How Cynthia Victor grew her Pinterest presence from scratch by claiming her Instagram

When it comes to confidence, Cynthia Victor (@Shawtysin_) leads by example. The Sri Lankan-American creator is known for her bold approach to beauty and fashion, and body positive content, which had earned her large followings on TikTok and Instagram. She was ready to expand her success to Pinterest—and wanted to get going in as easy a way as possible.

The goal

Cynthia had only ever posted one Pin. But with existing content on her other platforms, she hoped that repurposing and optimizing her work for Pinterest could help boost her presence and yield results from the outset. She also set out to grow her revenue by sharing affiliate links on her content with the new audience on Pinterest.

The strategy

In August 2024, Cynthia kick-started her Pinterest strategy by using the Instagram account claiming feature to connect her Instagram account to Pinterest. She enabled auto-publish to make sure that as she kept posting to Instagram, all new posts would automatically be turned into Pins, as well. Plus, she opted in to bring her previous 90 days of content over, filling up her profile and creating an immediate supply of nearly 300 pieces of content with no extra work on her part. With just a few clicks, she brought her wildly popular existing seasonal and evergreen content to Pinterest, where new audiences could find and engage with it.

Cynthia was already using affiliate links to drive revenue from products she recommended on her other platforms. She knew that people on Pinterest were looking for product picks, too, so she created Pins to highlight some of her favorite things. Then, using the product tagging feature, Cynthia added affiliate links to send those inspired by her content directly to where they could shop the products featured in her Pins. That way she could get credit—and revenue—for every purchase she drove. 

Once her content was uploaded and tagged, it was time to curate. While Cynthia naturally created content that leaned into current trends, as a seasoned creator, she also found the trends tool valuable for gaining inspiration and insight into popular terms. Then, she curated the content into thematic boards with keyword-rich titles.

Finally, it was time to show off what she’d created. Cynthia used the board sharing feature to share her newly curated content with her existing audiences on other platforms.

The result

For Cynthia, a little effort went a long way, both on and off Pinterest. In the month after she claimed her Instagram account, Cynthia saw explosive audience growth, with a 2,000,000% increase in monthly viewers and 2,000,000% increase in impressions on Pinterest. She drove a major spike in actions on Pinterest, with 239,000% more engagement and 164,000% more saves. Cynthia also saw a 200% increase in outbound clicks, both to her Instagram and affiliate links, which she anticipates will translate into revenue.

"I love how I can post my organic content from Instagram and make it useful for Pinterest users,” Cynthia said. “I plan to continue using this platform to further my career."

Tips to try

Get more out of your Pinterest content with these best practices.

Just start posting
There’s no time like the present to get started. You don’t need to have everything fully baked. Put it out there and refine as you go. 

Make posting as easy as possible for yourself
Sharing content doesn’t have to be hard. Lean on tactics and tools—like Instagram account claiming—that help you do more with less. 

Focus on what matters
On Pinterest, the reach of your content expands far beyond your followers. Think: More like search engine results, less like a social media feed. To help gauge your success on Pinterest, shift your focus away from the follower numbers and look instead at signs that people are inspired by your content (like impressions, engagement and clicks).