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I often get asked a lot of questions about Pinterest group boards.
Those questions include:
- What are Pinterest group boards and how does it work?
- Will I get traffic for joining group boards on Pinterest?
- How do I join group boards on Pinterest?
- How do I find group boards on Pinterest to join?
In today’s post, I am going to answer these questions and what to know when it comes to joining group boards on Pinterest.
I will go through who will benefit the most by joining group boards along with a better alternative to Pinterest group boards.
If you’re new to Pinterest and don’t have an account yet, you can check out this post to learn how to create a Pinterest business account for your blog or website. I also have an easy tutorial on how to Pin or save Pins on Pinterest properly for beginners here.
Since you’re likely someone who is new to Pinterest, let’s get started by explaining what a Pinterest group board is and how it works.
What Are Pinterest Group Boards?
Pinterest Group Boards allow you to share and collaborate ideas with other bloggers.
Think of this as your personal Pinterest boards except you invite other contributors to share their Pins on your board and vice versa.
This is what a group board looks like on Pinterest:
The name of this group board is called “Best of Personal Finance” and the majority of contributors in this board are personal finance bloggers.
It will show more than one profile image – the owner of the board and at least one contributor on the board.
You’ll see that the board owner is “WiseBread” and he/she can add whoever requests to join this board. The only type of Pins allowed to be saved in this group board is related to personal finance or frugal living.
Pinterest Group Boards VS. Personal Boards
On the other hand, personal boards are the variety of boards that you create on your account.
For example, the boards circled in pink are my personal boards for my personal finance blog, Finsavvy Panda. They are my own boards and there are no contributors or members on them.
You’ll see that the boards circled in green are group boards – again, they show the profile pictures of the owner and other contributors.
Do you see the difference between a Pinterest group board and a personal board?
The “Best of Personal Finance” group board (from the previous section) has more than 1 contributor and you can see many members in the list.
However, in my “Financial Planning” personal board, it’s only me with no contributors.
Related article: How To Make Pinterest Board Covers For Your Business Profile
Joining Pinterest Group Boards For Traffic
Many bloggers in the past have been using Pinterest group boards to get traffic from Pinterest by leveraging off each other’s followers, but this trend has been rapidly going downhill and I will explain more in the next section. Just hold this thought for now.
For example, let’s say an established blogger has over 10K followers and another blogger (a brand-new blogger) has less than 100 followers. The new blogger would send a request to the blogger with 10K followers and ask if they can become a member and contribute to the board by sharing their own Pins.
By Pinning Pins into the more established bloggers’ group board, the new blogger is leveraging off the established bloggers’ 10K+ followers. That means, your Pin could potentially be exposed to 10K+ people, which is more than your 100 followers.
It’s not easy to get into an established blogger’s group boards. However, it’s not impossible either – as long as you put in the time and effort in building a genuine relationship. Mind you, it may be challenging to get their attention or invitation.
Established bloggers are concerned that newcomers will end up spamming their group boards or saving non-related or poor Pins (which is detrimental to their boards) because brand new bloggers aren’t as experienced.
It is much easier to send a request to new bloggers who are just starting off too. That way, you can all collaborate, learn, and grow with the bloggers who started around the same time as you.
Alternatively, you can create your own group board on Pinterest and invite your new blogger friends to collaborate with you. You can simply do this by clicking on the “+” button on your personal board and that will convert into a group board.
Going back to my personal board example, Financial Planning, I can easily change this into a group board when I click on the “+” and invite other bloggers by entering their e-mail. Once they accept your invitation, your personal board will turn into a group board.
Can I Get A Lot Of Traffic By Joining Pinterest Group Boards?
Now that you have an idea of what a group board is and how it works, I am going to tell you that this feature has been becoming less and less effective over the years.
Pinterest has said that they are looking to remove the group board feature. They feel that contributors are only trying to leverage off each other’s followers to increase their own pageviews instead of genuinely collaborating with others to share content that is helpful for Pinterest users.
However, I personally find that group boards can still be helpful especially for brand new bloggers who have 0 followers!
A new blogger with 1.2K followers could still be more helpful compared to someone newer with only 10 followers.
PRO TIP: If the Pinterest Group Board feature is still around, I recommend trying to get into 5 to 8 group boards that have NO MORE than 15 contributors.
The more contributors, the more I would avoid that group board! That’s because the more contributors there are in a group board, the higher the chances of someone spamming in that board. Plus, Pinterest does not like group boards with a high number of contributors.
Joining group boards on Pinterest could also be a great way for you to reach out to new bloggers (or bloggers who are a little more experienced than you) and build a relationship with them. As I mentioned, it’s easier to get the attention of a brand-new blogger than a well-established blogger.
But overall, DO NOT spend too much time trying to join group boards because Pinning to YOUR own personal boards are more relevant and effective than group boards.
How to Find and Join Group Boards On Pinterest
Now that you have an idea of whether or not joining group boards on Pinterest is worth your time, I am going to walk you through how to join these group boards on Pinterest if you do decide to.
The most common and quickest way to find a group board on Pinterest is to look for bloggers within your niche.
