Pinterest is an inspirational and visual search engine that allows users to discover new content based on their interests. From a business standpoint, deploying the right Pinterest strategy can increase brand awareness, site traffic, and conversions. 

Just like any other social media network, Pinterest has an algorithm that is no stranger to frequent updates. Keeping up with the latest algorithm updates and platform changes can help you adjust your strategy to make the most out of your Pinterest marketing efforts. While Pinterest does their best to maintain a low-profile on the specifics of each update, we’re sharing what we know so you can adapt your Pinterest strategy and maximize your results!

Use Original Content

Be original. Pinners come to Pinterest looking for new ideas, projects and products. In fact, Pinterest ended 2019 with 335 million active pinners and 75% of all pinners were very interested in learning about new brands and products. 

Don’t doubt the persuading power of Pinterest; 98% of pinners have tried something new that they found on Pinterest and 83% of pinners have made a purchase based off of brand content they found on Pinterest.

Users want to see the value in your brand, and the best way to do that is with high-quality, original content. 

Use New Content

“Out with the old and in with the new” has never been more true. This is one of the biggest changes we’ve seen on Pinterest. Pinterest is giving new content more attention than old, recycled, repinned content in an effort to keep the platform content current. Use this update to get creative and create pins that add value to the platform and showcase your brand. 

Utilize Pin Descriptions

Write pin descriptions to help increase pin visibility on the platform. An effective description should explain the pin and its value to the user with strategic keywords. Because Pinterest is a search engine, using keywords helps new users discover your pins. Keywords should match boards the pin is pinned to and the link included with the pin. When keywords are aligned, this can work to improve your Pinterest SEO. 

Here’s what to include in your pin description: 

• Keywords (No Keyword Stuffing)
• Brand Name
• Natural Sentence Structure – Write For Humans, Not Search Engines
• A Call-To-Action
• Helpful, Descriptive Details
• A Few Relevant Hashtags ️(6 Hashtags Max)

Utilizing pin descriptions will improve overall pin performance and help increase brand awareness, engagement, and site traffic.

Strategize How & Where You Pin

Pin the right content to the right boards, simple enough. Pinning content to boards that aren’t relevant will hurt your profile’s performance. Not only is content and placement important but so are your pinning habits.

Creating a new, visually aesthetic pin can be exciting! And while you may be eager to share this pin on as many boards as possible, spread out your pinning. If you’re pinning the same pin to multiple boards, space it out. Try to aim for every 8-20 days. Spacing out how you pin the same pin gives your pin a fair chance of being seen on the platform. That being said, limit this pin to no more than 10 boards. Anything else comes off spammy and will hurt your pin and profile performance.

Lastly, how often you pin is important. Don’t pin content too frequently. A unique pin, a pin with the same image and same description, should only be pinned once every 180 days instead of the old 90 days recommendation. Since Pinterest is prioritizing new content, spacing out your unique pins will help them be more successful in the long run.

Don’t Focus Too Much On Hashtags

Hashtags aren’t a huge necessity on Pinterest. If you’re going to use them, they are most effective at the end of your pin descriptions. Hashtags no longer serve a huge purpose for Pinterest users, but they do help Pinterest’s algorithm understand what your pin is about.

Using the right hashtags can help Pinterest link your pins content to the right topic when people are searching the platform. While Pinterest allows you to use 20 hashtags max, try to keep it under 6. Make the most out of your hashtags by researching hashtags on Pinterest to see what types of pins populate for certain hashtags so you can use the most relevant hashtags for your content.

Keep These Best Practices In Mind

Now that you’re up to date on the biggest changes on Pinterest for 2020, here are some best practices to keep in mind to continue growing your account and increasing your success:

1. Be consistent and active: Aim for 15-25 pins per day. More than that can be seen as spam activity by Pinterest’s algorithm. 
2. Use the right pin specifications: Think vertical. 1000 px x 1500 px pins are the most optimal size for pins. Pinterest prefers any 2:3 aspect ratio for all your pins. Keep your pins large and high quality by using high-resolution images, and try to never use anything smaller than 600 px x 900 px. 
3. Never repin from your own boards: This is an outdated “hack”  for trying to influence Pinterest metrics, and Pinterest’s algorithm will flag this as spam activity.
4. Don’t delete old pins and old boards: This can hurt your account’s reach and performance. If you really need to, archive them instead.

Start implementing these new Pinterest changes slowly and remember that genuine social media growth is a long game that takes work, time and consistency. Make the most out of your Pinterest marketing efforts by monitoring your strategy and utilizing Pinterest Analytics. If you’re still having trouble growing your Pinterest, reach out to the Grow With Studio to see how our Social Media experts can help you be successful on Pinterest!