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At first glance, Pinterest seems like a great platform to promote your content on, but also sort of intimidating. As a Pinterest consumer previously, Pinterest was a great place to find information about new topics, and always a good place to help figure out what to make for dinner! When you are looking to switch gears and begin to use Pinterest things can get complicated, fast! The trick is to keep things simple whenever possible, and not get wrapped up in how complex things may seem at the beginning when you first start promoting your content.
Now I want to talk about a concept that was completely new to me when I began promoting content on Pinterest, and that is group bards. I am going to share my tips to keep things as simple as possible, including how to make managing them easy (Spoiler Alert: Tailwind really helps, keep reading to find out more!)
Why Use Pinterest Group Boards?
When you are getting started with Pinterest, if you are anything like me, you will not have many followers. That means when you pin something, not many people will see it! Pinterest group boards are a great way to get people exposed to your content. When you pin to the group board, everyone who is following the board will see it! This is great when you are getting started with Pinterest, and are still trying to build your follower base.
Finding Pinterest Group Boards
Finding group boards can be tricky, but here are a couple I have discovered that work best for me.
Use Facebook Groups to Find Pinterest Group Boards
By far the easiest was finding group boards on Facebook! I simply searched for Facebook groups about Pinterest group boards and applied to join them. Once a member of the group, I searched for my niche in the groups, and applied to join the boards as instructed. This is how I started my journey with Pinterest group boards.
Other pinners post in these groups about their group boards and how to join them. They will usually tell your to follow them and their group board, then leave a message with your e-mail address or Pinterest link. That’s it! It could not be simpler and you can find a ton of boards in one place. Every once in a while I like to surf through these Facebook groups again to see if there is anything new. Make sure to sort your search results by date to make this easy!
Google is Your Friend for Finding Pinterest Group Boards!
My second favorite way to find group boards is to simply google “your-blogging-niche pinterest group board”, where your-blogging-niche is the topic you are looking for a group board about. Many people who run a group board on Pinterest will have a page about it on their blog with instructions how to join. Sometimes it is a form to fill out on their website, or you will simply need to send an e-mail. Either way this is a home run!
Do Not Forget the Ultimate Source of Pinterest Group Boards, Pinterest!
Finally, I like to cruise Pinterest for other pinners in my blogging niche, and see what group boards they belong to! This is super simple, and group boards will once again have joining instructions in their descriptions.
Whenever I apply to a group board, I make a note of it on an Excel spreadsheet. I include the board name and the URL. This way I can keep track of the group boards I am applying to and do not keep applying to the same ones over and over.
Sometimes, as a new Pinterest user, you will not be accepted to a group board. This happens, and is nothing to worry about. There are plenty of boards out there, I promise you will not have a hard time finding any to accept you, even as a new pinner. It just may take some time and perseverance.
Always be on the lookout for new group boards! Cruising around looking for them is a great activity to keep you productive, that does not require you to actually write a blog! If you have writer’s block, spending time on social media may be one of the things that will help you get through it.
Tips for Keeping Pinterest Group Boards Simple
Here are my tips for keeping group boards simple. The last thing we want Pinterest to do is become overwhelming and difficult to manage. I developed these tips over my first few months on Pinterest, and am excited to share what I have learned with you. Take this opportunity to learn from my mistakes and keep things simple!
Do not join boards with too many rules. These can get confusing and difficult to follow. Trust me, there are plenty of boards out there for you! Some boards have rules about how many pins you must repin for each one you add, how many times a day you are allowed to pin (or how many times a day you must pin), or the size of the pins you can post. This can get confusing and complicated to keep track of.
Stick to boards that require a 1:1 ratio of pins. This is similar to the first tip. This means anytime you pin to the board, you simply have to pin someone else’s pin too! Some boards will have other ratios, or want you to pin multiple pins from the board each time you pin your own. Even if there are no other rules than the pin ratio, I have learned to avoid any boards that are not 1:1 for simplicity’s sake.
Keep a running list of your Group boards. In this list you should also keep track of, how many of your pins you have added of your own content, and how many pins you have pinned from the group. This makes it easy to see how many times you can pin before needing to pin other’s content more.
I use Microsoft Excel for my Pinterest group board list, or you can use Google Sheets. I have a simple formula for each day I schedule that builds on the previous day, allowing me to input how many of my pins I pinned, and how many pins from others I have pinned, and tells me how many pins I have left before I need to pin more pins from others.
Here is an example of the setup I use to track these pins:
Once you have your Excel or Google sheets set up with an equation like this, simple grab the lower right corner of the box with the purple 4 in it and drag it to the right. This will apply the equation to the cells you have dragged it to. When you decide to schedule pins, add another date with how many of others’ pins you have pinned, and how many of yours. Then you will have a running list of how many more of your pins you can pin to a group board.
