Dorm Therapy ramps up Pinterest presence with content repurposing tool

Heading to college can be a major culture shock. Dorm Therapy (@dorm_therapy) aims to make that transition a bit easier by giving students tips and inspiration for how to feel at home at school. The university-focused arm of publisher Apartment Therapy knew that their audience was on Pinterest, and they set out to quickly build a presence on the platform ahead of the 2024 school year.

The goal

While building their account from the ground up, Dorm Therapy wanted to make sure they were growing and fostering an engaged audience. They had already created high-performing content on Instagram and hoped to leverage that content to help establish a strong presence on Pinterest, as well.

The strategy

Dorm Therapy started with a clean slate on Pinterest. In June 2024, since the publisher was already active on Instagram, they turned to Pinterest’s Instagram account claiming feature. Claiming their account and opting in to cross-posting their previous 90 days of content allowed the publisher to create an immediate influx of content on Pinterest. In a matter of moments, they went from no Pins to a rich supply of Pins that included both decorating tips and relatable lifestyle content.

Dorm Therapy also enabled auto-publish so that all future Instagram posts would automatically be shared to Pinterest. Then, as a final optimization, the publisher updated the links on their repurposed Instagram content. This way, each Pin would drive back to a relevant landing page on the Dorm Therapy website.

The result

For Dorm Therapy, Instagram account claiming helped to deliver impressive results with almost no added effort. Between June and August, the publisher exceeded their goals, with a nearly 8,000% increase in engagement, 5,000% increase in saves and 8,400% more Pin clicks. 

“Dorm Therapy's success on Pinterest is a testament to its ability to resonate with its Gen Z audience,” the Dorm Therapy team said. “Pinterest's image-forward [experience] aligns with much of our content from Dorm Therapy's site, and the use of Instagram claiming has played a significant role in expanding its reach.”

Tips to try

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

Create a strategy you’ll stick to
Don’t have the time to add another platform to the mix? It’s easy to post consistently on Pinterest with cross-platform features like Instagram account claiming. You can repurpose your existing content—and automate the process—in no time.

Have fun with formats
Experiment with different types of content to learn what your audience likes. Play around with photos, short videos, graphics or inspirational quotes. Then compare their performance in Pinterest Analytics to see what resonates.