Pinterest Fatigue – I Have One MILLION RePins and STILL There’s a Problem

Pinterest Fatigue? What is THAT?!?!?

Yep, Pinterest FATIGUE… and I think it is THE Blogger “Flu” this year.

I know I have it…

Heck, we YOU might have it – it’s been a long, confusing Pinterest summer, right?!

I just hope it’s not contagious =)

Before I even continue I want to say this: I LOVE me some Pinterest!

In fact, I have over one MILLION repins!

I’ll show you proof down below… but to me, it’s kinda cool!

Nothing I say below is a ‘slam’ on Pinterest or anything like that – it’s just me observing and speaking out loud about what I see happening…

And how we, the bloggers with Pinterest Fatigue, can ‘bob and weave’ through all this.

 

I had an enlightening experience today as I was helping a fellow blogger with her Pinterest account. As I listened to her talk about her dwindling Pinterest results, I realized that she, like so many of us, are suffering from Pinterest Fatigue.

We’re tired, overwhelmed – and confused.

Heck, worse yet, so many bloggers are simply AFRAID to pin “too much” or to pin the “wrong way” in fear of being caught in all these Pinterest account closures of late.

So many are almost “paralyzed” from fear of doing this wrong – and losing their Pinterest account.

What’s the confusion? What is causing this Pinterest Fatigue epidemic?

Let me list just a FEW things out…

(but here’s a hint – you’re gonna have to think BIG)

 

Here’s Just SOME of the Confusion Lately:

Should we use Group Boards?

Do Group Boards hurt or help us?

Should we leave Group Boards completely or just archive them?

What about boards we don’t pin to very often – do those boards hurt our accounts?

Are we pinning too much? Pinning too little?

How often can we pin the same pin image/same post url?

How often can we pin a DIFFERENT pin image, but to that same post url?

SO many questions without any real answers.

I can keep going with these questions and concerns too – I hear them all day, every day.

I do applaud the Pinterest staff for their transparency and presence this past summer to help Pinterest Marketers be more successful.

The information they shared was both VERY interesting – and very confusing.

(don’t even get me started on the whole “first 5 pins of the day” fiasco! Ugh-ola!!)

I completely understand that underneath Pinterest is an algorithm that makes it all work – If the folks at Pinterest reveal too much it could open the door for manipulation of their algo.

I get that, I really do.

I also get the money trail (which I’ll talk more about in a moment)…

But my goodness, they sure had all us Pinterest Marketers running in circles! #amIright?

We’re exhausted…and confused… and frustrated…

And we all have a BIG, BAD, nasty case of Pinterest Fatigue.

It’s been too much – especially since we, the content creators, are the ones that fill their site with content.

As my blogger friend I was helping today said,

 

So, What’s Going On??!

Things in the Pinterest world have changed in these past few months – especially for those of us that create the content that builds the Pinterest site (and offers their non-marketer users, AND the Search Engines, endless new, fresh content).

Yes, Pinterest built the platform, but it’s we bloggers who consistently fill that site with all the oh, SO precious content for their 200 MILLION monthly users and, as I just said, for Google and other Search Engines.

(yes, I mentioned Google again for a reason)

In hindsight, I know 3 things were main contributors to the folks at Pinterest being more transparent this past spring/summer.

1 – Google Issues

Go ahead and call me an ‘alarmist’, but Google DID “slap” Pinterest… hard.

Since then, Pinterest has really swerved and made some pretty significant changes in attempts to regain love from Google – things that we don’t see when logged IN to Pinterest.

It really floors me when I hear/read others say that Pinterest doesn’t care about Google, or need Google, etc – OR that we, Pinterest Marketers, don’t CARE about (or want) our pins ranking well in Google…

To me, that’s… that’s like, WOW, really?!??

But that’s all a story/rant for another day. Let’s move on to reason #2…

2 – Too Many Pins

Pinterest removed some non-approved auto-pinning partners (BoardBooster, for example).

I get that – truly, I do – When looking at it from Pinterest’s view of “do it our way, please” perspective, I can see why tools like BoardBooster were disallowed –

(tho, wow, it sure took YEARS for that to happen! It’s not like they JUST found out about tools like BoardBooster. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself “why NOW?” – why would Pinterest suddenly decide some tools, like BoardBooster, are now “not approved” when they’ve been running for years and they were fine with it?)

But I also know this – some of those tools, like BoardBooster, made it SO easy for us to pin a LOT auto-magically and we never had to log in to the Pinterest site. We all now realize that those tools were bombarding the Pinterest site with no telling HOW many pins per MINUTE.

sidenote: it’s also odd to me that it took all that time to knock BoardBooster down when they always knew about it, never had a problem with it, but still, the WORST offender has not been touched.

