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luvmuriel
Just visiting

For those who have gained from Pinterest  how did it start off for you, what tools did you use and how much of a difference is it from then to now .

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bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

@luvmuriel 

Hi, glad you made it to the PBC!

Great Question!

I started on Pinterest in 2008 (invited), and here I am now in 2023 and still on Pinterest.

There weren't any tools. It was strictly post photos that others would like, save and follow, and of course, you would do the same to them. There wasn't such a thing as keywords or idea pins, no such thing as merchants, and sharing on other platforms really wasn't a thing. Pinterest was strictly a fun app, something to look at; no one worked from home, no such thing as a Business Account; followers were easy to come by, with no issues or drama; everyone just got along - it was simple.

Differences? Tons!! Tools, ideas, look & feel of the platform, a mobile app (didn't exist initially - who used their phone to look at photos, no one I knew, including myself), the most obvious change ... the people who use Pinterest. 

I don't think I have ever truly adapted to the new Pinterest in the way that it was intended - partly because I can still see myself (in my mind) creating my Pinterest account for the first time, thinking, what is this P-i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t I couldn't pronounce it properly.

Fact: I still have my original account and users, although I guess that some of those users aren't there anymore; before you ask, yes, I have all my original boards .... ah, memories.

Gains - All kinds of gains from knowledge, clients, friends, education and learning, and sharing. I think the best gain of all is being a part of some of the best changes in technology and not really realizing it.

That was a fun question; thank you for asking.

Thoughts? Tagging all of you for some feedback on this fun question.

@michaelbliss @andrealidesigns @hellohomegirl @terezatoledo @JanaOMedia @heatherfarrisco @thehalcyonhive @ArtsyCraftery @mulberrycolors @fuzzytuxedomedia @PinterestJazmin @PinterestJoan @PinterestGabby 

Lisa

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6 Replies
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

@luvmuriel 

Hi, glad you made it to the PBC!

Great Question!

I started on Pinterest in 2008 (invited), and here I am now in 2023 and still on Pinterest.

There weren't any tools. It was strictly post photos that others would like, save and follow, and of course, you would do the same to them. There wasn't such a thing as keywords or idea pins, no such thing as merchants, and sharing on other platforms really wasn't a thing. Pinterest was strictly a fun app, something to look at; no one worked from home, no such thing as a Business Account; followers were easy to come by, with no issues or drama; everyone just got along - it was simple.

Differences? Tons!! Tools, ideas, look & feel of the platform, a mobile app (didn't exist initially - who used their phone to look at photos, no one I knew, including myself), the most obvious change ... the people who use Pinterest. 

I don't think I have ever truly adapted to the new Pinterest in the way that it was intended - partly because I can still see myself (in my mind) creating my Pinterest account for the first time, thinking, what is this P-i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t I couldn't pronounce it properly.

Fact: I still have my original account and users, although I guess that some of those users aren't there anymore; before you ask, yes, I have all my original boards .... ah, memories.

Gains - All kinds of gains from knowledge, clients, friends, education and learning, and sharing. I think the best gain of all is being a part of some of the best changes in technology and not really realizing it.

That was a fun question; thank you for asking.

Thoughts? Tagging all of you for some feedback on this fun question.

@michaelbliss @andrealidesigns @hellohomegirl @terezatoledo @JanaOMedia @heatherfarrisco @thehalcyonhive @ArtsyCraftery @mulberrycolors @fuzzytuxedomedia @PinterestJazmin @PinterestJoan @PinterestGabby 

Lisa

2 Kudos
hellohomegirl
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

Hi! Thanks for the tag @bodymindmood and cool conversation starter, @luvmuriel !

I joined initially as a user only in 2010. Back then, I knew Pinterest to be famous for wedding content and crafts. I think I pinned differently then; I'd just grab images and pin, never thinking about who took image. 🤦🏾‍♀️ It makes me cringe because I try not to do that anymore, especially since there are so many creators on this platform (I try my hardest to give credit).

I like how you can pretty much find anything on Pinterest and that it's no longer the place for wedding stuff anymore! I can learn pretty much anything here in different ways: both images that link blogs with more details and videos (soon to link out).

Yay!

