This How to Use Pinterest in 2022: The Creator’s Guide to Pinterest’s Latest Changes post includes affiliate links. When I find a great product or service, I like to share it with my readers. Sometimes I use affiliate links so I can earn a commission for my recommendations. Thank you for your support!

The Creator’s Guide to Pinterest’s Latest Changes

Back in good ‘ole 2021, I wrote a blog post called, Pinterest Strategies for Bloggers in 2021. At the time, I was bopping along on Pinterest with some really good Pinterest statistics and, quite frankly, feeling really good about myself and my blog, Herbivore’s Kitchen.

It was February and I had recently adjusted my Pinterest behavior to adapt to the Pinterest 2020 algorithm change. And I thought I had nailed it. My traffic was growing. Life was good. Pinterest was simple, it was free and it was very effective.

And so, I set out to share the wealth by writing the aforementioned blog post.

And then… Well, let’s just say: if you need an example of Murphy’s Law, that blog post is it.

By the end of March 2021, my Pinterest stats had plummeted. And I mean plummeted. Just take a look at the graph below.

Why? Well, I still don’t really know. Every attempt to connect with Pinterest to understand the problem failed. And, trust me, I got creative. I even went as far as to file a report with the BBB. Nothing worked. 

About a year has passed and the dust has started to settle. I’m learning that I wasn’t alone in the catastrophic drop in traffic experience. I might have been early, but definitely not alone.   

I’ve also learned that the catalyst for this event is Pinterest’s grand experiment in rebirth. Perhaps you’ve heard, but Pinterest isn’t a search engine anymore, it’s a social media network.

Pinterest in 2022: Goodbye Google, Hello Instagram

Prior to 2021, Pinterest operated as a search engine – a lot like Google or Yahoo! Make an inquiry, get suggested results, visit the source. The difference, of course, was that the results were visual and you could add them on to Pinterest Boards for later reference.

Today, as is evidenced by the launch of Idea Pins and Pinterest’s pushing of the same to the surface, Pinterest is making it clear that it would prefer that its users stay and engage with the platform.

Only time will tell if Pinterest can successfully execute this transition. In the meantime, we’ve all got businesses to run.

So, what’s a creator to do when it’s primary source of traffic dries up overnight? Adapt. And quickly. Here are my suggestions for how to use Pinterest in 2022.

How to Use Pinterest in 2022: Learn From It

Yes, I am super annoyed that my cow stopped producing milk. But, if I am being honest, I am mostly angry with myself.

Why? Because I put all of my eggs into someone else’s basket.

Depending on a single source of traffic is problematic and risky. As I now know all too well, an algorithm change or a downward trend can be devastating.

If you missed out on Pinterest’s gotcha move, consider yourself lucky, but take stock of how much you depend on Instagram or Tiktok. Would your business survive a major change or a decline in popularity?

And, if you’re not doing it already, you should be engaged in search engine optimization (SEO). Getting visitors to your blog should be your number one priority and the most reliable ROI is investing in good SEO.

Pinterest in 2022: Accept & Adapt

It doesn’t seem likely that the old Pinterest is coming back, so you can pack up your things or you can learn how to adapt to the change.

So, how do you do that? Well, first think about what Pinterest changed and what that tells you about what Pinterest wants. When a platform announces a change, it’s best to get on board as an early adopter.

As I said earlier, Pinterest added Idea Pins and it is, at least for now, giving them priority over other forms of content. Why? Because it wants users to stay on the platform.

You can fight it, or you can get in the game. And right now, the game is making Idea Pins. And if you’re on Instagram or Tiktok, it’s a pretty easy game to play. It’s pretty easy to adapt a reel or a tiktok into an Idea Pin. Just remember: Pinterest wants users to stay on the platform, so be sure that your Idea Pins are doing that.

Look for Opportunities

Idea Pins aren’t the only thing that Pinterest changed in the last year. It also walked back its ban on affiliate marketing. That’s right: Pinterest has given affiliate marketing the green light.

What does this mean? Well, it’s really good news if you’re a food blogger. What better way to promote a product than to show yourself using it? And what do you do every time you make a reel or a tiktok? Now you can repurpose those photos and videos and turn them into a new revenue stream.

Pinterest affiliate marketing is not the wild west though. There are rules that govern it, so before you throw yourself into affiliate marketing on Pinterest make sure you understand how it works. This means:

• Checking affiliate guidelines to make sure that affiliate marketing on Pinterest is permitted,

• Adhering to the FTC guidelines,

• Consulting Pinterest’s guidelines for affiliate marketing

How to Use Pinterest in 2022: Adjust & Prepare

Hopefully these tips give you some direction when it comes to Pinterest marketing in 2022. It’s been a rollercoaster, but also a good learning experience. And I don’t expect it to stay the same for very long. If there’s one thing that’s always been true about Pinterest, it’s that it likes trying on new hats.

So… stay tuned for the next shift!

About Confessions of a Food Blogger

Kate Friedman is the creator of Herbivore’s Kitchen, a vegan food blog, and Confessions of a Food Blogger. Confessions of a Food Blogger is an informative resource for food bloggers (and, actually all bloggers) that provides helpful articles, online courses and tips and tricks for starting, building, marketing and managing a food blog.