Would you like to grow your Pinterest reach – by leaps and bounds?
It’s no secret: Pinterest group boards aren’t doing much to help you these days.
Tailwind Communities to the rescue! Here’s how.
Disclosure: I use and love Tailwind! Use it for free as long as you like. If you upgrade to a paid plan after using my link, I’ll receive a referral fee.
What are Tailwind Communities?
Tailwind Communities, previously called Tailwind Tribes, is a tool that enables you to grow your Pinterest reach and traffic.
Communities will help you with two key problems that social marketers like us face everyday:
- Having a steady supply of high-quality content to share.
- Getting our posts seen by the right people.
You’ll be able to add your content to a Community and have others share it to their audiences. This is so helpful because it’s not all on you anymore. You’re leveraging the collective audiences of your peers!
Communities work in a way that Pinterest group boards can’t, because there’s accountability built in. Everyone in the group can see how much content each member has submitted, and the admin can see how much teach one has shared.
Communities are formed by groups of trusted peers, generally with a focus on aggregating content in a specific topic or niche of interest to them.
As members add great content to their Community, a feed is created for easy review and sharing. By collaborating in this way, everyone in the group has a continuous stream of curated content from people they trust, saving them time and improving their content quality.
And, when someone shares your content from the Community, you also get exposure to a highly-relevant audience. It’s a win-win.
As one blogger put it, “Tailwind Communities are one of the best things to happen to bloggers in a long time.”
Watch Tailwind members explain Communities (formerly named Tribes) in 1 minute:
Tailwind Communities started a few years ago with just one Tribe and nineteen Tribemates. Today, there are thousands of Communities spanning a wide variety of niches.
Chances are, if you’re blogging about a topic, there’s a Community for it.
How do I find and join Tailwind Communities?
Tailwind makes it easy with their Find a Community feature that lets you search for Tailwind Communities to join by keyword or by category.
Before you join, you’ll be able to preview the group’s content to see if it’s a good fit. You’ll also see how many members it contains and how active it is.
Find a Community is a game changer, especially for new marketers or bloggers who need help kickstarting their networking efforts.
Joining open public Communities is easy, and now anyone can find and request to join private Communities too.
And of course, you can also create your own brand-new Community for others to join!
Do Tailwind Communities really work?
I asked Jen Koellmann of Hairs Out of Place if I could share her story. She said:
I definitely think Tribes (now Communities) is a great option for newer blogs in particular, because it honestly enabled me to get instant traffic that I couldn’t get on my own.
I get tons of traffic from my Tribes – and the days I don’t have time to use them, my traffic drops. I love Tribes!
It’s my 2nd month blogging. I’ve been using Tribes heavily while I try to join quality group boards and increase engagement on my own boards.
My Google Analytics report on Tribes traffic for the past 30 days: blog sessions from Tribes is 33% and rising. My blog pageviews for the past 30 days are 24.1K.
How’d you like to have that kind of traffic for the second month of your blog! Pretty impressive.
Jen spent a lot of time in Tribes, and her results aren’t typical. Jen was able to join 60 Tribes by purchasing the Ultimate Plan! You don’t have to do that, but you can see the potential, particularly for a new or low-traffic blog.
I personally have been submitting about 1 Pin per week to 5 Communities – which you could do on the free plan. That brings me 200+ website visits per month.
You can probably beat my figures by sharing more of other members’ content. Community members get an email each week showing their top sharers, which suggests they return the favor. Great idea!
You can check out Jen’s Pinterest account here.
How much do Tailwind Communities cost?
Tailwind Communities is free to get started, and offers a generous free plan to everyone who uses Tailwind – even Forever Free members!
- The free plan of Tailwind Communities allows access to 5 Communities and the submission of 30 pieces of content a month. This is enough for most users.
- Pro plan members* who want more Communities and submissions can add PowerUps starting at just $9.99 per month, paid annually.
- To date there is no Enterprise version of Tailwind Communities for large brands. Access is restricted to influencers, makers, bloggers and marketers within startups or small businesses. Just like us!
If you don’t currently use Tailwind to schedule your Pins, you can try it free! No credit card required.
And now you can use it free as long as you like on Tailwind’s Forever Free plan.
If you decide to upgrade, the cost for the *Pro plan that I use is $119.88 per year, or $14.99 billed monthly.