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ArtsyCraftery
Loves to help

Hi @luvmuriel :

Many yrs ago, I joined Pinterest because of the big, beautiful pics that I could view for inspiration. Being an organized person, I also loved how I could arrange pins into categories within boards. I found out last year that categories are not searchable, so I don't create them anymore. I have kept the ones that I have because they help me to better find what I need for inspiration.

I tried Pinterest Ads 2 or 3 times but not for long. I would have to test them much longer and learn more about Pinterest marketing before I could determine if they would benefit me.

Pinterest offered e-commerce storefronts at one time. That was during the years when the handmades culture was booming and selling sites were abundant and thriving, from about 2006 to 2015. I too was selling physical products then. I was looking into trying a Pinterest storefront but the project was discontinued.

Lately, I've tried creating Idea Pins several times. I like it OK but creating them works best on mobile. I focus on designing now so I work best on desktop.

I am sorry that Pinterest is not a true social media site. There is little to no visitor/member interaction here, so for other than inspiration, it is very lonely. I've used the chat feature a few times but most people I interacted with did not know it existed. They discovered my messages months and up to a year later. Group boards used to be very popular. I joined some and created some but they have fallen out of favor.

Members used to like and save more of the pins of others but that hardly happens now. Board-following was more active. Now, I'll get a follower every 6 mos or so. I don't follow boards like I used to because it's no longer swift and easy. It takes more effort and time to follow a board now.

The direction of Pinterest has changed somewhat and the features have changed, some not for the better with regards to ease of use. The one thing that has not changed and the reason that I'm still here is the big, beautiful pics!

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veronikalipar
Loves to help

I actually don't remember when I joined Pinterest. It could have been in high school. I think it was my boyfriend who told me about it. But it could be later, and it could have been some other guy, but I'm pretty sure I learned about Pinterest from a guy. And it was ages ago - back then when Pinterest was more or less just about weddings, desserts and fashion was not even the No. 1 topic. I joined it for fashion (I was told I needed to join Pinterest for fashion) but used it to save recipes. I still use it to save recipes, and home decor ideas, but also to inspire others and share my fashion content and support my website. I guess it's 10% - 90% now (90% inspiring others and 10% what I need fo myself).

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andrealidesigns
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

Hi @luvmuriel! Welcome to the PBC! 

In general, I have found there are four stages of growth when it comes to Pinterest marketing: 

1. The Set-Up 🔎

This is when you need to set your account up correctly, mainly to index your content for the algorithm. Using the best keywords to describe your business will leverage Pinterests’ search capabilities and distribute your Pins optimally. Then, if you’re staying consistent with Pinning, you should see your monthly views and impressions grow significantly.

2. Driving Traffic 📈

At this stage, you start figuring out what kind of content compels Pinners to click through to your site. If you’re regularly publishing this type of content, you should see a rise in click-through rates and saves on your Pins.

3. On-Site Conversions 🛠

Now that you are successfully sending people to your site, you want them to take action when they get there. If your call to action is irresistible, you should see a rise in conversions. 

4. The Sale 💵

This is the most challenging stage that requires quite a bit of strategy, too much to go into here but keep in mind that this is a numbers game. Your sales goal will inform how much traffic you need to be driving to your site and work backward from there. A good benchmark to remember is conversion rates are typically around 1-2% of all traffic. 

I hope this helps! 🤓📌

@bodymindmood 

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fuzzytuxedomedia
Just visiting

Thanks for the tag @bodymindmood and great question @luvmuriel !

I was on Pinterest since 2010 as an end-user. Similarly to the other responses, I was just using the boards to curate beautiful visuals. They weren't for shopping--they were for art and design to re-enjoy visually. It wasn't set up as a shopping hub in the beginning. Then, I started marketing my global yoga retreats and multi-disciplinary yoga practices in 2012. It was so insanely easy to drive traffic to my site (at the time) because tons of impressions would come. This became an opportunity to offer Pinterest marketing for other SMB owners.

During that transition from marketing on the platform for myself to marketing on behalf of other businesses, Pinterest supported (and stopped supporting) some publishing tools. Down went Board Booster and higher-up went Tailwind. But, because the focus is now on Idea pins and video content, I don't even think Tailwind/Planoly/Hootsuite is that helpful anymore. It's really about posting content that's relevant, posting it early enough before the historical search trends, and enticing the pinners to re-pin your content and follow you. 

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