How to grow and succeed on Pinterest

Discover the ways that your passions can pay off. Whether you’re looking to build an audience or explore brand partnerships, here’s how you can grow long-term and make money doing what you love.

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engage-iconengage-icon Engaging your audience

Tips and tools to help you reach new people, cultivate a community and connect with your audience.

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A save is how your audience engages meaningfully with your content, a signal that they’ll come back to it later for future inspiration. And when people on Pinterest save your Pins, more of your content will appear to them. So in your content, make sure that you include plugs to save your Pin.

Seeing as people come seeking content to shop for, you’ll want to make sure that your content is shoppable when relevant. Use tools such as product tagging or enable shopping recommendations to help your audience shop from your Pins. You could even set up a shop.

People on Pinterest are looking to try out inspiring ideas IRL. And comments are a great way to interact and see how they’re bringing your ideas to life. If they comment on your Pins, don’t leave them hanging. Adding a reply or highlighting the comment helps them to feel more engaged.

Behind every steadily growing search keyword is an audience that is looking for that content. Take advantage of Pinterest monthly trends and the trends tool for finding out what content is popular on Pinterest and when people are starting to search for those topics. They’re a sure-fire source of fresh ideas for your content planning—and for getting your content in front of a new, broader audience.

metrics-iconmetrics-icon Make the most of your metrics

These key metrics can help you to understand how your audience is using and engaging with your content. Only available with a business account, your Pin stats can help you to come up with more inspiring ideas for your audience.

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Saves

When people save your Pin, you know that you’ve created great content that they want to refer back to and engage with in the future.

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Impressions

The number of times that your Pins were on screen. Another signal that people are actually inspired by your idea and might want to try it in real life.

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Pin clicks

The total number of times that people select a Pin to see the full-screen view.

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Outbound clicks

The number of times that people perform actions that lead them to a destination off Pinterest.

money-iconmoney-icon Earning money on Pinterest

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Brand partnerships

As a creator, your authentic take on favourite products and must-have items matters to your audience. And as you get further in your creator journey, you may want to consider building on your connection with your audience by collaborating with a brand.

While every brand partnership is unique, here are the five main ways to work with a brand.

1. Paid partnership: A creator is given monetary compensation in exchange for agreed-upon deliverables, typically to amplify a brand’s product or service. This is the most common type of collaboration.

2. Product-only or service-only: A creator is given a free product or service as the only form of compensation.

3. User-generated content: A creator is given a product and/or monetary compensation in exchange for content that is to be used exclusively on a brand’s channel(s).

4. Giveaways: A creator is given free products or services to share with their followers. 

5. Trips, events or speaking engagements: A creator is invited to an event with the expectation that they will post about it.

Staying true to yourself—and your own personal brand—is at the core of establishing a successful partnership with a brand. When common goals and values align, it’s a win-win situation: for you, the brand and your audience. So, before you start any outreach:

  • Do your homework: Research who the brand is and what’s important to them. Even getting to know the brand’s history, achievements and marketing objectives can go a long way in building a connection with the brand. This intel can also help to shape and personalise your email and media kit, to help you stand out amongst other creators.

  • Prepare your profile: Your profile is your CV. Ensure that you have a good portfolio of Pins and well-organised boards, plus a clear bio and description and up-to-date contact information. 

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Step 1: Pitch yourself

Once your prep work is complete, make the first move by approaching brands that are aligned with your content and vibe. Create a media kit to make it easy for brands to find out about you, and to learn why you could be a great fit for a collaboration. In your media kit, you’ll want to include your Pinterest profile, key metrics (Pin performance and audience insights), plus sample content or past collaborations.

There might be times when a brand reaches out to you and other times when you initiate the conversation. To get a convo started, try tagging the brand in your Pinterest content, cross-sharing that content on other platforms and following up by email. Or, get in touch with the brand directly via email.

Media Kit for Solange Woods on light blue background. Center image of a woman wearing orange workout outfit holding a yoga mat. Images of fitness equipment on either side of her.
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Step 2: Disclose your partnership

For paid partnerships, tag brand partners in your Pins with the paid partnership tool. Just create a Pin in the app, add the paid partnership label with a simple toggle and tag your partner brand. Once they approve the request, their brand name will appear on your Pin.

When you use the paid partnership tool, you work directly with the brand to define the payment terms and process. Pinterest will not be directly involved in payment.

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Step 3: Wait for your brand partner to make the next move

Once you have established a paid partnership with a brand, that brand can choose to promote your Pin as an Idea ad, boosting your reach to even more people. This helps to build up your credibility and increases awareness of your profile and content across a larger audience on Pinterest. 

Detailed image of a Pin of a woman in a colorful sporty outfit, holding a pink tennis racket and wearing sunglasses, featuring the Belonax Racket brand name, description, and call to action.

Top questions

Pinterest does not facilitate payment for monetisation programmes such as product tagging, affiliate links or brand partnerships. For those programmes, you’ll organise payment terms and logistics directly with your brand or affiliate partners.

In order to access all the creator tools, including the paid partnership tool, you’ll first need a free business profile. Then, once you make a new Pin, you’ll find the tool to tag a brand under the ‘Advanced settings’ menu on the ‘Finishing touches’ page.

You can either create a brand-new business account or convert your personal account to a business one (it’s free). With a business account, you’ll have access to special features such as advanced analytics.

First, make sure that you have a business account and that you’re using the Pinterest app (the Creator Hub is only accessible on mobile devices). Then, go to your Pinterest profile page. You’ll find the Creator Hub button right below your bio and stats.

To keep up to date on the latest product news, expert tips and more, sign up for the creator newsletter.

Take a deep-dive with Pinterest Academy

Learn how to amplify your Pins and build your brand on Pinterest with our free e-learning programme.

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Why Pinterest course

Understand why people come to Pinterest and how to reach a larger audience.

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Creative strategy course

Find out how to design the best Pins to achieve your goals.

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Trends solutions course

How the Pinterest Trends tool and Pinterest Predicts can help you to increase your reach and enhance your content.

Be inspired

For a fresh jolt of inspo, take a look at what people on Pinterest are searching for and what fellow creators are up to.