"My Pinterest views keep dropping, what's happening?"
This is the million-dollar question I see from time to time. And you may be asking the same thing.
It can be frustrating because we usually look first at views and impressions to measure and estimate what’s going on with our Pinterest accounts as creators and business owners.
Before you give me some heat for this post, I want you to keep in mind that I am a business owner and creator just like you, and that my Pinterest account goes through everything just like yours.
After working with Pinterest accounts for the past 6 years and being present during different phases of the platform, I saw this happening multiple times.
But just to be clear, these are my own personal observations based on my personal experience with Pinterest and conversations with other specialists.
1. Ebbs and Flows
The first thing I must tell you is that Pinterest views and Pinterest impressions will ebb and flow. Just because you had a period of high impressions, it doesn't mean they will continue being the same, even if you continue to do the same. This is valid for everyone and every account. What worked in the past, may not work anymore.
Ebbs and flows happen due to seasonality, due to what people are searching for, due to how people engage and react with our content, due to changes in content distribution. There are many factors out of our control that will make organic views and impressions fluctuate. Here’s a great resource about how pin distribution works: https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/pin-performance-and-distribution
2. Pinterest is always evolving
Second, Pinterest is a platform that is always evolving and changing to provide the best possible user experience. Sometimes this could mean pushing certain pin formats to the smart feed more than others. Sometimes this could mean favoring new content.We have no control over this.
It’s important to remember that Pinterest is a highly engineered platform and from time to time things will change and be adjusted. As creators and business owners, we have to be open to evolving with Pinterest to make the best of it.
"So what should we do about it?"
1. Be prepared
First, never panic. Sometimes I feel that Pinterest marketing/growth can be just like the stock market. You need to be prepared to handle the ups and downs while staying the course.
2. Look at the whole picture
Second, remember that views and impressions are not the only things that matter when it comes to a healthy Pinterest account. Views and impressions are just one of the checkpoints we should keep our eyes on.
A healthy Pinterest account, for creators or businesses will see growth in different areas at different times. Saves, followers, link clicks, reactions, comments should be added as indicators of growth.
Take a few minutes to reassess your goals with Pinterest. Sometimes we need to adjust our expectations. Are you creating content to build an audience, to drive traffic to your website, or to monetize as a creator? Once you have done that, take a look at your analytics, you may find that your impressions and views have not affected these goals.
3. Focus on current best practices
Third, you have to stay sharp and keep your content strategy updated. Pinterest has changed and is continuously changing. To keep growing, your content and account cannot stay stale. You have to evolve with Pinterest.
Take an honest look at your practices and content. A lot of times we get stuck to certain practices and keep doing them even when they are not working for our goals anymore.
Here are a few best practices to get started:
- Review your profile, update your description and refresh your banner.
- Take a look at your boards, organize, clean-up them and give them a lift with keywords.
- Revisit your pins' visuals and format. Make sure to explore all pin formats, standard static pins, idea pins and video pins. Don’t skip using keywords when creating your pins’ copy and exploring all features available.
- Revisit your content posting practices. More isn’t always better and Pinterest users respond better to fresh images and videos
- Learn ways to grow your account by encouraging saves: https://business.pinterest.com/en-gb/blog/ways-to-grow-your-audience-with-saves/
- Learn ways to grow your following and audience: https://business.pinterest.com/en-us/blog/how-to-build-audience-pinterest/
- Stay the course, continue creating inspiring original content.
- Review the Pinterest trends tool and use this knowledge to your advantage when planning your content.
