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How to Make Money with Pinterest Affiliate Marketing

Updated on January 5, 2023

12 Min Read
Pinterest affiliate marketing

Pinterest is the dreamland for affiliate marketers. It’s a social network with a strong visual appeal that focuses on arts, crafts, and design.

Most affiliate marketers generally focus on Facebook and Twitter, but they lose out on their potential customer base by ignoring Pinterest.

Pinterest users are generally looking for ideas and are usually ready to spend. So as an affiliate marketer, your only job is to steer them toward your affiliate products.

And if you still don’t operate on Pinterest, you’re simply leaving money on the table.

Need help figuring out where to begin? Well, this article will take you through each step necessary to start your Pinterest journey and earn loads. Let’s GO!

Why Choose Pinterest for Affiliate Marketing in 2023?

Choosing Pinterest for affiliate marketing in this competitive era helps you target the audience already interested in buying something.

And it’s so much easier to make money from someone who’s ready to lose cash. All you need is an understanding of your niche, basic graphic designing, and some marketing skills, and you’re good to make money on autopilot.

Also, Pinterest visitors are open to recommendations and suggestions. Besides that, here are some more reasons why Pinterest is an excellent choice for affiliate marketers.

The Ultimate Visual Search Engine

PinterestSource: Pinterest

Think of Pinterest as a search engine for images with social elements built into it.

Pinterest received about 445 million active users in the third quarter of 2022. But that’s not all. The platform receives around 1 billion unique sessions per month. More than 70% of these active users are women. And on average, users spend roughly 14.2 minutes on Pinterest. Also note that almost 40% of Pinterest’s user base has a median household income of $100,000 or more, meaning they are primed to buy.

All these numbers just show how ripe it is for affiliate marketers to bag profits.

Less Time-Intensive

Pinterest allows you to recommend affiliate links and products to your audience with simple, eye-catching pins. That’s all there is to it!

On the other hand, writing blog posts, reviews, or tutorials takes a great deal of time. Those things work well too, but Pinterest saves you loads of time.

A New Revenue Stream

If you already use Twitter and Facebook for affiliate marketing, then Pinterest can be your new playground.

All you need to do is just join the platform and build a following there. Users on Pinterest are likelier to buy what you recommend to them as compared to Facebook or Twitter.

How to Make Money on Pinterest by Joining an Affiliate Program

Wondering how to make money on Pinterest? Here’s how you can get started:

The best way to earn on Pinterest is by joining an affiliate program. But first, you must decide on a niche for successful Pinterest affiliate marketing.

StatsSource: statista.com

The stats above show the most popular product categories that people surf on Pinterest. This can be your starting point when choosing a niche. But you must research how to select high-paying affiliate programs.

If you have already joined a few affiliate programs, such as the Cloudways web hosting affiliate program you can also promote them on the social network. If not, you will first have to decide on a niche and then select an affiliate program to launch your Pinterest affiliate marketing bid. Do some research about how to select high-paying affiliate programs that you can sign up on.

Next is ranking on Pinterest; the higher your pins show, the better your chances to make money. You’ll need assistance from the right keywords and quality graphics to get there.

If you still need more clarity on all of this, then check out the Cloudways webinar video on how to make money as an affiliate marketer.

13 Steps to Start Pinterest Affiliate Marketing

Now that you understand the basics of Pinterest affiliate marketing, let’s look at the 8 important steps for launching your affiliate marketing campaign.

1. Uploading Affiliate Pins on Pinterest

Affiliate PinsSource: Pinterest

Add a pin to your page by clicking the + symbol on the top right of the Pinterest homepage. In some cases, the product creator might give you a ready-made affiliate pin. In other cases, you will have to create one by yourself.

Make sure that you create at least three pins to promote each affiliate product to engage a broader audience.

Also, try creating all affiliate links by yourself. Use an actual affiliate link instead of a redirect because Pinterest penalizes redirects. Once you have a pin image, you can upload it on Pinterest and add the affiliate link at the bottom.

Lastly, add a pin description that briefs your product, and add hashtags to make it more engaging. It’s fairly simple as long as you target the right keywords.

2. Selecting the Right Boards

TailwindSource: Tailwind

Your Pinterest affiliate marketing campaign won’t likely be successful without the right boards.

Save your affiliate pins to a relevant board once they’re ready. This is much easier said than done and is quite challenging for many affiliate marketers.

If you don’t find a relevant board for your pins, they won’t have the desired impact. Ideally, look for boards with a similar title and description to your targeted keywords. Pinterest primarily uses board descriptions when showing search results, so research accordingly.

Also, Instead of deleting old boards, archive them when they are not relevant to your niche anymore. Your followers will still be able to access them, but they won’t show up in search results. This prevents confusion later on.

3. Create 7-9 Boards and Start Pinning

Write on TrackSource: Write on Track

It’s tempting to start creating boards immediately and uploading your pins. Resist that temptation.

