10 Ways to Get More Pinterest Followers

Pinterest is one of the world’s largest social media sites, with around 100 million active users. Because it’s an image-oriented site, Pinterest is particularly useful for promoting physical products. One of the keys to success with Pinterest marketing is getting more targeted followers. These are people who are genuinely interested in your pins. Such followers are likely to click on your links, give you repins, and possibly even buy your products. Here are 10 ways to get more Pinterest followers to help you build your business.

1. Pin Frequently. One of the fundamental principles of social media marketing is to maintain a high level of activity. On Pinterest, this means pinning lots of images. This helps you build momentum and gives your followers something to click on or share.

2. Follow People. As on Twitter, the simplest way to get new followers is to start following others. Follow both people and boards that are in your niche or industry. There’s no point, however, in following people who don’t follow you back. Unfollow anyone who doesn’t follow you back after a few days. Over time, this strategy alone will allow you to build up your following.

3. Support Other People’s Pins. When you repin other members’ pins and leave comments, you increase your chances of them returning the favor. Leave helpful and specific comments that indicate you really appreciate the image. Do this in a moderate way, as Pinterest considers it spam if you leaving too many comments.

4. Follow and Interact With Popular Boards. Following, repinning, and commenting on popular boards is a good way to find active users who are likely to follow you back and support your boards. The Popular page lists such boards. You should seek boards that are in the same or a complementary niche as yours.

5. Connect Your Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter Accounts. These three social media platforms work very well together. Set up your Pinterest account so that your pins are automatically posted to Facebook and Twitter. This saves you the trouble of posting to all three sites manually. Doing this consistently encourages your Twitter followers and Facebook friends to follow you on Pinterest as well. Pinterest will show you which of your Facebook and Twitter contacts are also on Pinterest. Follow them on Pinterest and they’ll probably follow you back.

6. Create Targeted Boards. On Pinterest, members can follow boards as well as profiles. Many users tend to follow boards rather than entire profiles. If you cover several topics, make sure you create separate boards for each niche. Pinterest is large enough that it’s often profitable to create very narrow niches. For example, if you’re posting images of dogs, there’s no reason you can’t start a separate board for each breed of dog. This helps you attract followers who hold very specific interests.

7. Place a Pinterest Button on Your Website. The Widget Builder on Pinterest lets you create a variety of buttons for your website. This turns all of your website visitors into potential Pinterest followers.

8. Contribute to Group Boards. Pinterest group or contributor boards are a valuable resource for getting more followers and traffic to your pins. You start by joining group boards with a similar theme as your own. These boards will have an invite button or email address for requesting permission to join. Focus on building relationships with board owners, which means contributing valuable and relevant content.

9. Run Pinterest Contests. Everyone loves to win something. Running contests on Pinterest is an effective way to increase your following while promoting your brand and products. There are several contest apps that make it easy to run contests on Pinterest. Be sure to abide by Pinterest’s TOS. You cannot, for example, demand that people repin your pins to enter a contest. There are plenty of other options, though, such as asking people to use a certain hashtag to enter.

10. Stay on Topic. Pinterest is a powerful platform for getting targeted followers. To keep your followers interested, be sure to pin relevant content. If you start pinning images that have nothing to do with your board’s topic, you’ll fail to engage with your followers and will even lose them. If you find yourself tempted to pin on a new topic, it’s time to start a new board.