Is Pinterest Worth Your Time?

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Here is a great reader question,

I have a second blog where I just post weekly to-do lists. Usually on Sunday nights, I update how I did the week before and what I’m focusing on going into the following it. It’s started gaining some traction, and I’m really happy with it. Given all the changes with Pinterest lately and that it can take a long time for pins to become relevant. Is that a platform that I should even consider tapping into? – Emilie

Fantastic question that I’ve been asked a few times in the last month. Here’s what I think:

Pinterest is SLOW

Because Pinterest is so slow it’s easy to get frustrated with its lack of movement. I completely understand. It can take 6-8 months for new content to get fully integrated into the system — followers, search, etc. Pinterest traffic has shown the last two years to be cyclical with the highest traffic times happening between August and mid-February.

Search & Discovery

Pinterest is a search and discovery network very similar to Google. In fact, did you know that the co-founder used to work at Google and at least 77 current employees used to work there. I see many similarities and Pinterest is refining its search value to benefit users. Good platforms take time.

Pinterest is also in the early stages of growth. “As each platform moves from infancy into its teen years, it goes through a series of makeovers designed to help better serve its evolving audience. Pinterest is on a similar trajectory now- growing up to meet an evolving user base and expanding set of use cases.” (read more at the Tailwind blog)

Long-Term Traffic

Knowing that Pinterest is a search and discovery network designed to enhance the user experience and facilitate a way to save their best ideas, why wouldn’t I want to invest in the platform? Even though we don’t see immediate traction, we see it long term. Pins that were put into the system 2-3 years ago are still driving valuable traffic for the site owner. Investing now will yield return 6-8 months from now.

The key is to have a well crafted Pinterest page that communicates your message through curated content. Be consistent in pinning. It doesn’t so much matter how many pins but to be pinning daily. Pinterest likes an active account.

How to Invest

If Pinterest is a small amount of your traffic, let’s say 5% don’t invest your entire advertising budget there. Think about where the majority of traffic is coming from and invest your budget based on the traffic percentages. For example, $50/month and 1/4 of your social media time goes to Pinterest and then the rest goes to the other social media channels.

Build a solid Pinterest page foundation with applicable boards (at least 20) and spend 1-2 hours a week scheduling your content and other people’s content through a scheduler like Tailwind. Optimize your posts with a Pinterest image.

In the end, if you’re starting to see traction, move with that traction. If Pinterest moves up to 10% of your traffic then allocate more funds and time that direction. Since we know Pinterest has very similar characteristics of Google I think it is at least important to have a consistent presence on the platform.

So the short answer is yes. Pinterest is definitely worth your time.

Want to learn more Pinterest marketing tips? Listen to more episodes on the Simple Pin Podcast.