TpT says Pinterest drives traffic. Most TpT sellers say Pinterest drives traffic. You have to Pinterest.

Like anything, individual results will vary and Pinterest can’t be your only marketing strategy but it is very important for TpT sellers.

1. What is Pinterest?

Pinterest says it is not social media and I have to agree with that. Yes, you want followers and you will follow people but Pinterest is mostly about what you do. You are not putting up pictures of your awesome meals (in terms of TpT. You may on a personal account) or posting vacation pics for everyone to see. You are advertising your products with pins you design. (For pin design check out Canva: The Ultimate Design Companion)

Whether you are a Pinterest newbie or a seasoned pinner, you will need a business account on Pinterest. I have not run into any problems but have read other people who had their accounts locked because they using Pinterest for personal use and not a business account.

The business account is still free so just get a business account.

2. What is different about a business account?

Analytics. You can see how your pins are doing, who they are reaching, where they are from etc. This will help you figure out descriptions, keywords, images, and if you choose, when and how to pay for Promoted Pins.

 

3. What is a repin and how do you do it?

This one actually gave me some trouble when I started. I had been using Pinterest personally for a year but had never had to worry about repinning images. There is no button that says REPIN, so how is it done?

By hitting the SAVE button again and picking a board. Simple. Done.

But Pinterest says I have already pinned that pin to that board? Doesn’t matter.

Repinning just means you pin it to that place again. You can pin a pin as many times as you want to that same board. Unless you have hundreds or thousands of followers, it is likely that no one will see it.

Some people may say that followers don’t matter but they do. You need followers. Just don’t stress about how many you do or do not have. At this moment I have 100 Pinterest followers and it has been a lot of work to get that many. Some people can attract followers easily but I seem to have issues. Yet, my Pinterest page has been viewed over 100k times. How?

4. Collaborative Boards

As of now I am on 42 collaborative boards ranging from elementary math to secondary social studies. My goal by March is to be on over 50 collaborative boards.

Some of the best TpT sellers are not on that many collaborative boards and wouldn’t say it is necessary. I sell products for secondary social studies and more specifically, world history. High school world history is not a big content area for TpT so I have to work hard to get my stuff out into the world. I need a lot of collaborative boards and I need boards that have a high number of followers to get my stuff out to the most people I can.

The products you sell will change how you strategize on Pinterest. If you sell elementary products, you are lucky. There are a ton of buyers out there. What you have to worry about is the volume of TpT sellers that target elementary buyers. But it isn’t impossible. You just have to figure out your strategy and the sales will come.

Finding collaborative boards is easy if you are willing to do the work. Scanning through Pinterest to find collaborative boards is my favorite way. Others prefer a website called PinGroupie. Others ask their Facebook groups for recommendations and invites. There is no wrong way to find a collaborative board.

5. Pinning Parties

Pinning Parties are a favorite of mine. My pins are guaranteed to be pinned to others boards. My pins gain viewership faster than just adding them to collaborative boards. Many don’t like pinning parties because they want to be selective of the pins on their boards.

I don’t care. No one is looking at my Pinterest page as a brand no matter how much I puff up my chest. No one is going to bypass my Pinterest page because I have

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and no one is analyzing the pins in those boards trying to determine if this a brand they want to follow.

People are going to be looking at my page and following me because they like enough of what I have to offer. If they don’t follow me, who cares? I am more concerned with the person searching Pinterest for help with teaching Chinese history or they are looking for a cool game like Monopoly to keep their students engaged.

But don’t participate in a pinning party if you do not intend to pin everyone else’s stuff. Don’t be that person who pins their pin and then never pins everyone else’s. I don’t like those people and most of the others who participate in pinning parties don’t either.

Now that you have a better understanding of Pinterest for TpT, hopefully, you’ll follow my board (not required but it would be cool if you did) and you feel confident to start your page. Good luck, and happy pinning.

I do not receive any compensation from Pinterest or TpT.

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If you like this then you’ll also enjoy the other blogs in the series:

and don’t forget to check out the blog about my best seller