- The blogger Jennifer Leach posted to her Pinterest business account to draw traffic to her site.
- She discovered the Pinterest Creator Hub and the "Earn" program, where popular users can get paid.
- Leach, who has earned $12,700 since February through the rewards program, shares her content tips.
I discovered Pinterest in 2012 and enjoyed the platform for recipes, DIY ideas, and fashion inspiration. Since then, I've used Pinterest consistently as a part of my business strategy.
I'm self-employed, running my business and blog, Millennial Nextdoor. My work involves posting to social media regularly for myself and clients, contributing to my blogs, and freelance writing.
Using Pinterest for promoting content is part of my day-to-day work, and I have grown my account from zero to 15,300 followers in two years.
I post content on Pinterest about remote work opportunities, side hustles, money, finance, and lifestyle.
After using Pinterest to gain traffic and grow my audience over the past two years, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the Creator Hub.
I stumbled upon the Hub on my profile, and nearly three months later that move has made me close to $13,000.
I discovered the Pinterest Creator Hub by accident
The Pinterest Creator Hub button is on any Pinterest business account's profile eligible to be in the Pinterest Creator Rewards program. I first noticed it in February.
To access the Pinterest Creator Rewards, you have to be over 18 and living in the US.
You also have to have at least 250 followers, 150 saves on content published in the past month, made three idea pins in the previous month, and use the Pinterest app.
When I clicked into the Creator Hub, there were five sections filled with tools to help make and track content: Inspiration, Creation, Engagement, Analytics, and Earn.
The Earn tab immediately caught my eye. It takes you to Creator Rewards, where you can make money creating Pinterest pins.
What is the Pinterest Creator Rewards program?
Creator Rewards is Pinterest's program for rewarding creators publishing popular content on Pinterest. Every month, new campaigns are published, allowing creators to monetize their Pinterest pins.
The campaigns are tied to goals. If you meet a campaign goal, you make money.
Each campaign goal is different. Some are tied to engagement, like the number of saves or comments, while others encourage consistent activity, like pinning once a week. If you think you've met a goal, you can submit the relevant posts in the "Earn" tab of the creator Hub under that campaign.
When the monthly campaign ends, Pinterest will review the goals you've submitted, and for the approved goals you get paid via direct deposit the following month.
How much does Pinterest Creator Rewards pay?
I started using the Pinterest Creator Rewards program in February 2022 and earned $900 that month. I then made $5,900 in each of the next two months.
I can claim rewards for simple things like $250 every time a pin gets 100 saves, or they can be multiple elements bundled together.
In April, I was rewarded $600 for posting three idea pins that showed my creative process regardless of how they performed. Idea pins are a series of video pins collated and are new to Pinterest.
I filmed food content for this $600 campaign goal, creating DIY coffee drinks in my kitchen. The videos took about five to 10 minutes each to make.
I've hit my "content creation" goal posting at least one idea pin a week. In April, I was rewarded $1,300 for that campaign.
How to schedule your Pinterest pins to maximize rewards
I now post my Pinterest pins directly in line with the monthly campaign goals, whereas before I would post to draw traffic to whatever was on my site.
I will usually pin one or two pins from other Pinterest users for every idea pin I create. It can be tempting to pin only your content, but it can look spammy if you don't include pins from other Pinterest creators in your idea pins.
That behavior can get your Pinterest account suspended, which I've seen happen to other creators.
I set some guidelines to maximize rewards: Pin to at least one campaign goal daily, pin other Pinterest users' pins daily, and for goals that require engagement — like a minimum of 50 saves — wait to see how a pin performs before using it toward a campaign.
When I started monetizing my Pinterest account, my activity did change a little. I still pin the same number of times each day but spend more time doing so.
Idea pins are all video content, which takes longer to create than photos. I also spend time reviewing which campaign goals have been approved.
On average, I spend 20 minutes a day on Pinterest.
My advice for creating successful content on Pinterest
I'm constantly trying out their new features like idea pins to get the most traction out of the platform.
I keep my eyes on my analytics to see what content is performing the best so I can create more of those pins for my audience.
My best advice is to be consistent, create and publish your Pinterest pins and others' pins three to five times a day, and take advantage of the features and tools offered, like Pinterest trends and idea pins.