How to Get Followers on Pinterest: 16 Tips That Work

Everyone knows that Instagram followers are directly linked to success online. It’s how you build a lasting connection with your social media community and ultimately gain brand loyalty. Some may see Pinterest as underrated, but every social media manager, business owner, or creator should know how to gain followers on Pinterest.

According to EMarketer, Pinterest was seen as the safest form of marketing in 2022, making it even more attractive to consumers with purchase intent. Unlike other social platforms, Pinterest is all about being found by the consumer. When you log into the platform, a stream of photos and videos tailored to your interests appears immediately. Whether it’s fashion, travel inspiration, or hair styling ideas — people will end up on your profile because you’re using strong visual storytelling to capture what is trending. 

​​Follow these 16 tips and strategies on how to get followers on Pinterest if you want to maximize your potential to reach new audiences.

 1. Know What Your Audience Likes

Knowing what your audience likes is worth its weight in gold. People want to follow creators they resonate with and can return to for inspiration. Know your niche and consider your audience your best friends —  you want to share your interests with them! 

Reviewing your analytics can also help you determine what your audience likes. Dash Hudson’s Pinterest Insights can help you uncover which Pins your audience is engaging with the most and give you actionable insights to assist you on your way to figuring out how to get more followers on Pinterest.

2. Post Stunning, Original Visuals

Pinterest is the go-to place for people looking for something specific, so make sure your content is worth finding. Make Pins that are original and true to your brand image — the best content is compelling and high quality. 

Do the most to make your audience interact, re-pin and save your content. The more you do, the more the Pinterest algorithm will pick it up. This is the best tactic for how to get followers on Pinterest and you’ll notice an increase in your follower size in no time, as people are more likely to end up on your profile if you’re using strong visual storytelling.

3. Make Useful Infographics

If you’re looking for how to get more views on Pinterest, you should consider using infographics. Infographics are visuals that give an easy-to-understand overview of any topic, usually including both texts and visuals. If your followers learn something from your posted content, you’ll see a lift in traffic to your Pins. 

4. Cross-promote With Other Social Media Channels

The days of a single Facebook profile are far behind us. Today, you need to create a cross-channel marketing strategy. Reach your consumers by being on every social media channel. The more they see you online, the more familiar you will be to them, and they’ll be able to trust you enough to engage with your content. This is a great strategy for growing your Pinterest followers.

5. Join Group Boards

Group boards are a fun way to engage with other creators on Pinterest and share ideas. A group board is essentially the same as a regular board, but multiple creators share the ownership. Interacting with other creators in this way will increase your visibility to their Pinterest followers and ultimately introduce you to a larger social media demographic.

6. Create Idea Pins

Inspire your audience with an Idea Pin. These multi-paged threads can be used in many different ways that create interaction with viewers.

For example, you can create a step-by-step guide, upload photos or short videos, customize with text overlays, and tell a story completely different from a regular Pin. Getting creative will help you reach a wider audience and have fun with your Pinterest strategy.

7. Make Use of Trending Topics

If it's trending, it's being searched for on Pinterest. Always be in the know to stay relevant with your target audience. Check sites like Google Trends or Twitter to gauge timely, fresh conversation topics.

What's great is that Pinterest uses Google in its algorithm to monitor what's trending —  give yourself an edge against your competitors by using relevant visuals and search terms in Pin descriptions to capture what people are talking about online, which will help you be found by your target audience. 

8. Take Advantage of Holidays

Pinterest is a great place for visual inspiration, especially when people are searching for present ideas for friends and family during the Holidays.   

Create an ultimate gift guide — be the account people come to for inspiration on what to buy and how to make the holidays special. If you're a fashion brand, create Idea Pins on the perfect gift guide for mothers featuring your newest collection. Your followers will remember you as an account they can depend on for a last-minute idea and return every holiday!

9. Post Often and Consistently

Have you ever heard people say that success is about consistency? They were onto something. Creating fresh content impacts your brand strategy because it will keep your audience engaged, as they can expect to continue seeing inspiration on your profile. It’s trust-building. You can’t post a few times a month and expect to gain followers. Pinterest recommends posting new content every week for optimal results. 

Every social media algorithm favors consistent posting. Ensure you have your content ready for the week and planned out. Dash Hudson's Scheduler is a great option for planning your content ahead of time.

10. Use Pinterest “Sections”

A section is exactly what it sounds like — It’s a smaller subset within a main board that keeps content organized. For example, you may have a kitchen section within a more prominent home board. 

Sections make it easier for followers to find and navigate your content throughout the boards created on your profile. They also make it easier for people to engage with the specific content they seek. You want your profile to be easy to scroll. 

11. Comment, Tag, Repin, and Use Hashtags

This is something that works across the board – the more active you are on a social channel, the more people are likely to see your content. Engaging with other people's content by commenting, repinning and using hashtags is a great way to gain brand exposure.

Add hashtags to your Pins to ensure they are easy to find when people are searching for specific topics on Pinterest. This will generate more engagement from users who wouldn't have seen your post otherwise. By using relevant hashtags, you'll generate more Pinterest followers, and your content will come up in what's fresh.

