Did you know you could use affiliate links on Pinterest? In the past, the popular social network banned the use of such links on their platform. In 2016, with stronger spam detection systems in place, Pinterest once again decided to allow affiliate links.
This change has caused affiliate marketers to get serious about their pinning strategy in order to drive traffic to promotions and offers – and make more bank! Read on to discover more about ways you can use your own affiliate links on Pinterest to gain more sales.
Avoid spamming the place
You don’t want every single pin on your boards to be an affiliate link. Users catch on to things like that fast, and they will learn not to follow you or click through any of your pins.
Mix a great deal of helpful content in with your affiliate promotions. Don’t be afraid to share free information on your niche while also suggesting your favorite affiliate products.
It’s all about give and take
Just like you don’t want to only pin affiliate links, you don’t want to pin only your own stuff. Find related content from other bloggers to share. Others will take notice and begin to repin your content as well.
Better yet, join Tailwind and make use of their Tribes feature – this is a sure fire way to find tons of quality content to share! As a rule, make sure 75% of your pins each day are your own content, with the remaining 25% being posts and infographics from others.
Share your affiliate blog posts
List posts are all the rage these days, and lists are a great way to share several affiliate products you recommend. For example, “Top 30 Gifts for a Baby Shower” is a post that would garner a ton of traffic, and you can sprinkle your links throughout without being spammy.
For these posts, create a collage of several of the products you are recommending. This entices that Pinterest user to click through and see what you recommend – and why.
Create product specific boards
While you want to sprinkle your affiliate link pins in with regular content on your boards, it’s also a good idea to have a dedicated board to your favorite affiliate products within your niche. If you work in the home and gardening space, you could have a board for “Most Beautiful Throw Pillows” or “Top Tools for Beginning Gardeners”.
Boards like these are designed for the user viewing them to shop. When done correctly, these boards will be seen as a valuable resource for those needing products in specific categories, rather than a spammy board that is only created to make money.
Final note: ALWAYS disclose!
Anytime you share an affiliate link on your blog or social media, you must disclose your relationship. This is also true for your Pinterest content! You can weave the disclosure into your description or place the #affiliate hashtag at the end to denote that you will be paid for any sales made through your link.
Pinterest has become a valuable tool for affiliate marketers. Create a marketing plan that is balanced between your promotions and helpful info, and you should see some affiliate sales from your account as well!
