If I were to start a Pinterest account in 2023, there would be a lot of things that I would not do. However, the four things I’m talking about in today’s post might surprise you. If they don’t surprise you, you are educated, you consume my content, and you’re a great student.

If you’re new here, I’m Heather Farris. I run a YouTube channel, a paid membership program, and a full-fledged Pinterest agency where I help content creators and e-commerce clients do organic and paid Pinterest marketing. 

We’re a white glove service, and we help you do the whole thing. I like to keep things real and write about things in a way that is not gatekeeping. Today’s post is no different.

So let’s dive into it.

#1. Waiting too long to start a Pinterest account

The first thing I would not do if I were to start a Pinterest account in 2023 is I wouldn’t wait too long or at all. I would just get started and build the foundations of the account right away.

The longer you wait, the more you miss out on, and that’s the same for every platform. Pinterest being the evergreen platform that it is, the top traffic driving pins for most of our clients are anywhere from 6 to 12 months old. In some cases, they could be two years older or more.

Pinterest pins are like fine wine–the more they age, the better they get. So don’t wait to start your Pinterest account. Don’t think, “Well, I’ll get to that next quarter when I have some time after my launch.”

Don’t wait. Hire someone like me or another VA to at least get your Pinterest account foundations built and begin parking your content there. Pinterest is an evergreen source of traffic and engagement with your brand.

Whether you are active on the platform or not, your content can still come up and rank in search and drive traffic to your website. So you don’t want to wait at all to get started.

Get your Pinterest running now. Get it claimed. Get the foundations built. Start utilizing that platform as an evergreen parking lot for your content.

RELATED: The Complete Pinterest Marketing Strategy I Would Tell My Friends 

#2. I would not stick to static pins as the only pin type I publish

If I started a Pinterest account in 2023, I would not stick to static pins only as my preferred pin type. For years in the past, that is the pin type that everyone defaulted to. However, in 2023, we are noticing a significant shift towards video and Idea pin content. I’m going to show some examples.

Example 1

This one is a client account. Her static pins, otherwise known as her standard pins, have been down by 3% in the last 30 days. Her Idea pin traffic in the previous 30 days is up 10%, and her video pin performance is up 822%.

These numbers are stark. This is only from a small window of time, but I have seen the same in accounts over a large window of time. Trust me; this is a theme that I’m seeing. And if you want more proof for the pudding, let me know, and I will be happy to provide it.

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Example 2

This one is my Pinterest account. I’ve been taking my Pinterest account even more seriously this year, including getting into Idea pins as a preferred content type. As this platform progresses with Idea pins, I will get links on them (so will you!). So it’s even more imperative for me to get into the habit of creating Idea pins.

My standard pins are down 7% over the last 30 days. They’ve been down for quite a while; ironically enough, my video pins are up 1726%.

What does this mean? I haven’t been posting video pins a ton. I just recently started repurposing Idea pins as video pins, and I’ve seen a jump in the overall engagement on my account. Now engagement is the first thing we want when starting a Pinterest account, and everything else will filter down.

Lastly, my Idea pin engagement is up 18%, so that’s great. I had a couple of Idea pins go viral for me, and I am enjoying seeing the results from the content I’m creating.

The importance of video pins

Many people think if their goal is traffic, they shouldn’t be creating pins for video or Idea pins because those don’t have links or the links are hard to find. I’ve said this myself before, and it’s still true.

However, I think the time has come for you to regularly incorporate these pin types into your strategy and do so with haste. Get on that bandwagon.

I want you to start creating Idea pins and then repurpose those into video pins. You are already creating the content once, then why not repurpose it throughout? 

If you’re creating content on TikTok or Instagram reels stories, download those and upload them to Pinterest as a video pin. Then direct them to your website, an offer, a blog post, YouTube video, or wherever you want them to go that’s related to the content. It’s pretty simple.

RELATED:  How to Repurpose Your Tiktoks and Reels to Pinterest Idea Pins

Traffic and engagement from pins

You would be correct in thinking that standard pins are the primary way to get traffic to your website. It’s not entirely true. You can get traffic through video pins too. However, as I mentioned previously, it all starts with engagement.

We need people engaging with our pins. If engagement is coming from Idea pins and video pins more readily, then it would make sense to add those into our strategy. That will ultimately trickle down into the static pins.

Once someone engages with your content, they will be served your content in their smart feed, home feed, and any related content they begin looking at. So, you need to aim for engagement with the goal of traffic.