It is important to have relevant, keyword-rich descriptions and titles for your boards; the same applies for your pins.

You must apply the right keywords to rank your content in relevant search results.

Pinterest is similar to Google in the sense that it wants to deliver fresh content that is relevant to users. You are essentially helping the algorithm by using the right keywords, and it will help you get the best use out of your pins.

Instead of saving your pins on generic boards, keep them on the relevant boards with the right keywords to avoid confusing the search algorithm. If it’s pinned to a generic board, Pinterest won’t know what your pin is about and won’t index it properly, hurting its visibility.

The algorithm leaps into action whenever a new pin is uploaded, analyzing the image, keywords, and the boards where you have saved the pin.

4. How to Hunt Popular Keywords

Search Engine LandSource: SearchEngineLand

Use the right keywords when writing content for Pinterest. Pinterest pays a lot of attention to the quality of your content. If you do it right, you will absolutely knock it out of the park with Pinterest affiliate marketing.

Hunt for the right keywords depending on your niche by using third-party tools. Keep in mind that a majority of the users on Pinterest use simple words when searching, so integrate those during the keywording process.

Keyword popularity changes over time, so adapt accordingly. The Possibilities Planner on Pinterest is a fantastic source of inspiration for keywords that you can revise based on the time of the season.

Then, you always have apps like Tailwind, which helps you schedule and automate posts. It’s all about finding what your audience is searching for and putting it to good use.

If you are posting product reviews on Pinterest, this is a great way to keep track of things.

5. Automate Your Posts

AutomateSource: Charter-Global

Maintaining your Pinterest manually can be tiresome and exhausting. Generally, most beginners lose hope because maintaining their accounts seems too much work, and results don’t show up immediately.

So instead of fretting hard and managing everything manually, you can schedule and automate your pins in advance with tools like Tailwind. With the help of these tools, your Pinterest will stay updated without constant manual monitoring.

You can take out one day a week to create your posts and schedule them over the week with the automation tool of your choice.

Start Earning Through Affiliate Marketing With Cloudways!

Our affiliate payouts are high, and on time. With us, you open up yourself to lucrative bonuses and have the option to work at your convenience. Sounds awesome?

6. Venture into Email Marketing

EmailSource: Spiralytic

You don’t always have to sell on Pinterest. Smart affiliate marketers know that Pinterest is a gold mine for collecting emails.

You can help your visitors via free resources, newsletters, etc., and collect their emails. Once you gather sufficient emails, you can directly market to your list. This personalized marketing manner will give you great results!

7. Promote the Pins

PinterestSource: Republic World

Pinterest advertisement is among the underutilized areas to explore.

If you have pins that are already getting a good number of clicks and impressions, you can take them up a notch via paid promotion. You can make your successful pins visible to a larger audience by simply spending some dollars.

Ads on Pinterest deliver remarkable results. As Pinterest says, an average ad reaps 2 times better results here than on other social media platforms. And you can get 2.3 times better cost per conversion results on the platform.

So, while going organic is surely a great strategy for Pinterest, promoting pins is also something you shouldn’t neglect.

8. Share on Other Platforms and Work Consistently

Social MediaSource: PC Mag

Merely posting on Pinterest isn’t enough at times. You’ll need to make your links and work accessible to people on other social media platforms as well.

Share your pins on Facebook, Whatsapp stories, Instagram, blog, etc. The more effort you put in, the earlier your pins will start reaping results.

Remember, social media platforms are now crowded with creators. And you’ll need to make solid initial efforts to beat the crowd faster than others. Also, you must remain consistent with your efforts, even if you don’t see immediate results.

Your efforts may vary depending on your niche and business model. But being in the game for a long time will eventually make you a winner.

10. Test Links to Different Buying Guides

ClearVoiceSource: ClearVoice

One of the most effective ways of using Pinterest for affiliate marketing is to test the links to your buying guides. You can use buying guides to provide recommendations to your audience.

Create an engaging image to link to a buying guide, and see if it generates traffic. You can always add affiliate links and CTAs in the guides to convince a reader to buy. It’s also a great way to gauge the traffic you are getting off of Pinterest to your affiliate sites.

11. Avoid Link Cloaking

WPBeginnerSource: WPBeginner

Link cloaking is the process of disguising an affiliate link URL to shorten it and hide the affiliate ID. Since the ID is not as visible, users won’t know how much commission you will generate.

This is too shady for Pinterest. Pretty links that allow for cloaking or shortening are not allowed on Pinterest. Go through Pinterest’s advertising guidelines so you do not violate any rules.

You must avoid link cloaking to prevent issues with your Pinterest affiliate marketing success.

