How To Join Pinterest Group Boards [And If You Should]

Want to join Pinterest group boards?

The internet is awash in advice to do so.

I have some helpful tips for you, but I warn you not to spend too much time and effort on joining group boards.

Yes, there are good ones. I’m on 3 that get me better engagement than most of my own boards. I’m grateful to be a collaborator!

However, I’ve been on dozens that are probably worse than a waste of time, by dragging me down with their lousy engagement and often widely varying content.

Unfortunately, these are the same ones that are easy to join. Read on…

How To Find Pinterest Group Boards

In order to join boards, you first have to find them. This is the easy part. The hard bit is, most of the time, you can’t tell which are accepting contributors.

When you find a group board possibility, you’ll need to click through and see if the admin has left instructions for joining. Some will say they’re closed to new contributors. As a former group board admin myself, please respect that.

I recommend you follow these guidelines for finding boards that might benefit you:

• Fits your niche. The tighter it’s niched, the better. DON’T join open, all-topic boards.
• Has a few active contributors (2 – 20 seems ideal, but stick with fewer than 50).
• The admin and contributors’ Pinterest authority is similar or better than yours (another reason open boards don’t work: too many weak contributors).
• Follower number only matters in relation to their credibility to Pinterest. You probably want to avoid boards with less than half your lowest board follower count.
• Few rules other than staying on topic and not spamming. Too many rules are a headache to keep track of and not worth your time.

Here’s where to look:

1. Group Board Lists

One place to look is on these dedicated web pages.

PinGroupie: Fortunately this site is active again, so you can find fresh information sorted in various ways.

You might be prone to sort boards by the highest number of followers, but followers don’t equal results. I’m on a board with 19K followers that outperforms a board with almost a million – and I mean fivefold. Right now, followers seems to be a useless metric (except as noted above).

If I were to use PinGroupie, I would look in my niche and sort by fewest collaborators. Because those will outperform “open” boards to the nth power.

BoardBooster: Sorry, this has shut down.

2. Facebook Groups Dedicated to Pinterest

There are at least 3 Facebook groups that help unite group board admins with seekers.

Pinterest Group Boards: At almost 11,000 members, this is the biggest, and well moderated.

Pinterest Group Boards: About 2,000 members as I write this.

Pinterest Group Boards | Repins | Followers | Traffic: Group boards and more.

3. Check Influencer’s Pinterest Profiles

Check profiles of Pinners in your niche. If you see more than 1 face in the circle, that indicates a group board.

4. Network With Your Business Buddies

Check with connections you’ve made in your niche to see if they know of group boards you might want to join.

How To Join Pinterest Group Boards

1. Connect first

I get these emails all the time:

I love your blog and your content! Please add me to your group board!

Then I scan their Pinterest profile: Not a single Pin of mine in sight.

PLEASE be genuine! Phony B.S. is a huge turn-off.

Connect with people you’d like to Pin with by:

• Sharing their content.
• Commenting on their blog and pins
• Being active (not self-promotional) in their Facebook group.

A genuine connection will go far for your success on Pinterest – and everywhere.

2. Follow the instructions

My board description said for months that I wasn’t accepting new contributors. Yet I’d get requests all the time.

PLEASE Read the board description to see if they’ve left instructions. Then follow them.

3. Don’t assume

If there are no instructions and few contributors, don’t assume the group board is open.

You can still try to contact the board owner as mentioned below, but don’t expect an answer.

And PLEASE, if you get a response that you don’t like, take it like a grownup. If you get a NO, don’t reply “That’s unprofessional,” as happened to Kate Ahl.

4. Reach out to the board owner

The board owner is the first photo, and also in the URL of the group board.

You can attempt to contact them:

• Via Pinterest message.
• Through their Facebook group.
• On their website contact form.

5. Give them a clue.

Why should they add you? Let them know!

If you’re applying to a board where anyone is added for no reason at all – I guarantee that’s a crummy board. So don’t bother.

But DO let the board owner know what you will contribute to the board!

• Provide a link to your blog or store website.
• Include your Pinterest profile link.
• Be sure your main blog or product board – the one to which you share all your own content – is obvious at the top of your Pinterest profile.

6. Possible end-around.

If you don’t hear from the board owner: see if you know a current contributor and ask if they can add you.

Most smart owners have disabled this feature – and even if they haven’t, they could still delete you. But, you can try.

If not Pinterest group boards, then what?

You may have noticed: I’m not a big believer. At least, not in the way Pinterest group boards are generally used.

So what can you do if group boards aren’t working for you?

• Don’t spend too much time trying to outwit group boards, or “force” them to work.
• Groups that happen naturally between people who know each other will work best.
• Try Tailwind Tribes or Facebook share groups where you can pin on-niche content.

Focus on things you can control:

• Pin content that people look for on Pinterest (inspirational).
• Incorporate keywords that Pinners are searching for.
• Create great headlines and text on Pins.
• Test and improve your Pin designs.

Work on the things you can control, like content and keywords, and don’t worry too much about group boards.

Now that you’re ready to conquer Pinterest group boards, be sure to share this post with your friends and followers.