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#3. Becoming stagnant in your content strategy and only pinning the same stuff

The third thing I would not do if I were to start a Pinterest account in 2023 is to become too stagnant in the type of content that I’m creating. A lot of pinners who are creating pins on Pinterest focus on one little narrow kind of content.

If e-commerce creators don’t have a blog on their website, they don’t create any awareness or consideration content. This is one huge mistake I see many e-commerce creators making. So what does that mean? 

It means you need to start diversifying the type of content you’re creating, meaning pins. You need to start targeting more of the other audiences on the platform. There are people looking for you. But if you are only creating solution-aware content, you’re missing out on all these people. The majority of them are hanging out in problem-aware content.

Diversifying your content

If you think about it from a funnel perspective, if you have all these people coming in the top at ‘problem aware’, eventually they’re going to filter their way down into ‘solution aware’. The majority of the people are at the top and a fewer amount are at the bottom. Therefore, if you are only creating problem-aware Pinterest images, you’re missing out on an entire subset of your Pinterest audience that are more likely to become product buyers. 

Create Pinterest images that are for awareness content, like “how to” guides. Those are ‘problem aware’ content, or anything that helps people identify their problem, and then it helps guide them to the next step.

There’s another phase in between the awareness and the buyer phase. It’s called consideration. It contains a comparison guide type of content, this or that content. The person is aware that they have the problem, but they haven’t decided on the solution, and you are giving them options. This could be in your ‘how to’ content, but it also could be product review content.

The last Pinterest image type that you create is product or solution Pinterest images. 

• Immediate reviews of your content or products people leave on your website 
• User-generated content of other people reviewing your products 
• Your own personal reviews of your products 

Make sure to take a look at your content and see how you could incorporate the entire customer journey, not just one end or the other.

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#4. Waiting too long to get the help you need 

And the last thing that I would not do if I were starting a Pinterest account in 2023 is to wait too long to get help. There are all kinds of support that you can get. 

• Watching YouTube videos
• Listening to Clubhouse rooms 
• Reading blogs
• Searching Google over and over 
• Looking on Pinterest for these same tips

We’ve all done it. I do it every single day. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Google.

However, for things that are outside of my capacity to achieve, I seek help. For example, I am terrible at copywriting for emails. I don’t know how to write sales-based emails and persuasive email copy. 

So I hired someone to write my sales emails for my membership email sequence. I don’t know how to do it. I’m never going to hold myself accountable and get it done. So I hired someone to do it for me.

This means you invest in a course or membership like my Pin Profit Academy or hire someone one-on-one. The choice depends on how you work and the outcome you want, but I would not wait too long to get the help you need.

RELATED: How to Hire a Pinterest VA + Expectations, Pricing, and More

Staying consistent 

The number one issue I see most people having when they come to me for help for Pinterest is usually workflow related. I have so many resources in Pin Profit Academy for workflows alone that you could go there for a month, consume the content, create a workflow, and leave.

The majority of people can figure out how to:

• find keywords
• create Pinterest images
• build their Pinterest profile

But for the love of all things holy, they cannot figure out how to keep themselves accountable and keep creating Pinterest images coming week after week, month after month, to stay consistent.

Workflow is the number one issue I see people having, and that’s why I created the Pinterest System course. You have to hold yourself accountable, and you have to stay consistent to continue showing up.

So, please, do not wait to hold yourself accountable and get some help. Whether it is for: 

• accountability, 
• foundation building, or 
• to identify with a group of people with the same goal as you

…investing a little bit of money (even if you’re brand new) can help you go a lot further.

Final thoughts on what to not do if you start a Pinterest account in 2023

To start a Pinterest account in 2023 is simple. If that is something that you want to do and you don’t want to wait until next year or more, then you are indeed in good hands.

I don’t like gatekeeping. I priced my membership to be such a low dollar amount so you can come and go and don’t feel guilty investing in yourself, your business, and your education.

You are in good hands here. Whether you:

• watch my YouTube videos, 
• listen to my Clubhouse rooms, 
• join the Academy membership, or 
• hire me one-on-one,

…it doesn’t matter which. Get the help that you need and get that Pinterest account going.

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What you need to do now

I’m going to leave you with a few action items, so I want you to first start with your foundations.

1. Get your profile built
2. Create your boards
3. Optimize your profile (bio and display name)
4. Get your account branded (banner and board covers)
5. Start creating and pinning short-form video content

Don’t get comfortable with one strategy for too long. Make sure you evolve with the platform on which you are trying to achieve your goals. Early adopters are usually always the winners. The early bird gets the worm.

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