Do you use Pinterest Group Boards in your marketing strategy?
While they don’t work the same way they used to, there are still plenty of ways to use Group Boards for your business.
AND there’s a new way to get many of the benefits you used to get from Group Boards. Intrigued yet?
Pinterest Group Boards (also known as collaborative Boards) are shared Pinterest boards that multiple Pinterest users Pin to. The Board is owned by one Pinterest user who has given other Pinterest users permission to add Pins.
Here’s how you can tell whether a board is a Pinterest group board or a regular board, with examples from tavernatravels’ Pinterest page:
If you’ve joined a Group board, you can invite other Pinterest users to it unless the Board owner has indicated otherwise in the rules.
Interestingly, when you follow a Pinner, you only follow their non-Group Boards and the Group Boards they own.
By default, you don’t follow Group Boards they belong to, but you can visit their profile and follow them one by one if you’d like!
Pinterest Group Boards were created to help Pinners collaborate with people they know. In the past, people used Group Boards to increase the distribution of their Pins, as people following any of the members of your Group Board would be more likely to see your Pins in their feed.
Since that was not the intention of Group Boards, Pinterest has started limiting the distribution of Pins in Group Boards to the members of that Board only – encouraging true collaboration.
Wondering how you can use collaborative Boards on Pinterest to your advantage? Here are some ideas to get you started!
You get the idea (and the differences between group board and private board)!
There are four easy ways to find collaborative Pinterest boards. Below, you’ll find detailed instructions on each method!
A Pinterest Board search is often the first place to start. It’s easy to do, if a little time-consuming. Here’s how:
Try looking at other Pinterest profiles in your industry to see which group Boards your competitors are contributing to!
Here’s how to find collaborative Boards on Pinterest that your competitors have joined:
You can also check out a number of Facebook groups full of people who are looking for group Board contributors.
You’ll find a number of industries, niches, and topic-specific groups in Facebook search results.
Request to join groups that are most relevant to your Pinterest account topics – these are going to be the best Pinterest group boards for your marketing strategy.
An easier way still is to use Pingroupie.com. If I want to look for marketing Boards to join, I type in “Marketing” and scroll through the results. The “Score” (out of 100) is based on things such as repin rate, number of collaborators, follower growth, etc.
I’ll look for a board without too many collaborators, but lots of followers. Remember, you’ll still need to take a look at each to check for quality.
And you’ll still want to check your Tailwind Pin Inspector after joining to make sure your Pins are doing well here!
There are also a number of blog posts with lists of group Boards. Check out some from this Pinterest search.
The most simple way to join group boards is to look for Boards with the “Request to join” button. Those are the ones most open to new members.
Some Group Boards may also have instructions for joining in the Board description.
Pinning to a Group Board on Pinterest works the same way as a regular Board. Just select the collaborative Board, and tap the plus icon to the right to Pin your content!
Want to turn an existing board into a group board? Here’s how to do it:
On this pop-up, you can also create and copy an invite link to send to collaborators, as well as set collaborator permissions.
When you look at Pins in a Group Board on mobile, the option to comment is front and center in a way you won’t see on Pins from non-Group Boards.
And your comments are only visible to other members of the Board.
When it comes to Pins on non-Group Boards, you can comment or upload photos, but the option is not as prominent, and any comments and photos uploaded are public.
Pinterest is adding reactions to Pins in Group Boards to make it easy to give, receive, and even SORT feedback on ideas.
Choose from a heart, clap, lightbulb, question mark, or thumbs down to give your feedback in an instant!
Then click on the heart drop down (if you have it) to sort Pins in the Board by things like recency, most reactions, most comments, and custom. Way to get a quick look at how your ideas are being received!
If you’re in a group Board where all the members share only quality content that is relevant to the theme of the group Board (no weight loss Pins in the “How to start a blog” Board, please!), you can find content you might want to read or Save or schedule for later.
You’ll always want to check the links before sharing to make sure it goes to the right place. And remember, the biggest impact on the success of your own Pinterest marketing is for you to share your own new ideas.
While Pinterest has indicated that Group Boards are not meant to aid in content distribution, some Pinners still find them useful.
Find out for yourself if your Group Boards are still working well by going to your Pin inspector and filter by Board. Not yet using Tailwind? Sign up with Pinterest.
No hard feelings if it’s just not working for you anymore! Simply click on the image of the group member on the Group Board, find your name and click the “Leave” button.
Try Tailwind Communities! Communities allow you to collaborate with others in your niche and are currently free to use.
Tailwind Communities don’t replace Pinterest Group Boards – they both have a place in your Pinterest marketing! Each can help you find and collaborate with content creators, business partners, and more.
Ready to try it out? Find your first Community now.
No, Pinterest group boards still have great potential to enhance your marketing strategy. Having a place for your followers to be more connected with your content is never a bad idea. Although Pinterest changed how group boards work a bit to prevent spam and overdistribution, group boards are still a useful way to connect with collaborators and followers. Ultimately, reaching across these channels will help you promote your unique brand and connect with your target audience.
Although Pinterest’s Smart Feed algorithm won’t maximize impressions for every post, taking advantage of group board communities for sharing content can still increase the chances of content being seen by a larger audience. Once audiences start engaging with a particular piece of content, more will inevitably follow as the algorithm begins to favor the growing post.
Pinterest Group Boards are also effective for new Pinterest accounts since they can help newer accounts immediately gain access to an audience. This applies even if the algorithm doesn’t favor them just yet. It’s important to join the right group boards and to stay active to maximize this effect.
However, it’s very important that your group board remains high quality to be effective. As long as you and your contributors are active and stays on topic, you’ll be able to maximize the group board’s effectiveness. It’s also important to consider that Pinterest group boards can help your marketing strategy, but it’s not the only thing that can help. Combining group boards with tools like Tailwind Communities can help you reach your goals.
Joining a group board on Pinterest is simple. Here’s how it works,
Find a group board you want to join. We recommend boards with the ‘request to join’ button. Pay attention to the board description to see if the group has any further instructions.
Click the button to join or request to join.
If needed, wait for the managers of the group to accept your request.
Once you’ve been accepted into the group, congratulations! You can start pinning content and sharing it with other people and collaborators in the group. This is a great way to get started with marketing on Pinterest, as well as connecting with other like-minded people interested in a particular topic.
A Pinterest group board is a shared network where users can pin content. The Group Board has one owner with various approved collaborators. Other collaborators can invite other Pinterest users, but not all groups allow this. Group Boards are a great way to share content with others and brainstorm together.
It’s a good idea to leave Pinterest group boards if they aren’t meeting your needs or if their community has fallen inactive. To leave a Pinterest group board, all you have to do is click the ‘leave’ button beside your name on the page.
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View Comments
"Pinterest created group boards" but I think that was a different era! It seems like everything they do now centers on search and affinity. I haven't given up on ALL my group boards - but most of them. They're always at the bottom of the barrel for engagement. Including. sadly, my own. But, they are of value to new pinners for sure.
Yes they've been around for a while, but they love it when we use their features, so I'm confident they're not punishing them as a whole. Four of our top five boards are group boards. I think it is just harder to find and maintain good ones these days.