Welcome to the seventh post in the Pinterest Marketing series, and welcome to anyone new who is stopping by today via the Ultimate Blog Challenge. This is the first time I’ve participated in UBC and it basically means I’ll be posting something new at the blog every day for the next 30 days. Which means the ten-part Pinterest series I’ve been posting weekly, is getting a bit of a turbo-boost, and will be finished over the next four days. Good news for anyone who was following along and waiting for the next installment.

If you’re new here and you’ve missed the first six posts in the series, you can find them here:

Is Pinterest the Right Platform for Your Business?

Why Pinterest is a Great Way to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

How to Create a Perfect Pin

6 Pinterest Strategies That Increase Engagement

How to Keep Your Pinterest Boards Organized and Relevant

How to Build Relationships on Pinterest

Today we’re looking at how to use Pinterest group boards to drive traffic to your blog, or even directly to an online store if you have one. This works if you have a virtual ‘storefront’ on another platform as well. I use it to drive traffic to my Amazon Influencer storefront, my Etsy shop and my Gumroad virtual store.

Disclosure: Links in this post (and anywhere on The Savvy Solopreneur) may be affiliate links. Find out what that means here.

If you’re using Pinterest, but not pinning to group boards, you’re missing out on a huge audience that goes well beyond your own followers. So let’s look at how to use Pinterest group boards to drive traffic, along with tips on the types of boards to join.

About Pinterest Group Boards

Group boards are very much like individual or business Pinterest boards. They’re still a collection of curated content with a set theme for each board. The difference is that group boards have multiple contributors instead of just one person. There’s no limit to the number of contributors you can have in a group.

When you Pin to a group board, you’re exposing your content to a lot of fresh Pinterest users. The type of content on the board, the number of contributors, and the level of activity on it, are all factors that will determine how many times your Pins get seen, but an active group board can quickly expose your Pins to thousands of new people. The more eyes that view your valuable content, the higher the likelihood it will be shared. The potential for traffic growth and engagement is excellent.

I often talk about how Pinterest is usually my top traffic source in any given month, driving thousands of visitors to my blog, even though I only have a little over 1000 followers over there. But this didn’t happen until I started using group boards. That’s where the majority of my Pinterest traffic comes from.

How to Find and Join Pinterest Group Boards

You can find worthwhile group boards in your niche just by checking out the Pinterest boards of your favorite pinners. Find accounts of those in your niche or related topic, then see what kinds of group boards they belong to. You can also find Pinterest group boards by category by visiting a site called PinGroupie. This is an efficient method for finding relevant boards, as well as choosing boards by the number of Pins, collaborators and followers each has. If it helps, I curated a list of my favorite group boards for bloggers in this blog post.

After determining that a group board looks worth joining, you’ll need to get an invitation from the board’s owner in order to contribute. First, check the board’s description to see if the owner has specified exactly how you should do this. If there are no directions given, simply send a polite, personalized message to the board owner asking to join. Be sure to tell them what you like about their board and why you think you’d be a good fit.

What to Look for in Group Pinterest Boards

Not all group boards will be a fit for you. You’ll want to only consider groups that are relevant to your niche or brand. The next thing to consider is the number of followers. More followers means more eyeballs on your content.

However, there are a few other things to think about as well. We all know more isn’t always better. Along with a high number of followers, you also want to belong to active boards. You can determine the rate of activity by checking out the number of RePins you see across the board.

You’ll also want to look at how many contributors the board has. If there are a lot of people already, this is good because it’s probably an active board that is currently recruiting. Boards with lower numbers may be new and could be worth a shot, as well, but it’s also possible that these are exclusive or closed groups. Or they may not be very active, which is why people aren’t joining. Check the description to see if they’re inviting new members.

How to Make the Most of Pinterest Group Boards

Once you’ve found and joined relevant boards it’s simply a case of Pinning your content to them regularly. Pin your best, most valuable, most click-worthy Pins (remember the components of a perfect Pin) and watch your traffic slowly increase. Remember to Pin and engage with other content on the group boards. And always follow the rules, which will be stated in the board description. Some boards allow unlimited Pinning. Others restrict you to a few Pins a day. Others may ask that you RePin at least one Pin from the board, for every one of your own Pins you add to it.

Many people use Tailwind to help organise their group board Pinning strategy, but I Pin manually (to over 20 group boards), using the manual Pinning strategy (and spreadsheet) included in the Pindepth Advanced course.

If you’re not familiar with it, Pindepth Advanced is a self-paced online course, aimed at helping bloggers become Pinterest rock stars. It includes four hours of video training, actionable workbooks, a private Facebook group, and a ton of bonuses (including two bonus courses, Content That Converts and The Subscriber Rush). Plus, you get lifetime access. Every time Pinterest rolls out new stuff, more information is added to the course, so you’re constantly updated. Check out the details here.

I’d love you to connect with me on Pinterest. And just click here if you’d like to get a free printable workbook and other goodies to help you run your online biz, along with other free tips and tools. Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for the next post in the series. We’ll be looking at how to access your Pinterest Analytics and use them to grow your Pinterest account, and your blog traffic.

Featured image by Ivory Mix.