.
Just search for keywords related to your niche on Pinterest to find people to follow.
For example, if you’re in the health and fitness niche, you might search for “health and fitness bloggers.”
Then, follow anyone who looks interesting.
You can also join group boards. Group boards are boards where multiple users can contribute pins.
This is a great way to get your pins in front of a larger audience.
Group Boards
To find group boards, search for keywords related to your niche on Pinterest.
Then, look for boards that have “group” in the title.
For example, if you’re in the health and fitness niche, you might search for “health and fitness group boards.”
When you find a board you want to contribute to, contact the owner and ask if you can contribute.
Most board owners will be happy to let you contribute, as it helps them fill their board with high-quality content.
Use Paid Ads
Another great way to build your audience is to use paid ads.
Paid ads on Pinterest work just like on other social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
With paid ads, you can target specific users with your content.
For example, you can target users who have visited your website in the past or who live in a specific location.
Paid ads are a great way to get your content in front of a larger audience and grow your following quickly.
Remember that you’ll need to pay for each ad you run.
The Pros & Cons Of Pinterest Affiliate Marketing
There are a few things you should keep in mind before you start using Pinterest for affiliate marketing.
First, Pinterest is a visual platform. This means that you’ll need to create high-quality pins that stand out.
If your pins don’t look good, people won’t want to click on them.
Second, you’ll need to be active on Pinterest to see results. Like any other social media platform, the more active you are, the better your results will be.
Finally, you’ll need to be patient. It takes time to grow a following on any social media platform.
If you’re starting, it may take a few months to see significant results.
Pros
- Pinterest is a powerful search engine in its own right
- Has an extremely high level of commercial intent
- 400 million users are small enough to feel still “niche.”
- They don’t throttle organic traffic to your affiliate blog posts
- You can literally “do affiliate marketing without a blog.”
- Simple, intuitive interface
- Can currently direct link to affiliate products
- Using Pinterest is fun – it lacks the narcissistic qualities of Instagram
- The extension for Chrome works well
Cons
- No, autocomplete feature for tags
- The app is a bit “Meh
- They keep changing their minds on things like affiliate links
Should You Start Doing Affiliate Marketing On Pinterest?
The answer to this question depends on your goals.
If you’re looking to grow your blog or website quickly, then Pinterest is a great option.
However, if you want to make a few extra dollars each month, other affiliate marketing platforms may be better suited.
No matter your goals, though, Pinterest is a great platform to consider for affiliate marketing.
Just be sure to create high-quality content and be active on the platform to see the best results.