You can browse around their Pinterest profile to see if they have their own group boards and if they are a part of other content creators’ group boards.
You’ll easily identify which boards are group boards based on what I said earlier. Remember, group boards will show the owner’s profile image along with many other contributors.
When you click on the board, you’ll see who owns the board.
Contact that owner by finding their e-mail address on their blog’s contact page, or in the Pin description of the group board. Sometimes they leave their e-mails in the board description inviting you to contact them to join their boards for collaboration.
Once you have their contact, simply shoot them an e-mail asking them if you can join.
Email Template For Joining A Pinterest Group Board
Here is a template I created when I was a brand-new blogger that got me into many relevant group boards within my niche. You’re free to use it, but PLEASE change it up. Most importantly, never lie! You can adjust the template to your own personal style.
I recommend browsing around your niche and getting to know the bloggers by visiting their pages and reading their “About Me” page. This will give you a good sense of which ones you want to connect with.
I am warning you again that it isn’t easy to get into group boards, and it’s especially not easy to get an established bloggers’ attention. But what I can say is that nothing will happen if you don’t try at all. 😊
Hi [INSERT PERSON’S FIRST NAME]!
I’ve been following your blog and I really enjoy reading your stories. I especially liked… [Elaborate more here. Take the time to browse around their blog to read one personal story, so they know you’re not just here to join their Pinterest group boards. Make it about THEM and NOT YOU. No one likes it when you just reach out to ask for favors without warming up or getting to know them. They won’t answer back or help].
I also created a new Pinterest account and would love to join your group board so I can collaborate with you:
[Copy and paste the exact title of the owner’s group board(s) you want to join here.]
I just Pinned a couple of your Pins into my boards [If you did not save any of their Pins, don’t lie about this because they will know. Trust me, they will check!]. I promise that I won’t be Pinning a lot of my own Pins on your boards, so you don’t need to worry about that! Most of the content I’ll be sharing are [list what type of content you’ll be sharing and make sure it’s within their niche. They won’t invite you if your account does not look like you’re not within the same or related niche].
My Pinterest URL is: [input URL of your Pinterest business profile]
Email: [input the email you used to sign up for your Pinterest business account]
I really looking forward to hearing back from you, [insert their name so it sounds more personable].
Thanks,
[insert your name]
Once you’ve sent your e-mail, give it about a week to see if they respond. If not, it doesn’t hurt to follow up with them. You may have to think of something more compelling in your subject line to grab their attention!
Again, always think about how you can make it about them (e.g. how you will benefit them) and not yourself. No one will respond to people who are takers and ingenuine. 🙂
Alternative To Joining Pinterest Group Boards
An alternative (or complement) to using Pinterest group boards is by sharing your Pins on Tailwind Communities.
If you want to be able to upload your Pins and have others share your content, I recommend signing up for a free Tailwind account here.
Tailwind is known for its Tailwind Scheduler and it is a Pinterest scheduler that allows you to schedule your Pins in advance, so you don’t have to manually sit there Pinning Pins one by one – this will save you a lot of time!
Once you’ve signed up for a free trial of Tailwind, you’ll also have access to Tailwind Communities. This is similar to group boards on Pinterest. The free plan of Tailwind Communities gives you access to 5 communities where you can share up to 30 of your own Pins or content per month.
I pay for the Tailwind Communities upgraded version to allow 200 Pin uploads per month and unlimited access to communities.
Using Tailwind Communities is a MORE popular and effective way for bloggers to share each other’s’ Pins and content compared to joining Pinterest group boards.
Along with that, you can check your stats in Tailwind to see which group boards are performing well for you. If the Pins you saved in those group boards are bringing you traffic then you can continue to use them.
Today, many content creators join Tailwind Communities instead of relying on group boards on Pinterest to increase their brand awareness and traffic.
You can sign up here and try it for free. Plus, you’ll get a $15 Tailwind credit as a gift when you sign up through this link!
Summary On How To Find And Join Pinterest Group Boards:
If you’re brand new to Pinterest with a new business account and don’t have a lot of followers yet, it doesn’t hurt to get onto a few high-quality niched group boards and collaborate with other content creators.
You’ll often hear many bloggers say that group boards are not effective in getting traffic, but I think it can still be beneficial for bloggers who just started using Pinterest with less than 100 followers.
From my own personal experience, new Pinterest accounts may not get as much traction yet, so you can try leveraging off a few to several group boards to see what result you’ll get. Again, I only recommend this to new bloggers with new accounts.
While you are trying to get onto a few high-quality group boards on Pinterest, I highly recommend focusing on creating your own personal boards that are relevant to the topics you write about on your blog so you can Pin or save them to those boards. Pinterest has prioritized personal boards over group boards.
As for Tailwind Communities, this may help increase your traffic if people in those communities share your Pin, so make sure your Pin design is nice and catchy.
Another tip is to check your Pinterest analytics to see which boards (both group and personal boards) along with Pins give you the most impressions and/or click-through rates. You can adjust your strategies based on your analysis.
That is it for today.
I hope you found this article helpful! 🙂
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