How to Get your Pin to go Viral

Last Updated on May 3, 2020 by ellduclos

Do you ever wonder what it takes to make a Pinterest pin go viral? When I first started out on Pinterest I remember when I got my first viral pin and it was game changing! This pin I created was bringing me hundreds of blog post views a day! Since that day I learned a lot about Pinterest marketing strategies to help me to continue to create pins that go viral and bring me THOUSANDS of blog views!

Here are a few examples of my most recent viral pins:

   

As you can see, these pins have not only brought me impressions, but they have also brought me thousands of blog views as well!

Today I want to talk about my exact strategies to getting Pinterest pins to go viral and bring you hundreds and thousands of clicks consistently on Pinterest!

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Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used, I only recommend products I use and love! For more info check out my disclosure policy here.

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1. Viral Pin Creation

The first and probably most important step when it comes to creating a viral pin, is making sure the pin you create is Pinterest perfect! You might be wondering, what does a good viral pin need to look like? 

• Vertical pins perform best on Pinterest because it grasps the viewers attention in the smart feed as opposed to horizontal pins! You should keep a 2:3 ratio when creating a pin. The ideal size would be 600 x 900
• Use bold colors. If you use colors that don’t stand out or attract a viewer, chances are the pin won’t go viral.
• Make sure to use font pairings that aren’t hard to read! Some font pairings can make it difficult to read. If your viewer can’t read the title on the pin, they will most likely skip past it!
• Use clean and clear images! If you use grainy or blurry images, the pin will most likely not perform the way you want it to.
• Paid stock images perform better than free stock images. The reason behind this is because not as many people are using paid stock photos as opposed to free stock photos! Some of my favorite places to get stock photos are: Creative Market & Ivory Mix

I absolutely LOVE (most of the time) using Canva to create my pin graphics. They are free to use and they have pre-made pin templates that you can customize into your own branded pin designs!

If creating new pins weekly sounds like a drag to you, check out my services!

2. Click worthy titles

Does your pin have a click worthy title? A huge factor of getting your pins clicked is the title! Here are some examples of 2 different titles… which one do you think would be most likely to get clicked?

“How I saved $1,000 this year!” OR “How to save money this year?”

I find whenever I include specific $$$ amounts, the pins get clicked more.

Here’s another example… 

“10 hacks for moms” OR “10 life changing hacks for moms who are busy!” 

Think about how you can add to your titles to make your viewers want to CLICK!

3. Call to actions

A great way to help your pin get clicked more is to add a call to action to the pin. It could be something as simple as “Click to read my top 10 budgeting tips and save your way to financial freedom this year!” 

As crazy as it sounds, the simple call to action can make a huge difference! Tell your viewer to click and read more! It’s crazy, people actually do what you tell them (sometimes). 

4. Keywords

If you really want your pin to go viral, keywords are going to be necessary! Once you create your pin and upload it to Pinterest, you want to make sure you have a keyword optimized Pin description! I talk about how to find the best keywords for your pins in my Pinterest with Ell e-course. Without keywords and a few relevant hashtags in your pin description, Pinterest doesn’t know what your pin is about… therefore, won’t be able to properly display it in the smart feed!

5. Pinning strategies

Making sure you have a proper pinning strategy in place is crucial for making your Pinterest pins go viral! Are you pinning your pin to the proper boards? How consistent are you when pinning your pin?

Sometimes I find bloggers will join any group board under the sun and pin whatever pin they want to them. This isn’t a proper pinning strategy. When you are saving your pins to boards, you want to make sure you are only saving your pins to boards that relate to the pin and have the proper keywords!

If you are pinning a beauty pin to a “bloggers helping bloggers group board” then this isn’t helping your strategy. Pinning your pin to boards that aren’t related to the pin confuses Pinterest and negatively affects your Pinterest SEO.

Learn about a proper pinning strategy here!

6. Tailwind tribes

Tailwind tribes have been a HUGE help when it comes to getting my pins to go viral! I have the unlimited tribes plan on Tailwind and it has been a game changer. I join about 20-25 tribes for each niche that I blog about. When I go to schedule my pins with Tailwind, I also share my pins to the related tribes! This helps boost my pin impressions and reach.

Tailwind tribes are almost like group boards, but they are strictly on Tailwind! You essentially share your pin to a tribe and the tribe members schedule your shared pin to related boards of their choice. This helps boost your pin and circulate it throughout Pinterest!

If you aren’t using Tailwind already, I highly recommend it! It can be game changing when it comes to growing your Pinterest and blog traffic!

7. Re-creating a Viral Pin

What I find to be vital to my viral pinning strategy is creating new pins for pins that take off!

For example, I have one blog post that consistently brings me thousands of clicks each month. What I will do is create a new pin design for that blog post each week! Usually each pin I create for that specific blog post ends up going viral! EVERY TIME! 

I urge you to take a look at your Pinterest analytics and figure out what Pinterest pins are bringing you the most clicks and continue to create new pins for those blog posts!

8. Trending Pinterest ideas

Pinterest has a trending ideas section that is semi hidden! Take a look at the trending ideas and try to create a new blog post for one of those topics! Usually if you write a blog post for a trending Pinterest topic and share it on Pinterest, that pin will go viral!

You can find the trending topics by using the Pinterest search bar! Click into the search bar and scroll down past ideas for you, and you will find the trending ideas! 

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I hope you found these tips helpful! If you are wanting to take your Pinterest and blog to the next level with my help, then check this out!

If you still haven’t jumped on board with the other 1,000 + students who have taken Pinterest with Ell, what are you waiting for?!