Wanna know how to create pins that go viral? I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to create a viral pin.
Let’s make it clear, what are viral pins at the moment?
What is a Viral Pin?
What makes a pin viral is different for each account. Smaller accounts will thrive with pins that gain a few thousand views, and lower saves and clicks, while larger accounts would consider a pin viral after seeing much higher numbers.
Going viral now is much harder than it was in 2018. The algorithm has changed and the content competition has increased. For a pin to stand out, you’ll either need more luck or put in more work.
“For a pin to stand out, you’ll either need more luck or put in more work.”
By luck, I mean pinning the right pin at the right time. We see many pins that are not even that great but go viral, simply because a pinner engaged, the algorithm liked it and a domino effect happened. Those are hard to replicate and are not the ones we’ll be talking about.
RELATED: 10 Reasons Why You Aren’t Viral on Pinterest yet
Most Used Pin Formats
Before we dive in, there are currently two most used pin formats: standard pins and Idea pins.
Standard pins are static images, they have a link and the pinner can click through to the website. Those are excellent for link clicks, but their distribution is much slower.
Idea pins are the latest pin format created by Pinterest. They can be composed of pictures or videos and don’t get a link. They can have product link stickers, and they are getting great views and engagement at the moment.
Let’s talk about things that we can make to create a viral pin. And these apply to all pin formats!
RELATED: 5 Idea Pins to Grow Pinterest Views Quickly!
7 Tips For How to Create Pins That Go Viral
- Pin image creation. Give your pins a chance to hit high from the beginning, make sure to use the best proportion at the moment, vertical 9:3 or 1500×1000 pixels.
- Attractive images. Don’t use blurry images, make sure that they are the highest possible definition and portray what pinners will see when they click. If your destination link showcases crochet cat hats, make sure that the picture shows a cat wearing a hat or something similiar.
- Use a keyworded text overlay. The text overlay should tell the pinner what they will find when they click in a very enticing way. For example, crochet hats that your cat will love to wear!
- Optimize it for mobile. Most people search and scroll through on their phones. 4 pins are displayed on the screen at a time, make sure your pin can be easily seen and text overlay read.
- Make it stand out. Your pin will be competing with many other pins and people scroll fast. Make sure your pins stand out and don’t blend in.
- Keep it classy and tasteful. Pinterest is a place for inspiration and positivity, don’t use clickbait-style pictures. Pinners are smart!
- Add your logo. Keep your content branded without extremes. Feel free to test different colors and fonts.
RELATED: 9 tips to Effectively Make Your Pinterest Pins Go Viral
Keywords
This is 50% of the equation to create a viral pin. Pinterest is a visual search engine and Pinterest keywords are pretty much Pinterest SEO. Make sure to research and find the best keywords for your niche, brand, and products. Don’t go with trending keywords unless they relate to your content.
- Keywords everywhere: once you’ve researched and chosen the best keywords for your brand, use them everywhere. Don’t just stack them, use them in natural speaking sentences. Use them to write your profile name, a profile description, pin titles, pin descriptions, board names, and board descriptions. For Idea Pins, writing the text overlay using Pinterest editor is a great way to nudge the algorithm on what keywords this pin should rank for.
- Make sure your pin text overlay has keywords you want to rank for.
- Don’t skip keywords when writing your pin titles and descriptions.
- Pin your image to the most keyword-relevant board to that pin.
RELATED: How to Research and Find Pinterest Keywords
Pin Timing
There’s no perfect time to pin a pin so it can go viral, but since your followers are the first ones who’ll see your pins and engagement matters, try to pin when your followers are most active.
Don’t expect a pin to go viral immediately. Pins can be pinned and have barely any views for any period of time until they get picked by the audience or by the algorithm. A pin will go viral when it goes viral.
Pins are evergreen and can go viral at any moment. Don’t delete old pins. I’ve seen pins going viral months after being pinned originally.
Pinning the same pins to multiple boards in your account won’t make it go viral. But a pin that gets saved by many accounts can go viral. Encourage your audience to save your pins! Encourage your audience to save pins by sharing pins on other platforms. By sharing pins on other platforms it encourages your audience to save the pin to their Pinterest account, and it’s a great way to propel a pin organically.
“Pinning the same pins to multiple boards in your account won’t make it go viral. But a pin that gets saved by many accounts can go viral.”
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