• • • Click here to try Tailwind Communities FREE • • •
Once you’ve decided to give Communities a try, be sure to watch this video for more details! And my own top Communities tips are directly below it.
How can I make best use of Tailwind Communities?
- Join (or create) niche-specific Communities.
- Familiarize yourself with other members’ content.
- Share lots of great content from the Community, to quality boards.
- Add your own quality Pins for other members to share.
- Stay on-topic and follow all Community rules.
- Check your Communities stats to know which are working best for you.
- Check your Google Analytics under Campaigns to see how they drive traffic.
- Don’t join a lot of Communities at once. Be active in a few, then evaluate.
- Join more if appropriate. Leave those where you’re not getting shares, reach, or traffic.
I recommend not adding or sharing Pins that link directly to affiliate products or sales pages, unless members know each other well. Can you vouch for the content? Then it’s fine to share it.
Additionally, I haven’t found the “share numbers” that appear in Tailwind to be a good indicator of quality. Pins with high numbers are often affiliate links to sales pages. I personally am not inclined to share a link to a product I’m unfamiliar with (or may be an affiliate for myself). YMMV.
In addition, many websites have recently switched to HTTPS, which will reduce the share numbers seen in Tailwind, because they don’t combine http and https variations of the URL. So don’t rely on share counts – click through and check the content.
Also note that successful Tailwind Communities comes in all sizes.
Some of the most successful Communities are massive with hundreds of members. However, small Communities with just a handful of powerful influencers can be equally as effective – especially if the influencers are strong in the same niche.
What makes Tailwind Communities work?
Collaborative marketing is central to Tailwind Communities. By working together, members can curate useful feeds of content in various niches, while also helping their own content be seen by influencers who reach audiences that are relevant for them.
Critically, Tailwind Communities has useful features that enable collaboration. Alternative share groups (like Pinterest group boards) lack these features, such as clear rules and transparent activity scores so that Community admins can see who is contributing to the Community.
Communities also includes a native chat interface that enables better communication and collaboration among members. (Doncha just hate trying to message group board members on Pinterest?!)
Find your Community today, and grow your Pinterest reach!
Tailwind is an indispensable tool in my marketing arsenal. Sign up for Tailwind for FREE and get sharing!
• • • Click here to try Tailwind Communities FREE • • •
Tailwind is an approved Pinterest partner. Try it out, and see how it grows your Pinterest reach!
Rita says
Hi Louise. This article has shed so much light on the topic! Please clarify what you meant when mentioning this particular issue: “You must schedule Tribemates’ Pins in Tailwind to get credit in the Tribe – to be allowed to add your own content for other Tribemates to share..
But after 100 Pins, those scheduled Pins will never post”
Please also clarify the solution you gave. I’m new to all of this and need to understand so that I get the most out of my tailwind/tribes.
Much appreciated.
Louise Myers says
Rita, are you on a free plan and have posted your 100 free pins already? That’s the only case where the solution applies.
Nadim Alamuddin says
Hi Louise,
Thanks for sharing your wisdom on Tailwind tribes. I’ve been using Tribes for about 3 weeks now, and, while I’ve noticed a lot of reshares and traffic on my Pinterest account, I can’t seem to get any clicks (traffic) back to my blog. I’ve been split testing my pins and so far, I’ve had similar results with a lot of my pins. Am I missing something? What makes people click?
I also have been Googling this, but have not found anything on it. Is there an App we can use Tribes on? Now that everything is on mobile, and Tailwind is on mobile, I find it weird not to have Tribes on mobile – unless it’s not available in my region (I’m based in Dubai).
Thanks a lot for your post, once again! Looking forward to reading more tips & tricks!
Louise Myers says
“What makes people click?”
They need a compelling reason. Appealing content. A good call to action.
I don’t know of any way to use tribes on mobile.
Rosa says
Thanks! I didn’t know what to do after the free trial.
Camille says
Louise,
You mention collaboration. could you give an example, a script to follow, or an approach that works? I’m fairly new to pinning, and so far the responses I’ve received are “come back when you’ve got more followers and we can talk”.
Louise Myers says
I’m surprised if you’re getting that multiple times as that’s rather anti- how Tribes are supposed to work. I’ll see if I can find advice from others with low followers.
