How to Make Money on Pinterest [7 Strategies for 2022]

If you’re a bit confused about how to make money on Pinterest, keep reading to find out how to turn your visual discovery engine into an income-generating machine.

Pinterest recently reported a 6% decline in monthly active users worldwide compared to last year. Does this mean that it is losing its relevance? Barely.

Pinterest still has 431 million users worldwide. And that audience views nearly 1 billion videos a day on Pinterest. The income opportunities for businesses and influencers are undeniable.

Can you make money on Pinterest?

Yes, especially if you’re a blogger, influencer, or e-commerce business. There are several different ways to make money on Pinterest, and which tactic works depends on your business and your strategy.

For e-commerce or product companies, Pinterest is a great place to capture customer attention during the research phase.

85% of pinners (an affectionate name for people who use Pinterest) say the platform is the first place they go to to start a new project.

They are looking for inspiration, so this is the perfect platform to showcase your products.

If you’re a blogger or influencer, Pinterest can help drive traffic to your site.

It helps to not think of Pinterest as a traditional social media platform. Instead, think of it like a different search engine like Google.

You’ll want to combine SEO strategies and intriguing pins to help pinners find your content and link to your site.

Once on your website, you can redirect them to subscribe to your email list, purchase products, or make some other call to action.

These are just a few ways to make money with Pinterest.

For businesses and influencers looking to monetize their Pinterest feed, read on for some solid earning strategies you can start implementing today.

How to make money on Pinterest

Drive traffic with ads

You have to spend money to make money sometimes. Organic outreach can only do so much.

To increase your reach, throw in a few promotional dollars for your pins. Sponsored Pins can be optimized for a variety of purposes, such as increasing traffic or increasing your Pinterest followers.

Promotional pins look just like regular pins and they appear in your target audience’s home feed, category feeds, and search results.

There are also different types of ads, such as shopping ads, that are pulled directly from your product catalog.

(Don’t worry – we’ve got a simple guide to all things Pinterest ads if you need help choosing the right type.)

But is advertising worth the investment?

Let’s see how N e na & Co did. when I decided to turn my product catalog into a Pinterest ad.

The sustainable bag brand was able to reach a whole new audience interested in waste-free and ethical products.

This resulted in a 34% increase in return on ad spend and cost compared to other platforms.

Let shoppers shop directly on Pinterest

For brands that offer e-commerce services, Pinterest is a natural opportunity to increase traffic and sales.

Use pins to showcase your products and direct followers back to your website to make purchases, or use the Pinterest shopping tool to make in-app purchases.

Checkout in the app is only available to a limited number of merchants. If you meet the requirements, you are in for a real treat.

Pinners can find your product and buy it without leaving Pinterest. This simplifies the customer journey and makes it easier to buy products on Pinterest.

Who is eligible for in-app payment? You will need to meet the following criteria:

• Are you using the Shopify app?
• The Shopify store has a US billing address.
• Only has Shopify channels (meaning you don’t have active non-Shopify channels uploaded to Pinterest)
• Accepts returns
• Has an email address for support requests
• Exceeded monthly conversion threshold at checkout
• Corresponds to the recommendations of the seller

Once you have been granted permission to use the in-app checkout feature, a Buy button will appear below your product pins.

When someone clicks on it, they will be able to select product details such as size or color. They will then be redirected to the checkout page in the Pinterest app.

Even if you don’t have an in-app checkout feature yet, you can still create eye-catching pins and direct viewers to your website to purchase a product.

Become an affiliate marketer

Affiliate marketing is not just for blogs. You can also use your direct affiliate links to connect to your contacts.

By sharing your affiliate links on Pinterest, you can earn a commission on sales if pinners make a purchase.

Of course, you can also direct people to affiliate program related content like your blog posts or videos to warm up your audience before buying.

This is what @veggiekins did with her pin, which is linked to a YouTube video containing an affiliate link.

Here are some tips and tricks to become a successful partner:

1. Create board themes

You can’t just create a bunch of unrelated affiliate links, post them together on the same board, and then expect results.

It’s best to carefully choose pins around a central topic. This helps pinners discover the overall vision and decide if they want the pinned elements to replicate the aesthetic or ideas.

2. Write thoughtful descriptions

You want to express why those affiliate links or pins are important, as well as use relevant keywords and hashtags that Pinterest will use in search results.

3. Be authentic

Nobody likes it when all you do is promote affiliate links. You need to create pins and boards that authentically represent your brand.

4. Use high quality media

We’ll learn more about what makes a perfect pin later, but you can’t skimp on creating inspiring or thought-provoking images or videos for your pins.

5. Follow relevant affiliate marketing guidelines

Pinterest can block you if it thinks you’re spamming the platform, so it’s best to follow the Pinterest Partner Rules and local regulations, such as the US Federal Trade Commission’s Approval Guidelines, to ensure compliance.

Help people buy your image

Shopping is a top priority for Pinterest users – 75% of weekly Pinterest users say they always shop.

Show off a stylish outfit or an elegant space to get inspired. Then tag specific products in that photo so your followers can shop in that look themselves.

This example from Pinterest is a video of a woman showing off several of the beauty products she uses. You can also see the products featured in the video.

Source: Pinterest

You can use idea icons to mark products you want to recommend to your audience.

This makes your pin available for purchase and makes it easy for people to find the products you use. Also a great option for influencers or brands looking to showcase their products.

Brand Partner

Influencers and brands go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. That’s why Pinterest has a paid affiliate tool to make it easy for influencers and brands to interact and make their partnership transparent.

Here’s how it works:

• Make a pin idea in the app
• Add a paid partnership label by tagging the brand
• Then they approve the tag

And voila! Your badge now has the brand name listed at the bottom.

Here is an example of what it looks like:

Source: Pinterest

Brands will pay you to create this type of content and distribute it to your audience. They may also decide to use the pin as part of their advertising campaign.

And yes, there are many brands willing to work with creators.

For example, Gatorade has used a paid affiliate tool to partner with top Pinterest fitness creators.

They then used the content for their ad campaign. This led to significant results for Gatorade, with the campaign racking up over 14 million views.

But how do you get those nice brand partnerships?

To get started, you need an engaged niche audience. You don’t need a bunch of followers to make a brand deal. However, you need to know how to promote your brand.

Join the Pinterest Contributors Foundation

The Pinterest Creator Fund gives you a lot of perks if you get accepted.

But what is the Pinterest Creator Fund?

This is a five-week program where content creators learn how to create inspirational content for Pinterest, get industry insights from experts, and earn potential brand sponsorship.

And did we mention $25,000? It comes in the form of a cash grant, promotional credits, and equipment stipends.

The Creator Fund is “a new initiative dedicated to the growth and success of underrepresented creators: people of color, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Source: Pinterest

Every quarter, Pinterest announces a new Foundation cycle with a themed theme. The first cycle of 2022 was dedicated to fashion and beauty. Future cycles will have topics about food, lifestyle and wellbeing.

It is currently only available to underrepresented authors in the US, but Pinterest has expressed a desire to open a fund for underrepresented authors in Brazil and the UK in 2022.

To be the first to know about the launch of the Creator Foundation, you need to subscribe to the Pinterest Contributor Newsletter.

Join Pinterest Creator Rewards

Are you not eligible for the Creator Fund? Then see if Creator Rewards is right for you.

Creator Rewards is a program that allows creators to earn money by creating original Pins with ideas based on Pinterest suggestions.

According to Pinterest, “Each hint will indicate specific engagement goals, such as getting a certain number of saves, reactions, or replays of your idea pin. When you reach your engagement goals, you will see rewards in your bank account next month.”

Pinterest is still in the testing phase of the Creator Rewards program, so a limited number of people can apply.

To be eligible, you must have:

• Pinterest business account
• Use the Pinterest app on your phone
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be a legal resident and reside in the United States or the District of Columbia
• Have at least 250 followers
• Created at least 3 Idea Pins in the last 30 days.
• Have 150 saves of published Pins in the last 30 days.
• Create original content

You will need to check the Pinterest app on your mobile device to see the Get Started button in order to apply.

If you do not qualify, you will not see this option.

Pinterest Earning Tips

It’s never too late to start working on your Pinterest marketing strategy. As you just read, there are many ways to generate income with Pinterest, but they all ultimately depend on the power of the audience.

Draw eyeballs and clicks (and revenue!) will follow. Here’s how.

Follow Pinterest Creative Guidelines

Pinterest is a visual platform, so it only makes sense that your creative Pins stand out on Pinterest by a high standard.

Luckily, Pinterest has a whole guide to creative best practices. It covers everything you need to know about how to properly format a pin and what can help get a pinner’s attention.

When it comes down to it, a successful pin does three things:

• Visually compels you
• Tells a good story
• Makes people interested in learning more

But creating great content isn’t enough—you also need a strategy to get your PIN seen by the right people. This is where Pinterest SEO comes in.

Implement SEO optimization for Pinterest

Keywords are like a meddling matchmaker bringing content and users together for a love affair.

Using the right keywords to describe your content helps people find your contacts, both through direct search and through Pinterest’s recommendation algorithm.

You’ll want to include your keywords in places like:

• Contact Description
• Text overlay
• board name
• Board Description
• Profile Description

Pinterest SEO sounds great, but where do you find the keywords your pinners use?

To identify the best keywords, start with a generic term related to your business and type it into the Pinterest search bar.

Let’s say you run a travel blog and want to write articles about Mexico travel. You can type “Mexico Travel”into the Pinterest search bar and below you will see colored tiles that suggest related keywords.

You can also scroll down to find “Related Searches”results for even more keywords.

Click on keywords to see even more niche offerings. For example, selecting the keyword “Tips”would display search results for “Mexico Travel Tips”.

This keyword has even more specific keywords that may not be as heavily targeted to other creators, but are still relevant to pinners.

Based on these results, you can start creating pins offering tips on what to pack, travel tips for Mexico, and tips for visiting all-inclusive resorts. And these are just a few ideas.

Once you’ve collected useful keywords, make them work, but avoid spamming.

Pro Tip: Use your keywords in rich conversational sentences rather than just stuffing them as much as you can. Don’t forget to add some hashtags to your descriptions!

Create media kit

If you’re interested in partnering with paying partners or putting sponsored content on your Pinterest boards, it’s worth preparing an influencer media kit.

A media kit is a document that provides statistics about your followers and engagement.

It provides a valuable snapshot of your brand and what it can bring to a partnership with a company. It may also include pricing for specific advertising opportunities.

Use a graphic design template to make a stylish PDF available for download, or post the information directly on your main website or blog.

Once you have this in your toolbox, you can quickly and easily start a conversation about partnership opportunities.

Schedule your Pins

Adding new Pins over time, rather than uploading multiple Pins at once, will help you reach a wider range of people.

And a planning tool like Hootsuite can help you prepare your Pins for deployment at your leisurely pace.

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Batch scheduling your Pins is the best way to get into the creative zone with your content, and it also saves you from having to log into Pinterest six times a day.

As is the case with all social media platforms, you want to create great content in order to really succeed – posting content that has no value will get you nowhere.

So make sure you create content you’re proud of and offer something inspiring or useful to your audience.

Want more guidance on getting your Pinterest page up and running? Check out our helpful guide on how to get started using Pinterest for business. You can then turn those pins into profits.