Art Biz Blog

5 Ways for Artists to Get More Pinterest Followers

More and more artists are jumping into the world of Pinterest every day. If you’re one of them, and if you’re like the new pinners I know, you’ll inevitably start wondering, “How do I get more Pinterest followers?”

Building a Pinterest following takes time, so you’ll need patience. These five suggestions should get you started.

1. Pin regularly from unique sources.

If you pin a couple of meaningful things a day, you will get more followers. As your content gets repinned and liked by other users, some of them will notice your profile and follow you.

Artist Dorothy Lorenze on Pinterest.

If your art business has target audience (women, gardeners, brides, golfers) then you should be pinning some content that appeals to that target demographic. Consider your customer when you’re pinning, and pin content that customer would enjoy.

Think entertaining, educational and interesting content.

While NOT all of your content has to appeal to your target audience (some of your pins will just be fun or beautiful stuff that you enjoy), it will help you attract more customers and get more followers if you pin stuff that attracts your target clientele.

Make sure you’ve downloaded the Pinterest bookmarklet for your browser, which allows you to pin from any Web page.

Did you know that 85% of the pins on Pinterest are repinned from within another pinboard? This is where you can outshine other Pinterest users who don’t know better. You will grow your following faster by introducing content from additional websites and blogs instead of just recycling other people’s pins.

A fan comments on one of Mindy Lighthipe’s pinned botanical paintings.

2. Comment on pins.

The fact that there are very few comments in the Pinterest world means that comments stand out, which is exactly what you want.

When you post thoughtful comments on a pin, they continually travel around Pinterest with that pin. That can lead to clicks on your profile. If your comments are valuable and your pinboards are intriguing, lots of people will decide to follow you.

Target people who share your audience and comment on their pins. Add compelling discussion points or conversation starters instead of just saying, “Nice image!” or “I love this!”

3. Join collaborative boards.

If you’ve been on Pinterest for a while, you may be starting to get invitations to join collaborative boards. That means someone has started a group board that multiple people are pinning to, and they’d like you to join in on the fun.

Here’s the secret few people know: collaborative boards are an amazing way to build your following. Every time you pin to a collaborative board, that pin goes out to every follower of every Pinterest user who co-pins on that board, which puts you in front of a potentially HUGE audience!

So if you get invited to pin on a group board, and the topic of the board is interesting to you, say Yes!

If you’re not getting invitations yet, start your own collaborative board, and invite your favorite pinners to join you in pinning to it. Be creative and fun with your board topics, so more people will decide to join you in pinning to it.

You can turn any of your current boards into a collaborative board. From your profile, just click on the “Edit” button under any of your boards, then add names to the “Who Can Pin?” field in the pop-up box that appears.

4. Follow other pinners.

Try to follow 5-10 people or more every week. A substantial portion of those folks will follow you back.

Follow your target customers, other artists, art magazines, potential collectors, curators, and galleries. Following lots of people makes Pinterest more enjoyable anyway.

5. Regularly tell your blog readers and email subscribers that you’re on Pinterest.

If you write a blog (and I really hope you do), remind your readers that you’re on Pinterest from time to time and give examples of what you pin.

If you publish an email newsletter, make sure to let your subscribers know that you’re on Pinterest, too. You may want to add an “I’m on Pinterest!” button to the bottom of each of your newsletters.

Key Takeaway

The key to developing a significant Pinterest presence is taking small, consistent steps. Even putting in ten minutes a day will yield BIG results.

Don’t forget that I said you need patience. A larger following will evolve but, like all good things that are worthwhile, it’s a process.

Use these techniques and watch your following grow!

Guest blogger Beth Hayden is a social media expert and author of Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Business with Pinterest.

She will be sharing much more about using Pinterest to expand your art business in a special Art Biz Coach teleseminar on Tuesday, May 18.

Click here to read about it and sign up.

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