‍Pinterest insights are seamlessly integrated into Dash Hudson's robust Scheduler. Create, plan and publish your upcoming Pinterest posts in bulk and search by hashtags to bring relevant content to the forefront of your strategy.

12. A/B Test Which Pins Work With Audiences

If you’re not sure what will land with your audience, try posting a few different types of content. Regardless, the more you post, the more you’ll understand what your audience likes and dislikes. Make it an experiment! 

If you’re looking for guaranteed content results, Dash Hudson’s Content Library allows you to use AI technology to predict which content is more likely to perform — a true game-changer for your visual content strategy that makes content planning quick and efficient in making game-time decisions.

13. Optimize Your Profile

Optimize your profile by creating a business account. This gives you access to more robust features for social selling. Create more than a static or Idea Pin, and allow you to see more of your analytics. 

Pinterest is unique to other platforms because it is designed for buyers to browse a large array of options before purchasing. If you want to be on the buyer's radar, create as much valuable content as possible with the ultimate tool stack. 

14. Optimize Your Boards for Search by Using Keywords

If you’re looking for how to grow on Pinterest, you should use keywords — since Pinterest is a visual search engine that shows image-based results instead of URLs, selecting relevant keywords should be an essential part of your Pinterest strategy. Using keywords on your Pin ensures that your content will get more views when people search for something related to your brand. Make your content stand out against the masses, and your competition.

All you need to get started with Pinterest SEO is a set of keywords that you can incorporate into your Pin titles and descriptions. These keywords best describe your products, business or imagery in your Pins. Only choose keywords that are relevant to your respective niche.

15. Authenticate Your Website With Pinterest

Pinterest is a tried and true way to increase traffic to your website. You can authenticate your website with Pinterest by using your business account settings. By claiming your site (connecting your URL to your profile), you’ll create seamless traffic to and from your Pinterest account. 

Your profile picture will show up next to any Pins from your site and a follow button for your Pinterest account. You can use Dash Hudson Social Media Analytics to monitor your site traffic from your profile — get ready to see the numbers go up! 

16. Set up Pinterest Shopping and Upload Your Product Feed

While Pinterest already allows brands to upload their Product Catalog and create shopping ads, according to EMarketer, Pinterest plans to embed shopping as the core platform experience. What does this mean for brands? It’s important to tag and upload your product feed to Pinterest because this is where your ideal customer will buy from. 

No one wants to click through multiple dreaded links to find a product. Last year, 86% of US digital buyers reported difficulties when navigating from social media to a brand site, but Pinterest was the outlier. By setting up a shoppable link, you’re creating less friction in the buyer journey by bringing your followers directly to your product. Your followers will thank you! 

Make sure you’ve set up Pinterest Shopping within your business account. Dash Hudson will allow you to add and edit shoppable links in the platform easily. 

17. Use the Right Tool for Managing Pinterest 

Building brand awareness on Pinterest shouldn’t be a daunting task. Pinterest has endless marketing value and opportunities for brands looking to drive traffic, revenue and ROI.

Dash Hudson will take your Pinterest strategy to the next level with all-in-one analytics that allows you to get granular with actionable insights. Drive traffic and revenue on Pinterest from your following. If you want to understand what your audience wants, you will have to get into the nitty gritty data. Dash Hudson is the right tool for building Pinterest followers.

Why Followers Matter on Pinterest

Yes, they matter. As a creator on multiple social media platforms, you know the value of a loyal following, which is a key factor in your success. However, on Pinterest, followers lead to being easily discovered. The more followers you have, the more traffic you will get to your website and your other social channels. Ultimately, this will help you build a stronger community.

How Fast Should My Brand Gain Followers?

Building a relationship with followers is an ongoing process. Like any personal relationship, it takes time to build that trust. The hard truth is that no exact equation exists to answer this question. 

We can tell you that it depends on the work you are willing to do to gain a following. If you're consistent with your content, shoppable links, pinning, and overall marketing strategy, you will likely see results in 6-12 months.

If you're new to the Pinterest scene, be patient! It'll take time to learn what strategies work best for your brand.

FAQs

How many followers do you need on Pinterest to get paid? 

What is great about Pinterest is that you don't necessarily have to have a specific follower count to get paid, but you do have to have an engaged following. 

The number of followers doesn't guarantee an earning; however, if you're looking to make money on Pinterest, a common strategy for this is setting up affiliate marketing and sponsorships. Creators with approx. 1000 followers see success using these tactics. 

How do I know who is following me on Pinterest?

1. Log into the app.
2. Click on your profile picture. It should be at the top right corner of the screen.
3. Your followers will be listed on the bottom left under your name.

Why am I not gaining followers on Pinterest? 

There are a few reasons why. Posting inconsistently, not using keywords or hashtags, and not understanding what your audience wants to see are all possible reasons. 

Luckily, Dash Hudson’s social media solution makes it easier for brands to understand what content is working vs. not for a brand’s Pinterest strategy. If you’re trying all of the tips mentioned above and still not seeing progress, investing in social media software could be a worthwhile investment.