Heather says
This is so helpful, Louise! I have been blogging for a few months now and am still having trouble gaining traffic. I recently joined Tribes and decided to pay for the Plus with unlimited tribes, but still wasn’t getting a ton of use out of it. This post has helped me reexamine my strategy (as well as all the time I’ve been spending on Pinterest to try to drive traffic). I can ‘t wait to experiment with some changes!
Louise Myers says
Sounds great, Heather!
Nicole says
Hi Louise,
Thanks for such a detailed post. I was invited to a Tribe months ago, had no idea what it was, and ignored the invite – ha!
I have a question:
The very last paragraph of this post says that Tribes is an approved Pinterest partner. I also just finished reading you post from June of this year re: the Pinterest algorithm and how it views time spent using the platform (or, “manual pinning” versus “automated pinning”). SO: How does Pinterest view Tribes? As automated pinning?
I see the value of Tribes over group boards (Lord knows I’m in a couple group boards that hardly scratch the surface of my niche, or get me many shares). I’m just wondering about the value of Tribes over manual pinning and finding smaller, more targeted group boards. Is there a ratio you could recommend?
Louise Myers says
Hi Nicole!
I’ve never seen any evidence that Pinterest values time on the platform, or manual pinning. I spend virtually no time on Pinterest and I’d guess less than 1% of my pinning is manual. So, I suggest you use manual pinning if you enjoy it, and automated pinning if you want to save time and optimize your Pinterest use.
Good group boards are so hard to find! Did you read my post on group boards? I don’t think there’s a % that works for everyone – you need to try them out and learn what works for you. I have noticed that some Tribe members will share content to a number of group boards (and their own) at the same time. This can really multiply your reach.
I’m not sure I’ve ever blogged about the Pinterest algorithm or manual pinning. Please point me in that direction if I’ve forgotten! 🙂
Giuliano says
Very good your post … Thank you
Lisa Sicard says
Hi Louise, I just started using this and am loving it! It reminds me of Triberr. I didn’t realize there was a $5/mo plan, I thought it started at $15. I may do that – quite affordable.
I have noticed an uptick in traffic from Pinterest since starting about a week ago now.
Thanks for sharing about these and for the video’s too 🙂
Have a great day and a wonderful Thanksgiving Louise!
Louise Myers says
Hey Lisa,
The $5/mo only covers Tribes. I really don’t understand how it works when you’re done the free trial of the Tailwind scheduler. The scheduler is $119/yr or $15/mo. I’ll try to get some clarity on this.
Have a great (long) weekend!
Louise Myers says
OK, I have an answer. You can use 5 Tribes for FREE, whether or not you’re a paid user of Tailwind. If you want to add more Tribes ($5/mo) you MUST be a Plus user of TW. Plus is $15/mo or $120/yr. There’s also a discount on the “PowerUp” if you pay for a year in advance. To schedule Pins after the free trial of Plus, it’s still $15/mo. The $5 is only IF you want more Tribes AND are a Plus member.
Audrey says
Thank you for clarifying how the tribes, powerups, and plus work. I have been a bit confused about this.
Louise Myers says
I’m glad it helped 🙂
Donna Merrill says
Hi Louise,
Tailwind tribes seem like the way to go.
I know when I first started blogging tribes were more valuable than anything else that I did.
There’s nothing different here.
It’s all about reciprocation.
When people connect with each other and help each other out everybody benefits.
Otherwise the whole tribe experience runs flat.
Like Susan said in her comment… that’s when it’s time to leave and move on to another, more productive and responsible tribe.
-Donna
Susan Velez says
Hi Louise,
I love Tailwind Tribe and since using them, I have noticed an increase in traffic. I’ve joined several and I have found some to be great.
I’ve also left a few because I was always sharing people’s pins and no one was reciprocating and sharing any of my pins.
So like you said, it’s important to pay attention to see how active that Tribe is. If you’re always sharing and no one is sharing your stuff, it’s time to leave.
It’s no different than using Facebook Groups. Some people will just drop their link and then run on share days.
I’ve found some really great groups where we all share each other’s pins. Like you, I don’t like sharing links that lead to landing pages or affiliate products. I’d rather the pin lead to some great content that my readers will like.
Thanks for sharing these tips on Tailwind Tribes.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan