It might not be the most obvious social media platform choice when it comes to building your brand as a creator or business.
But, when used right, Pinterest could become the most effective platform in your social media toolbox.
A bold statement, but I stand by it. That’s because Pinterest has what many other social media sites don’t — the ability to include links in every single post.
Of course, there’s more to Pinterest than just clickable posts. Unlike other social platforms, where content tends to disappear quickly, Pinterest acts more like a visual search engine — meaning the pins you post today can continue driving traffic weeks, months, or even years from now.
With all that in mind, getting more followers on Pinterest isn’t just about vanity metrics. A bigger, engaged audience means more people discovering and saving your content — which translates into more subscribers, sign-ups, sales, and brand awareness over time. Pretty neat, right?
But… how do you get more followers on Pinterest, exactly?
Let’s break it down. Here are 20 practical tips to help you get more Pinterest followers and move the needle right away.
Optimize your profile
Your profile is the first impression. Here’s what you need to do and how to do it to optimize your Pinterest profile.
1. Convert your Pinterest profile to a business account
Pinterest has two kinds of accounts: personal and business. If you have a Pinterest Personal account, I’d recommend switching to a Pinterest Business account. Why? Because business accounts have access to:
Pinterest itself recommends converting to a business account to access helpful growth features. Here’s how you can convert your Pinterest Personal account to a business profile:
1. Log in to your Pinterest account
2. Click the arrow next to your profile icon
3. Click on the ‘Convert to Business’ option and then the ‘Upgrade’ button (don’t worry, it won’t cost you anything)
2. Brand your Pinterest profile to make it recognizable
Optimizing your profile is a must for growing on Pinterest. Imagine someone clicking on your pin, going to your Pinterest profile to learn more, and having no clue who you are or what you do. They won’t hit that follow button.
Here’s how to give some personality to your Pinterest profile page:
1. Add your name and profile name to your profile. If you have a brand name or username that you’re already using on your website and other social media accounts, use the same one here.
⚡ Pro-tip: Pinterest also recommends adding searchable keywords along with your name to make it easy for people to discover you. You can use the search option to find relevant keywords and add the relevant ones to your name.
For example, Micah has used keywords like ‘DIY’, ‘decor,’ and ‘content creator’ to make her profile more discoverable. This helps her appear in searches when users look for DIY inspiration, home decor ideas, or content creators in her niche.
2. Add a clear profile photo so people can put a face to your name. If you’re a brand, put your logo in the profile photo.
3. Use your ‘About’ section to describe what you post on Pinterest and how it can benefit your audience. Keep it short and sweet.
4. Add a cover photo telling people what you do or what you represent. This isn’t necessary, but it’s a good addition!
Shreya Dalela, creator of The Creatives Hour, is the perfect example of how you can brand your account and make it easy for people to click follow.
If you’re a small business, you can also apply for Pinterest’s verified merchant program to get a blue checkmark, which gives you that extra badge of authenticity and some coveted features (like shopping experiences).
And remember: Branding isn’t just for your profile. Pinterest actively encourages its users to put a logo on every pin they share:
“Put a logo on every pin that you make, but keep it subtle. Avoid the lower-right corner, since that spot gets covered up by our product icons.”
3. Verify your website
Pinterest lets you claim your website, linking it directly to your profile. This ensures your profile picture appears on every pin saved from your site, making it easy for people to find and follow you.
Claiming your website also gives you insights into how often your content is shared. You’ll get advanced analytics and a direct link on every saved pin, helping users discover more from you.
Whenever someone saves an image from your site:
- Your profile picture appears on the pin.
- The pin links to your Pinterest profile.
- Viewers see an option to follow you.
Claiming your website also unlocks rich pins. Rich pins are a type of pin that automatically sync information from your website and display extra details like titles and descriptions.
It’s fairly simple to do, if you know the ins and outs of your website. This step-by-step video shows you how.
Create content that engages your audience
Just like other social media platforms, Pinterest’s growth thrives on content. Here’s how you can make yours more Pin-teresting. 😉
4. Create fresh pins consistently
All social networks want you to post consistently on their platform. The minimum frequency for Pinterest is at least one pin a week, though posting more often is generally a good idea.
“While you can determine the best schedule for you, posting on a weekly basis is a good rule of thumb,” Catie Marques Teles, a Product Marketing Manager at Pinterest says. “Because content is evergreen, your hard work works harder, and people will keep seeing your ideas over time.”
.If even one post a week feels a little intimidating, it might help to draw inspiration from the various content types
1. Instructional
2. Quick tip
3. Comparison
4. Storyteller
5. Conversation
Food and recipe creator Lindsey Baruch is a great example of step-by-step guide-style Pinterest content.
Pro tip: You’re not limited to static images! Pinterest allows short-form video content, too, which is a great way to present tutorials and how-to content.
On the other hand, Brian S. Stone, founder of Adaptive Communities, creates marketing-focused Pinterest content, such as infographics and tool stacks with a clear goal: driving Pinterest users to his page, where he sells Notion templates.
⚠️ Note: Don’t compromise on the quality of your Pinterest pins to meet a certain number. Pinterest content has a longer shelf life — meaning the pins you create today can generate traffic for weeks.
Invest time in creating thoughtful, quality content that is actually relevant to your target audience.
Now, creating and posting multiple pins weekly, especially if you’re a part-time creator or small business owner, might sound exhausting. Who has the time to write the title, the description, and edit posts every single day?
Which is why it’s a great idea to work smarter, not harder. You might want to try batch-creating content and scheduling pins using Buffer. You can create pins in advance and queue them into relevant boards.
The best part? If you add a destination link, Buffer will automatically pull through the available images on your website. So, if you’re adding Pinterest-worthy photos on your website already, you don’t even need to upload the image if you use Buffer.
5. Publish high-quality vertical images and videos
Pinterest is a visual platform. Quality matters on Pinterest — whether it’s for infographics or videos. The ideal image size is 1000 x 1500 pixels in a 2:3 aspect ratio.
Pinterest says other ratios can negatively impact your performance because the image’s text is half-visible. The ratio is also ideal because most Pinterest users use the app on their mobile.
A great example is Melisza Mcfierce‘s Pinterest profile. Each and every pin she posts is of extremely high-quality and stands out as clean, clear, and crisp on the home feed.
6. Select a strong, relevant image for your pins
It probably goes without saying that Pinterest is first and foremost, a visual platform. When Pinterest users search for something, they’re more likely to click on the pin with the most relevant, visually appealing image.
According to Pinterest Creators, being strategic with your pin’s image and text can significantly improve engagement. For example, if you’re sharing a lasagna recipe, a pin featuring a delicious, well-cooked lasagna is far more likely to attract clicks than one showing just the raw ingredients.
Pinterest users engage visually first — your pin should instantly communicate the value of your content. Using high-quality images, clear text overlays, and an engaging design will make your content more likely to stand out in a sea of aesthetic visuals users will find on their feeds.
But image relevance is just as important as the quality.
For one thing, the Pinterest algorithm scans your images to understand whether or not they match your pin description and overall profile niche. So, your Pinterest cover images should contextualize what you’re discussing in the pin.
Let’s say you’re a travel creator and are creating a pin on the best coworking cafes in Prague. Don’t use a generic picture of a latte as the cover image for this pin — use a photo of the relevant cafe instead.
When I type “best coworking cafes in Prague” into the Pinterest search bar, it displays various relevant cafe images with overlay text. However, the ones that catch my attention aren’t just snaps of coffee or food, no matter how aesthetic — they’re high-quality photos of the cafes, showcasing the ambiance, workspace setup, and overall vibe.
7. Level up your content using music, duration settings, stickers, and more
Pinterest has developed a ton of native editing features — like editing music, syncing text to video, adding stickers, and more. Use all of these features to create more engaging content.
Academia Central Fitness is an excellent example of how to use Pinterest’s various features to create scroll-stopping pins. They align the text to the videos they share, use Pinterest’s native font, and add stickers and music to all their pins.
8. Use Pinterest Boards to organize your Pins
Pinterest Boards are a way to categorize your various content pillars into different folders. This advice comes straight from Pinterest
“Because we know pinners are planners, it’s important to focus on your board strategy.”
Pinterest also suggests keeping your board names straightforward rather than overly clever to make them search engine optimized (SEO-friendly). This means using clear, keyword-rich titles that describe exactly what the board is about.
For example, if you’re creating a board about makeup recommendations, name your board something simple and direct, such as “Makeup products recommendations,” instead of using an informal term such as “makeup products that slap.”
The fashNcurious Pinterest profile is an A+ example. The mother-daughter duo creates fashion content on Pinterest and organizes it in boards such as “nail content” and “fashion inspiration for all occasions.”
Categorizing your content into boards also helps new followers navigate your profile and get similar content in one window. Here’s how to create a board:
1. Go to your Pinterest profile
2. Click on ‘Saved’
3. Click on the ‘➕’ plus icon on the right-hand side
4. Choose ‘Board’
5. Name your board and start adding pins to it
If you want to take it up a notch, you can also create sections within your boards. For example, if one of your Pinterest boards is about “winter recipes,” you can break it down further into sections like “winter beverages” or “winter desserts.”
9. Add a call-to-action (CTA) to every pin
What should your target audience do after they come across a pin from you?
Adding a call-to-action to every pin you create ensures your audience takes that next step of following you or visiting your website. For example, in this pin, fitness creator Jacquelyn has a clear CTA to watch her YouTube video.
Some other call-to-action phrases you can use:
- Read the full blog on my website
- Follow me for more [your niche] content
- Save this for later
- What do you think of [topic of your pin]?
- Comment your favorite [something relevant to your pin] below.
You can also add a voiceover for your CTA if you share a video on Pinterest.
10. Tailor your repurposed content to the Pinterest platform
Since the Pinterest algorithm scans your image content for contextual cues, it’s a great idea to edit your content within the platform.
So, for example, if you’re repurposing a TikTok video for Pinterest, remove the accompanying text and add text within the Pinterest app instead. TikTok, Instagram, and Shorts watermarks are a no-go, too, so be sure to save a ‘clean’ version of your content.
With that, you can use the platform’s native editing abilities as much as possible to publish more Pinterest-friendly content — and boost your follower count by extension.
11. Craft multiple pins for the same post
Shreya Dalela used Pinterest to grow the website Elite Content Marketer’s traffic by a whopping 829% (!) in just three months. One of her top tips is creating multiple pin designs for the same topic.
For example, she suggested varying the designs for the same header or splitting one long-form post into mini infographics.
This is an excellent way to get the most out of every piece of content you create and also an A+ Pinterest strategy to pin more without burning yourself out. But it comes with two caveats:
- Shreya suggests avoiding pinning multiple posts with the same URL in one day, as this might come across as spam. Instead, spread it out over a few days or weeks.
- Shreya also recommends testing the performance of five pins on one topic, first. If it performs well, create more pins for it. If not, don’t design more pins for it.
12. Create content your audience would want to save
The Pinterest algorithm prioritizes content that users save.
“If there’s a pin with a lot of saves, the system will recommend it across the platform’s main pages over other less inspiring, less engaging content,” Pinterest says.
A save signals to Pinterest that your post has meaningful engagement and that your idea resonates with people. Ask yourself: “What kind of content would my target audience want to bookmark?” and create more and more of it.
Creating saveable content should be your top Pinterest marketing strategy. People often return to their saved content, increasing your engagement and website traffic even further.
Make your pins discoverable
There’s no point in creating perfect pins if your ideal followers can’t find them. Below are the best tips for improving the visibility and reach of your pins.
13. Optimize your images, pin descriptions, and text overlays for SEO
If you pick the right keywords on Pinterest, you’ll improve your discoverability and increase your number of followers. Pinterest also highlights that using the right keywords for SEO positively affects the distribution of your content.
Use keywords in three spaces on Pinterest:
- Text overlays
- Title
- Pin description
⚠️ Note: In text overlays, ensure your image is as easy to read as possible. Remember people are scrolling on their phones. Small fonts are easy to miss. Use header fonts to show what your image is about.
This pin by Cassey Ho of Blogilates on “how to do a split” is an excellent example of how to sprinkle keywords into your Pinterest content.
How do you find relevant keywords related to your pin? You can search for your topic on Pinterest, see the suggested keywords that pop up, and monitor what your competitors are using.
You can also use the Pinterest trends tool to search for your topic and find what your audience is searching for.
14. Use topic tags instead of hashtags
Topic tags are the new hashtags on Pinterest. Although you might still see many creators using hashtags, Pinterest says they rely on topic tags to categorize your content.
You can add up to 10 topic tags for each pin you post. Pinterest gives you the option to “tag related topics” while you’re posting your pin.
Pinterest users can’t see your tagged topics — which is another benefit since it doesn’t appear spammy like hashtags.
15. Engage with others
If I had a penny for every time I saw a creator posting and ghosting on Pinterest, I’d be swimming in cash. Social media marketing is a two-way street.
This is especially true for Pinterest. It encourages active users to respond to comments, pin frequently, and share ideas with each other.
If you want to grow on Pinterest, you have to build a community. This means following others in your niche, commenting on other people’s content, and responding to comments and direct messages (DMs) you receive. For example, Suman replies to questions and comments on her Pinterest videos to help her audience.
Engaging on Pinterest doesn’t have to be complicated. Take 10–20 minutes every day to respond to any notifications you receive. When you reply to someone, you increase engagement and also prompt them to check your pin again.
Also, scroll Pinterest for the kind of content you like. If you find another creator in a relevant niche with useful content, follow them and engage with their profile. They might follow you back or start saving your pins on their boards.
16. Join relevant group boards
Group boards are Pinterest boards with multiple collaborators. You can create your own group board by inviting collaborators and giving them various levels of permissions.
There are popular group boards in every niche that aid in providing an additional reach to your Pinterest content. You can request to join these boards and participate in pinning content consistently.
Use pingroupie to search for popular group boards in your niche. Most group boards will also use the description to share guidelines on joining the board and set up some ground rules.
17. Hop on trending content
Pinterest users love seasonal content more than any other social media platform. And Pinterest capitalizes on it by giving you tons of resources to find the latest trends on the social network:
3. A Pinterest predicts series to help you ace future trends today
4. A theme to organize your content for the whole year and inspire your content calendar
Use these resources to create trending content in advance (as much as possible). Some trends — like the holidays — allow you to prepare pins early because you already know that spike is coming.
Any marketing strategy is incomplete without a promotion strategy. To get the most out of your Pinterest content, you need to actively share and distribute your pins for greater visibility.
Here are some effective ways to promote your pins:
18. Advertise your pins
While we’re fans of organic growth here at Buffer, giving your pins a little nudge (if you can afford to) hurt no one.
If you have some budget for Pinterest Ads, consider promoting your Pinterest pins to reach potential followers. How do you create a Pinterest ad? It might seem a little complicated, but the platform will guide you through the process, step-by-step. Here’s an overview:
- Click on the three horizontal lines at the top left corner of your Pinterest profile and select ‘Create Campaign’ under the Ads section.
- Choose a campaign objective (e.g. brand awareness, traffic, conversions, or catalog sales).
- Set a daily or lifetime budget and define the campaign duration.
- Select the target audience based on demographics, interests, keywords, and behaviors.
- Choose an existing pin from your boards or upload a new one with a strong, relevant title, description, and destination URL.
- Set a bid strategy (manual or automatic bidding) and select ad placements (search results, home feed, or related pins).
- Review all settings and click ‘Launch’ to start your promoted pin campaign.
- Monitor ad performance through Pinterest Analytics and optimize based on engagement, clicks, and conversions.
And you’re done!
Try Pinterest ads for yourself and see if promoted pins give you enough return on investment (ROI) to become a regular part of your Pinterest marketing strategy.
19. Add a Pinterest follow button to your website, newsletter, and other social media
Encourage the followers, fans, and email subscribers you already have to follow you on Pinterest.
For example, in your email newsletter or Instagram Stories, you can share a regular “What we’re pinning” update to remind your existing followers to check you out on Pinterest, too.
Etsy links its Pinterest profile in the footer of its website — along with other social accounts.
But remember: Your target audience needs a reason to follow you on Pinterest. Perhaps you create exclusive content, or maybe organize all your existing content neatly into boards and sections your audience can refer back to easily.
Whatever it is, craft a compelling offer that will entice people to click the follow button.
Measure your success
Here’s a social media strategy step often missed by creators and brands alike: analyzing their content performance.
20. Use Pinterest Analytics to guide your content strategy
Once you switch to a business account, you get in-depth insights into how your content is performing. You get details like saves, outbound clicks, pin clicks, profile visits, and more.
The metrics you should focus on will depend on your goals. For example, if you want to grow website traffic via Pinterest, the outbound click rate is the most important.
Spend some time each week or month identifying your best-performing pins. Maybe you noticed how-to video content gets the highest number of saves and click-through rates, so you can double down on it when you start creating new pins.
There’s more to Pinterest than Pinterest followers
Pinterest is known as the social network to drive more traffic to your website. It encourages its users to leave the platform — an anomaly in the social media marketing world.
So, while Pinterest followers are a good metric to look at to evaluate your growth on Pinterest, remember it’s not the only one. If you’re getting decent traffic, enough saves, and impressions, and engaged comments, you’re doing Pinterest right!
Don’t focus on gaining new Pinterest followers in a silo — look at the big picture and focus on building a community on the platform.