But, back on topic, all those repins…. over and over… without anyone having to log in and do anything…

That’s a whole lot of Duplicate Content (which absolutely doesn’t help Pinterest recover from the Google slap at all).

And let’s be honest, Pinterest doesn’t really NEED any repeat content anymore – in fact, they don’t need ANY new pins unless it’s new/trending – they have a TON of content (pins) to keep their users happy and disappearing down the Pinterest ‘Rabbit Hole’ for years to come.

and both of those 2 reasons lead me to…

3 – Pinterest Plans To Go Public

From this article on CNBC.com:

• Pinterest is poised to almost double revenue this year, getting close to $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

• The company is aiming to go public by mid-2019, and has a current valuation of $13 billion to $15 billion, based on secondary market trading, multiple people say.

• Pinterest’s mobile search capabilities are attracting advertisers.

As so many smart people I respect say:

ALWAYS follow the MONEY.

and then, the even smarter people I know say,

“Follow the Exit Strategy”

When you ‘follow the money’, this all makes some sense.

BUT…

When you follow the Exit Strategy, it makes SO much more sense – just saying.

If *I* owned Pinterest and had that kind of money on the line (or potential money), I’d sure want to get rid of anything that trashes up my asset and reduces its perceived worth to future stockholders, AND to advertisers, wouldn’t you?

That all makes sense, right?

And if I owned Pinterest, and I let the rumor of my company going public just float out there, and I had an Exit Strategy already in mind….. well, WOW… that makes you realize this is all SO much more than we realize.

There’s nothing we, the content creators, can do about all that. What matters is…

 

What about US – the Pinterest Marketers (ie, the Pinterest CONTENT CREATORS)?

What do WE do?

How do we combat our Pinterest Fatigue while all this other stuff is going on?

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Pinterest Fatigue Remedies

Let me start by saying, I am not a “Pinterest Purist” – my business does NOT depend… and does not RELY… solely on the success of Pinterest.

I can promise you this:

If Pinterest disappears tomorrow, I will still be here.

I’ve gone through this before with other free-to-use resources… I can “bob and weave” with the best of ’em =)

YES, I love, LOVE the free traffic Pinterest sends my sites that I get in exchange for helping to fill the Pinterest site with content that is interesting and useful to their users (and the content that Google loves).

And that’s the thing that we, the Pinterest Marketers (ie, Pinterest ‘content creators), have to really think about and accept –

Pinterest IS a “give/take” thing – you can’t just take.

Pinterest did not build, nor do they run, that site for US.

It’s THEIR site that we are allowed to use for FREE.

Not, ABUSE for free.

Pinterest, the company, wants and NEEDS certain things from us… all we have to do is give it to them.

As long as that also helps build YOUR business, do it – and you will reap the rewards.

If the “rewards” aren’t coming your way, either rethink your strategy… or… don’t use Pinterest.

 

A Question…

Let me ask you something…

If YOU owned Pinterest, would YOU be happy with others using your site that way?

Think about it – you build a site, open it up for others to fulfill YOUR vision… and then those ‘others’ realize that YOUR site suits THEIR business needs… and they go hog-wild on YOUR site.

They pin the same exact stuff over and over and over filling your site up with redundant, almost spammy, content.

Would YOU be annoyed?

Would you want YOUR site used that way?

But then, you have to think about those that BUILT that site FOR you – 99% of the content that attracts the search engines and is enjoyed by your users comes from those “using” your site.

Do you put up a “sign” for them saying, ‘Thanks for helping build our business, but now we’re full and we don’t need you anymore’?

That’s kinda what’s going on… they, Pinterest, really don’t NEED us content creators anymore.

But we still need THEM.

We Pinterest Marketers (content creators) LOVE the traffic we get… and we want (need) to pin our pins a LOT because we know that whenever our “good” pins are in front of eyeballs, we get clicks – simple as that.

We can’t rely on, or trust that, our pins will rank well and be found in Pinterest search simply because we pinned to the “most relevant board first”, we have to be SEEN – and seen often.

So now what? They don’t need us for their Exit Strategy, we already filled up their site…. but we still need them.

Somewhere there is a happy medium that works for both us, the marketers, and for Pinterest.

 

Here are some ideas to help with YOUR Pinterest Fatigue:

Right now, Pinterest Fatigue is a very real thing in the blogging community – especially for those who built their entire business off of everything Pinterest.

If you’re ‘just’ a blogger who loves the traffic Pinterest can send to your blog… here’s some suggestions.

1 – Honey, you’re STALE!

If you have been pinning and pinning the SAME pins for months and months (or for years and YEARS), ya gotta put some new stuff out there.

Pinterest WANTS “new” so give it to them!

Give your readers NEW pin images to pin FROM your posts – freshen things up!

