Pinterest Predicts is live!
See what's in store for 2024 in our Trend Forecast report.

Hashtags and Viewer Expereience

plattertalk
Just visiting
Labels (4)

Hi Fellow Creators! 

Does anyone have insight into the relationship between the use of hashtags in a pin's description and user (viewer) experience? Apparently many creators believe that the use of hashtags has increased the rate of click-throughs but are hashtags a factor in best practice? Or, are they not relevant? Any thoughts on this topic are greatly appreciated!!

3 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

I always add hashtags to my pin descriptions. I haven't noticed that it increases click-throughs per se... but from what I understand, it does help Pinterest's algorithm distribute your pins into the correct/relevant categories/subjects... which will help people find your pins easier when searching & will probably increase the chance of click-throughs.

View solution in original post

4 Kudos
8 Replies
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

I always add hashtags to my pin descriptions. I haven't noticed that it increases click-throughs per se... but from what I understand, it does help Pinterest's algorithm distribute your pins into the correct/relevant categories/subjects... which will help people find your pins easier when searching & will probably increase the chance of click-throughs.

4 Kudos
plattertalk
Just visiting

Using hashtags totally makes sense and that is what I have also been doing for a while now! The reason I ask is that in a recent Pinch of Yum podcast where they were interviewing a Pinterest expert, they implied that using hashtags is now passé. Also of note, when I look at the "Today" feature on the Pinterest app, most of the pins that were selected as features do not contain hashtags. Also, many of them do not have a text overlay. This would suggest that the use of either of these may indeed no longer be best practice. I'm wondering if anyone else has any official word on these topics. Thanks in advance!!!

2 Kudos
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

@plattertalk   Like you, I would REALLY like to know the answer to this! Maybe @PinterestGabby or @PinterestJanice  could enlighten us on this subject.

2 Kudos
PinterestJanice
Pinterest Alum
Pinterest Alum

Great conversation, thanks for tagging us in. I can provide information that was shared previously in a webinar - hashtags have indeed become less important as a "best practice". It's 100% your call on if you wish to use them. Overlays definitely serve an important purpose when creating pins. For example, they can be used to drive the narrative or serve as a CTA.  

If you're ever curious about what Pinterest has endorsed as best practices check out the pins best practices page. There's also a lot of great insights posted regularly on the Pinterest Business blog! 

7 Kudos
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

Thanks so much for the info @PinterestJanice and also the links... especially to the "pins best practices". Going to check that out later today. Question: what does CTA stand for?

1 Kudo
PinterestGabby
Community Manager
Community Manager

@foodiehomechef CTA stands for call-to-action. It's basically a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience to take. 🙂 

1 Kudo
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

Thanks for clarifying that @PinterestGabby ... there are so many abbreviations out there it's hard to keep track of them all!

1 Kudo
theburntsunsetnovel
Loves to help

My social media savvy daughter has repeatedly told me that hashtags are a)not used by kids in the know and b)they are only used by influencers or someone obviously trying to sell a product. If you are trying to build a long term organic following she claims it is a mistake to use hashtags. In fact she insists while it may have been something a few years back on other platforms that the use of hashtags is generally looked down upon by youth. It shows your age as a creator and ultimately a lack of understanding of youth culture. ("It's so two years ago.") If you are marketing to youth, hashtags might backfire. Rich key words, concise descriptions, and humorous content with no hint of product peddling seems to be the way to go. That's a hard trick to pull off understandably. As my product (young adult novels) is obviously aimed at young people, I never use hashtags. The use of hashtags, however, I suspect is not an issue with an older crowd that seems to behind the youth crowd. It's the whole kids are using TikTok, adults are on Instagram, and grandparents are using Facebook thing. Ultimately you need to tailor your pins to your demographic. I primarily focus on Pinterest because I like the customer interface better than other platforms and I have seen a youth movement, seemingly from kids who want to get away from other platforms that allow shaming, bullying, objectifying, hate speech, etc. (Pinterest seems to be a safe place.) 50% of my audience is under the age twenty-four (and another 25% under the age of 34). As such, I only use hashtags as a joke. So before you use a hashtag, I'd recommend understanding your demographic.

3 Kudos