Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons
If you’ve been on Pinterest for any length of time, then you’ve been invited to participate in a group board. A group board is easily created by having two or more people able to pin on a single board. For some businesses, a group board is a wonderful idea. For others, a group board can quickly become an out-of-control party, akin to spending a long weekend in Vegas with alcoholics.
First, the Pros
Pro: A Place for Friends to Gather
Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons
A group board can be a place for friends to share things that they find entertaining, educational, or funny. For instance, your group of knitters might like to share “yarn bombs,” those funny knitted thing-a-mabobbers that have been popping up all over the place! Finally a place to share those images, right?
Pro: More Eyes on Your Product
For a brand or startup, a shared board can mean more sales. For instance, if you sell iPhone apps, you might consider finding and then asking to join a large group board, and then regularly pinning to that board. More eyes on your product means more repins, likes and comments, and potentially more business.
Pro: More Overall Likes
Another pro is that when someone likes your group board, you’ll probably get more followers. If you’re a brand, in particular, I recommend having a group board and inviting others in your circle to pin to it. When people find your group board, chances are they’ll also find you and that may cause more people to find your brand.
Cons
Now for the downside of group boards.
Con: Spammy Pinning
I’ve seen some group boards taken over by spammers while the group owner does nothing. And I’ve left those group boards because what they said they were didn’t jive with what they became. By the way, here are a few ways to avoid newbie mistakes on Pinterest.
Con: You Don’t “Own” New Follows
The person who starts the group board gets to count the new follows on their account. So if you’re trying to get new followers, that might bother you. In that case, you can start your own group board!
Con: You Can’t Control the Board Cover
On boards you own, you can create a pleasing tableau by matching the themes of the board covers, which you can’t do if you didn’t create a board.
What Do You Like or Dislike About Group Boards?
I’d love to hear from you!
Good points. I guess I just don’t spend enough time on Pinterest either.
My biggest pet peeve about it is a pin that doesn’t go back to the original website.
Ex: If I like a dress, I want to click on it and go to the site that sells it.
b
I know what you mean, Bridget. Yesterday I clicked on a link and it went nowhere, so I didn’t feel like I could repin it, unfortunately. People are missing out on sales if the pin doesn’t go back to the website where it’s for sale! Thanks for commenting!
Carol
Agreed on the repin thing! I try to find the original site and pin from there. Don’t you love it when the pin goes to Google images?!? We had a marketing agency for a while that actually did that.
Nice article, Carol.
Hello Kim,
Repinning from Google images by a marketing agency? That’s too bad. People really do think they can take whatever’s on the internet and use it (and many get away with it), but that approach doesn’t bode well for a brand. Yikes.
Thank you for all your support, Kim. I appreciate it!
Carol Stephen