(trust me, it works!)

 

2 – Pins Not Sticking? Try This

If the only real way you get clicks on your pins is when you actively pin it, there’s something going on.

Your pin isn’t “sticking” – and isn’t being FOUND (it’s only being SEEN when it’s in front of folks in their Smart Feed).

If they click it when they SEE it (but the pins just dies when you stop pinning it) that’s because they don’t FIND it.

In that situation: Rework your pin description.

 

Or… if no one is clicking on your pins no matter how often you pin them and no matter what pin description you try…

The problem is your pin image – it’s not ‘clickable’ – try NEW pin images.

 

Here’s an idea (based off my experience today helping a fellow blogger with her Pinterest account):

Get a blogging buddy.

Spend a day or 2 making new pins for your Blogging Buddy’s site – and let her make new pins for YOUR site.

YOU might feel as if you’ve “tried everything” with your pins, but trust me – you’d be amazed at what some fresh eyes can do for your pins.

 

You might already know this, but my daughter works with me/for me.

One of her jobs each day is to go into my personal blog traffic stats, find the posts that need help, and make NEW pins for them.

I don’t set any “branding” rules or anything like that, I just let her go with it and make the pins however she wants.

My goodness, what a difference it makes!

(and wow! she is SO good at it! I really should hire her out, but I’m a bit selfish with her…lol!)

It’s AMAZING what fresh eyes can do to breathe new life into stale/not working pins.

 

I did that today with my blogging friend’s site…

She felt as if there was nothing “new” for her to do for her pins or boards… she was overwhelmed and confused about how to make things better with all this Pinterest confusion lately…

She had a SERIOUS case of Pinterest Fatigue – and reached out to me for some help and insight.

Since I knew NOTHING about her niche topic, I was able to put “fresh eyes” on her Pinterest account and make some new pins for her based off what *I* thought was doing well – and I spent time looking at content other Pinterest users had pinned to their boards on her niche topic, etc.

For me, it was kinda fun and a nice break from the same ‘ol, same ‘ol, *I* look at every day… and for her, I hope it was some inspiration to try something totally new for her Pinterest account, and for her blog, and see how that does.

If what you’re doing isn’t working, or isn’t working anymore, try something NEW.

That brings me to this next suggestion…

 

3- Get IN Pinterest and LOOK

YOU may feel as if you’ve ‘done everything’ and ‘tried everything’, but until you actually get IN Pinterest and look at related boards that “normal” Pinterest users have in your niche, and see what they’re saving (pinning), you have NOT tried ‘everything’.

There is a WEALTH of information and ideas in those boards… so go LOOK.

You’d be amazed at how that one simple thing can inspire you, motivate you, and relieve your Pinterest Fatigue.

 

Bottom Line

As a fellow blogger, please remember – Pinterest is a traffic resource… it should NOT be the root of your business.

(unless your entire business is centered around Pinterest services or tools – then, well, you have lot more at stake)

As an extra side note here: please, PLEASE be careful taking Pinterest advice from those that depend on Pinterest for the success or failure of THEIR business. I don’t think I need to explain that, but if it doesn’t make sense, please ask me.

Above all…

Keep Pinterest in perspective as ONE stream of traffic for your site/blog and be sure to take the time to build up ALL your potential streams of traffic.

Yep, that means you need to learn how to SEO your new blog posts and improve your other social media traffic sources – they’re all traffic RESOURCES, but no individual source should ever be the ‘make or break’ for your blog or online business.

Trust me, I KNOW Pinterest is easy – even when we’re frustrated and have Pinterest Fatigue, but ya gotta work the WHOLE picture.

You also need to learn how to improve your Google rankings for established blog posts, and get your email list game together.

YES! It’s a lot to do, but you can NOT rely on ONE free-to-use resource.

 

When it comes to Pinterest, forget all the Pinterest analytics stats and pay attention to ONE thing…

Your traffic FROM Pinterest.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I surpassed one MILLION repins – isn’t that awesome?!?!

Here’s a screenshot:

 

note: I get those Pinterest stats for my account from here

 

Sure, one MILLION+ repins is cool and all…. but what does that REALLY mean?

How do ALL those MILLION+ repins translate into TRAFFIC to my site?

I give all those traffic stats and details here.

 

At the end of the day, Pinterest is not YOUR business – it’s just one potential stream of traffic that feeds your business (or at least it should be that way).

Right now, Pinterest Fatigue is VERY real – so many frustrated bloggers questioning every move they make (or don’t make) with their pins and their Pinterest account.

My best advice?

As with ALL free-to-use resources, do the best you can with them – and get the best you can FROM them – but go to bed each night knowing they just might be gone when you wake up.

And do ALL you can to make that ok.

You got this!

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