12. Use High-Quality, Paid Stock Photos

AP ImagesSource: AP Images

Pinterest is all about imagery, and the best images cost money. Don’t use cheap photos on the pins, as it could affect your brand’s reputation. If you want to grow your following, you must use high-quality stock imagery for all your pins.

Your pins’ quality will determine the action people are willing to take. If the images are high-res and relevant, they will result in higher conversions.

The quality of your pins will determine the kind of action that people are willing to take. If the images are high-res and relevant, they will result in a higher number of conversions.

13. Disclose Affiliate Links on Pinterest

Affiliate Marketer TrainingSource: Affiliate Marketer Training

As per the guidelines given by the Federal Trade Commission, you must disclose that you are an affiliate whenever you promote an affiliate product. This rule is for consumer protection, and you shouldn’t take it lightly. FTC might fine you if you avoid it.

If a consumer knows you are getting paid to promote a product, they will scrutinize your review or guide in extensive detail. The point of disclosure is to ensure that consumers can conduct their research and make informed decisions instead of being misled by others.

There are several ways to disclose affiliate links on Pinterest. You can add a hashtag such as “#affiliatelink” or “#sponsored” to disclose the links.

14. Analyze your Results

AnalyticsSource: Pro Android

Pinterest provides analytics for every pin that tells you what’s working for you and what isn’t. See which pins are getting better impressions and engagement. Analyze your successful pins and look at what’s missing from the underperforming ones.

Many tools, like Google Analytics, Pinalytics, Pinpuff, etc., can help you with Pinterest analysis. But your primary source will always be Pinterest Analytics.

The Best Pinterest Tools to Use for Affiliate Marketers

There are quite a few tools that you can use to boost your Pinterest affiliate marketing efforts. Here are some of the most popular choices.

1. Tailwind

TailwindSource: Tailwind

Tailwind is one of the best social media scheduling tools for affiliate marketing to grow your following on Pinterest. Designed specifically for Pinterest, it includes a robust analytics tool that shows you how your pins are performing.

With Tailwind, you can schedule content, set up extensive plans, create a branded landing page at no extra cost, and search for relevant hashtags.

Many consider Tailwind to be the official Marketing Developer Partner for Content Publishing on Pinterest along with Buffer. It also has gotten Pinterest’s approval, so you should really use this if you are serious about affiliate marketing on Pinterest.

Oh, and did I mention it comes with a free trial? The first 100 pins are free, so you can test the tool before paying.

2. Buffer

BufferSource: Buffer

Buffer is the ultimate social media marketing tool used by businesses and marketers all over the globe.

This tool isn’t just for affiliate marketing on Pinterest but can also be used with other social media marketing platforms. It has an automatic post scheduler, and with its Buffer extension, you can save images to your Pinterest schedule from other websites.

Buffer’s phenomenal dashboard allows you to track how your pins are doing and make changes accordingly. Their unlimited pinning plan starts from $10. You can also avail of their 7-day free trial to check if it works well with your Pinterest affiliate program.

3. Canva

CanvaSource: Canva

This list would not be complete without Canva. I’ve mentioned above that Pinterest is an incredibly graphic-intensive platform, so creating the right images is very important.

With Canva, you can do this quite easily. There are more than a million graphics and images for you to choose from, and Canva makes life easy by giving you simple drag and drop tools for creating appropriate images.

If you use Canva, affiliate marketing with Pinterest becomes considerably easier.

Canva is free to use, though you will have to pay in order to get the good stuff. It can also size the images accordingly based on the kind of graphic you want to create, which saves a lot of time and trouble. You can upload images as well. It’s frankly an amazing tool for creating engaging pins, which you can schedule using Buffer or Tailwind.

4. Inkscape

InkscapeSource: Inkscape

Inkscape is another great tool to explore that can help you produce great pins.

The tool is open-source and easy to use. Plus, it has many great online resources that help you when you are stuck somewhere with the tool.

Start your Pinterest affiliate journey with Cloudways!

Our affiliate payouts are high, and on time. With us, you open up yourself to lucrative bonuses and have the option to work at your convenience. Sounds awesome?

Conclusion

Well, there you have it! Pinterest affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be difficult. Once you get the hang of it, it’s an excellent way to sell products and generate decent revenue on your own. Learning how to use affiliate links on Pinterest is not difficult, but once you do, it’s a great way to generate more commissions!

You have to begin by learning how to create affiliate pins and then selecting the right boards to pin them on. Don’t go for the generic boards, as that could affect the visibility of your pins. Above all, you need to avoid link cloaking and make sure you disclose the links as well.

If you do these things, you are golden. It’s an excellent avenue to explore for budding affiliate marketers and could result in a windfall of the revenue!

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Usman Dar

Usman is a Digital Marketer at Cloudways- A Managed Cloud Hosting Platform, where he looks after affiliate partnerships and helps digital nomads in generating passive income. He is a foodie by heart, who loves to explore new eateries around his vicinity.

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