Getting Started on Pinterest in 2024: A Beginner’s Guide

Is 2024 the year you’re finally going to prioritize Pinterest as a content creator?

If not, it definitely should be!

As you probably already know, Pinterest is a powerful platform that blends the functionalities of a traditional search engine and a social media platform, making it a unique tool for influencers and bloggers.

There are tons of benefits to creating on Pinterest from increasing your overall revenue to driving traffic to long-form content.

If you're a true beginner looking to dive into Pinterest, you're in the right place.

This guide will take you step-by-step through setting up your account, understanding the platform’s benefits, and implementing best practices to grow your presence and income on this hybrid platform.

Why Pinterest?

Pinterest is a unicorn among other platforms because as much as it is a social media site, it also has a robust search engine built in.

You can enjoy scrolling through curated images and videos just like you can on Instagram, but it’s also a platform users come to to take action.

They’re looking for ideas, inspiration and tangible projects to go out and replicate on their own so the user intent is often more clear on Pinterest compared to platforms controlled mainly by an algorithm.

Pinterest is also unique because it caters to both niche-specific content and broader topics, without penalizing creators for diversifying their content.

This is primarily thanks to boards, which we’ll talk about in a bit.

One of the standout features of Pinterest is the lifespan of your content.

Unlike platforms like TikTok or Instagram, where content peaks in the first 48-72 hours, Pinterest content can gain traction weeks, months, or even years after being posted.

Case in point: currently my third most popular pin from this month was created in 2018. As I’m writing this post, it’s 2024.

This means your pins can continue to attract followers, subscribers, and customers long after their initial upload.

That’s a pretty good feeling, especially if you’ve felt that the effort that goes into your content on other short-form platforms doesn’t get the reach it should.

It also helps you avoid creator burnout by focusing on quality of content rather than quantity.

Setting up a Pinterest account

Creating a business account

Start by setting up a free business account. This is essential if you’re using Pinterest for any business-related activities like promoting your content, products or services.

A business account provides access to valuable analytics and the capability to run ads, if you choose to do so.

Sign up: Use your email, set a password, and enter your birthdate.
Describe your business: Choose "Content Creator" or another relevant category.
Set business goals: Select goals like growing brand awareness or driving website traffic.
Build your profile: Add a profile picture, a bio, and your website link. Consider adding a searchable modifier to your name like “Austen | NYC Content Creator” or “Rachel M | LA Wedding Photographer” to help people find you.

Claim your website

Claiming your website links your Pinterest account to your site, which helps in driving traffic and improving your content’s discoverability.

Add the provided HTML tag to your website’s code to complete this process.

How pins and boards work

Understanding pins

A pin on Pinterest is your main content piece, similar to a post on Instagram or a video on TikTok. Each pin should have:

Title: Name your pin based on what people are searching for to maximize exposure.
Description: Similar to an Instagram caption, include a description featuring relevant keywords.
Link: Direct users to your website, blog, LTK or other platforms.
Tags: Add metadata to help Pinterest categorize your content. Tags will not be visible to pinners searching your content.

Creating boards

Boards are collections of pins centered around specific topics. They allow you to organize your content and cater to multiple interests.

For example, you could have boards for “Summer Outfit Ideas,” “Drugstore Makeup Finds,” and “NYC Restaurants.”

Choose board names that include keywords people might come to Pinterest to search.

Pro tip: If you need help with this, try taking a keyword like makeup and typing it into the search bar on Pinterest. See what autofills after that first keyword to get other ideas for how to effectively title your boards based on what users are looking for.

Content strategy

Goals of Pinterest content

The way you pin content and what exactly you pin will depend on your content strategy.

For this reason, it’s helpful to establish and understand a few of the goals you can accomplish by sharing content to Pinterest.

Here are a few examples of goals for using Pinterest that I currently use:

Driving traffic: To your blog, YouTube channel, or other platforms where you can monetize.
Selling products/services: Direct users to your offerings or newsletter signup.
Affiliate marketing: Promote products or services you are an affiliate for (just make sure you disclose those links!)

Repurposing content

Getting started on Pinterest doesn’t have to mean starting entirely from zero.

You can absolutely leverage existing content from other platforms as a Pinterest newbie.

For example, you can repurpose blog photos, Instagram stories, or TikTok videos into pins.

This saves time and helps you maintain a consistent presence on Pinterest, while getting more exposure to content that you’ve already created.

Fresh and clean content

One vibe check that I like to perform on all content I’m considering repurposing on Pinterest is does it pass the fresh and clean test?

Let’s break down both of those terms.

Fresh pins:

Modify existing content slightly to make it appear new to Pinterest’s algorithm. Use tools like Canva to add overlays or text.

Clean content:

Avoid watermarked content or copyrighted music to keep content “clean.”

Pinterest upload process

Using Canva for pin creation

Create branded pin templates in Canva. This speeds up the design process and ensures your pins reflect your brand.

If you have a Canva pro account, you can even upload your brand colors and fonts for easy use.

Don’t have a Canva pro account? Click here for a 30-day free trial!

Use templates to create multimedia pins with images and text or text-only pins to promote new content.

Scheduling pins

Pinterest’s in-app scheduler allows you to plan your pins up to 30 days in advance and select the day and time that they publish.

This helps maintain consistency without daily manual uploads, which requires much more work and can be easy to forget about amidst all of the other day-to-day content creation tasks on your plate.

Third-party tools like Tailwind and Later can also be used for more advanced scheduling needs.

Bonus tip: market your Pinterest

Let your audience on other platforms know that you’re on Pinterest!

Pinterest actually just released a brand new feature where you can share a video compilation of any board featuring your content to other platforms.

Encourage your audience to follow along with you on Pinterest to easily search your content and get ideas and inspiration for their lives.

As you can see, Pinterest is an incredibly powerful platform for content creators.

By setting up a business account, understanding the different types of pins, creating organized boards, and leveraging existing content, you can effectively use Pinterest to grow your audience and income.

After you’ve established an initial presence on Pinterest, you can continue to hone your skills and develop your monetization strategy.

Read this next: How To Make Money on Pinterest as a Creator

yours,

Austen

Getting Started on Pinterest in 2024: A Beginner’s Guide