Schedule time to go on a pinning spree! This goes with the two tips above. For example, some days I will make the rounds and schedule five pins others have posted to every group board with Tailwind.
Speaking of Tailwind, use it! This is absolutely key to keeping managing your group boards simple on Pinterest, which brings us to our last tip. It is completely free to get started with (you can pin 100 pins for FREE!) and will save you hours upon hours of time. I lasted about a week and a half trying to keep up with pinning myself before trying Tailwind, and it was a night and day difference in Pinterest management.
Take advantage of the Board Lists feature in Tailwind. It is super easy to setup, and allows you to pin to a bunch of boards with a single click! Scheduling pins in Tailwind is easy enough, but this is the icing on the cake.
Setting Up and Using a Board List in Tailwind
Setting up a board list in Tailwind is really, really, easy, and you should using board lists whenever possible to make things simpler for yourself. To set up a board list, first, log into Tailwind and click Publisher in the left navigation pane. After Publisher expands click Board Lists which has an icon next to it that looks like a star.
Next, click the plus symbol in that grey box with an outline. After you click, your board list will be created to the left. Simply give it a name, and add Pinterest boards by typing their name, or selecting them from the drop down menu.
That’s it! Add as many boards as you want to your list, and next time you go to schedule a pin with Tailwind (using one of the browser plugins or simply uploading it), you will have the option to select your board list like this:
Board lists have a yellow star next to them that tells you how many group boards are in your list. Just click on your board list in Tailwind, and easily schedule to all of your Pinterest group boards at once!
Bonus: Tailwind Tribes Help Get Your Pins Noticed
There is another feature of Tailwind that can help you with your journey to getting noticed on Pinterest, and that is Tailwind Tribes! A Tailwind Tribe is similar to a Pinterest Group board in the manner that posting a pin to a Tailwind Tribes allows a bunch of people to see your pin at once!
It is not actually a group board on Pinterest. It lives within Tailwind, and again, is super easy to use just like everything else on the platform. When you pin something, simply click the Add to Tribes button, and select the tribes you want to add your pin to with checkboxes in the pop up box that lists your tribes.
You can even add to Tailwind Tribes at the same time you pin to your group boards. Can it get any easier? Make sure you click the Add to Tribes button after you enter your pin description, not before.
Of course, Tailwind Tribes is free to get started with, just like Tailwind is. With your Tailwind Free Trial or Plus Membership you can belong up to Five Tailwind Tribes, and post 30 pins per month between your tribes. If you want to join more tribes or pin more pins, you can buy additional Tribe PowerUps.
You can find Tailwind Tribes in the left navigation pane, under your Weekly Summary. The icon looks like three friends hanging out:
You will have three options once you click on Tribes:
- Your Tribes. From this menu you can take a look at each of your tribes to find new content to pin, and see how your pins are doing.
- Find a Tribe. This is the search engine for Tailwind Tribes that lets you find great tribes to join. Just put in a search term that relates to what you blog about, and you are all set. Some tribes are closed, and will require you to request to join.
- Insights. This is a dashboard that allows you to see how you are doing across all your tribes at once, it shows you how many resins and reshapes you have received across all your tribes, and on a tribe by tribe basis.
Similar to Pinterest Group boards, I like to stick with Tailwind Tribes to keep things simple to manage, so be on the lookout for that 1:1 pin ratio. Your tribes are also a great place to find content when you need it, there is noting wrong with going beyond the requirements of a tribe to fill up your list of scheduled pins.
Leaving a Pinterest Group Board
Sometimes, the Pinterest group boards you join will not do well. You can learn more about the performance of your Pinterest group boards right in Pinterest Analytics, or in Tailwind Inisghts.
If you are not checling in with Pinterest Analytics on a regular basis, you should be! Pinterest Analytics is a free tool that gives you major insight on how you are doing with Pinterest. Be sure to check out our Complete Guide to Pinterest Analytics!
Now, back to what we were talking about, which is leaving Pinterest group boards. If you have been posting to a group board for a while, and not seeing any traffic or activity from it, you may as well move on and stop wasting your time.
To leave a Pinterest group board, simply navigate to the board and click the edit button that looks like a pencil:
Then, you will see the memebers of the group board, including yourself. Just click the leave button next to your name:
That’s it. You have now left the Pinterest group board.
Remember, Keep it Simple!
The key to being successful on Pinterest is keeping it simple. Make sure to follow these helpful tips, and use Tailwind to make your life easier and save you time. It may be overwhelming at first, but do not despair! With a little practice, managing your Pinterest group boards and Tailwind Tribes will become second nature.
Did we miss anything? If you have any tips for keeping things simple when it comes to managing your Pinterest group board, be sure to leave a comment or reach out on Twitter.