How to Make Money Promoting Your Affiliate Program Products Using Pinterest in 2021
If you’re trying to monetize your blog by working with an affiliate program, you’ve doubtless already looked at using social media to reach a greater audience. WhatsApp and TikTok are probably the fastest growing social sites for promoting affiliate program content right now. And Facebook remains an important source of traffic. But one platform that many people working with affiliate networks often overlook is Pinterest.
Image-driven, with little text beyond a title, Pinterest posts can be hard to master. But with 320 million active monthly users, 40% of whom have a median household income of $100,000 or more, and all looking for information rather than entertainment, the platform also offers massive earning potential.
So, how can you make Pinterest part of your online affiliate program money-making strategy?
How to Start Using Pinterest to Promote Your Affiliate Program Products
1. Open a Pinterest account
OK, you probably could have guessed this bit! But before you can do anything, you need to open a Pinterest account. Choose a username and profile that fits in with your niche, and ideally relates to your blog/website (if you have one). Take time to work on your profile, so it appeals to your chosen demographic. And make it clear in your profile that you work with affiliate programs, to avoid breaching the user agreement.
2. Consider your content
The really great thing about Pinterest is that once you understand what you need to do, it’s possible to create a lot of content really quickly. So, you can spare a little time to think about what content you wish to create. Work through your affiliate program’s promotions. Think about what’s worked well for you on previous platforms. And research your audience to find out what is most likely to appeal to them. Then find images to correspond. The best Pinners create their own images. But there are many free images sites available – Pixaby, Pexels – where you can find some lovely pictures to pin.
Once you’ve found your images, you need to write a strong SEO-based description to help people to find them.
3. Upload your pin
To upload a pin, you need to click on the + symbol on the top right from the Pinterest homepage. From there, you simply need to follow the prompts. Just don’t forget to embed your affiliate links before you post.
4. Select appropriate boards for your pins
In theory, this bit is really easy, but a lot of people find it daunting. To find a board, you just need to look through Pinterest and work out which of their board themes best suits your niche. So, if you’re promoting dating offers, for example, you might look for boards with a similar theme – dating, romance, love, internet dating. And if you can’t find anything suitable, then you can also create your own.
And that’s the basics done.
Extra Tips for Making the Most of Pinterest for Your Affiliate Program Products
- Create quality content – It’s easy to think, when looking at the sheer volume of pins available, that Pinterest is all about quantity rather than quality. The truth is, if you want people to see your pins, you need to work to a standard of excellence. So, watch your spelling. Research your keywords. And select outstanding images.
- Don’t shorten your links – Pinterest does not allow hidden marketing. You might be tempted to make your links look smarter with a link shortening program, like Bitly. If it looks like you’re trying to mask pay per sale links, you’ll have your account closed.
- Track your progress – Too many people post pins and wait for the money to trickle in. That can work. But you’ll achieve better results if you use an analytics program to monitor your progress. It’s a great way of finding out what works for your audience.
Pinterest can seem confusing at first. But once you get used to using it, it can provide a really important source of traffic for enhancing your affiliate program income. Why not see if it works for you?