Is there a certain number of pins that is appropriate when promoting items on Pinterest?

[wheresthekarma]

Hi everyone! I was just wondering if there was a certain limit on how many times you can pin your Zazzle products in a day? At what point is it considered spamming?

[idraw]

@wheresthekarma 

your answer is here—-
<https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/rate-limit-blocks>

[wheresthekarma]

Well, I was hoping for something more specific, because saying "pinning a lot" could mean different things to different people. Is a lot ten pins and hour or ten pins a day? I bet if you asked 100 different people what pinning a lot would be, they would all give different answers.

[idraw · Accepted solution]

@wheresthekarma 
I gave you the only related info I could find doing a lengthy search on pinterest. (I do not work for Zazzle, I am a shopkeeper volunteering my  time) You could go do a search on pinterest for yourself, or go to https://help.pinterest.com/en/contact and ask them directly for an answer. And you can post your complaint with them about the nonspecific answer they gave in their help section.

[wheresthekarma]

I had the same issue as you. I googled and searched and couldn't find anything. I appreciate your answer and taking the time to answer, I didn't mean to sound like i was coming down on you, I meant it towards Pinterest for being so non specific. I have some Youtube tutorials for Zazzle and someone on there asked me, so I was asking for them. 

[idraw]

@wheresthekarma 
so, I understand why you were asking, still think the best way to get a specific and clear answer is to ask Pinterest directly. I agree that “pinning a lot” needs to be better defined. Hope you get a useful answer from them, frustrating.
How about mentioning some links for your z youtube tutes, may be helpful to the new shops.

[wheresthekarma]

Thanks! My channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUzEuGoJbSmnhi1yilGyqVw
I am part of a community for people with chronic illness, and many people are on disability. I have tried to teach quite a number of people how to do Zazzle as we can do it from home in our beds if need be. I made a couple videos for people just as simple tutorials as everyone is from all across the world that I work with and I thought it would be the easier way to teach people so they can watch them in their own time zones and when they are up to it. I didn't really expect to get views other tha the people I was teaching personally but they did so whenever anyone asks me a question I try to make a video for them. (If it's something within my realm of knowledge.) A lot of time I learn along with everyone else! Anyways, thanks again, I appreciate the time you took to answer and search for me. 

[Cat]

If you're pinning too much/too frequently, Pinterest will give you a message and block you from pinning for a while (like for a few hours.) I think it has more to do with how quickly you're pinning rather than the total number of pins, but I'm not entirely sure. My guess is that they're mostly trying to discourage bots. That's about all I know.

I did read somewhere that they frown on duplicate pins. I'm not sure if there's a penalty for pinning the same thing twice or what, but I try not to do that. I'm a little bit confused about what "counts" as a duplicate pin though. I was assured by another Zazzler that if I pin a newly created cover it won't count as a duplicate because it's a different picture (even though I'd already pinned the product with its default image) so I've been pinning them as I create covers. Not entirely sure about it though.

[wheresthekarma]

Thank you Cat! 

[PacifierCity]

@wheresthekarma 

You can get dinged as a spammer at P for only  posting product pins.  It may take months for them to do it, but if you don't interact with the platform in any other way, it can and probably will happen. 

P does stop you from pinning if you are just going at it non stop, one after the other.  They stop you from following to many people in a short period of time too.

Historically, the first 5 pins you post each day are going to get the best results.  After that P decreases the amount of times it shows other pins created that day.  So pinning 50 or 100 pins in a day is ... sort of counter productive.  Folks know that I advise to pin 5 - 15 pins a day.  In bunches of 5 at different times of the day, everyday.

Have I pinned 100 times in a day?  Yes.  But most of those are non product repins that goto non product boards.  I don't do it often, but I have.  None of my accounts are only product pins or product boards.  They all include non product boards.

If you only post products and post 50+ a day, day after day, you will probably get dinged as a spammer within a month.

PC

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[Cat]

@PacifierCity  Wow! That's super helpful info. Is there a way to know if Pinterest has flagged you as a spammer?

[PacifierCity]

@Cat 

They have.  Early on I tried to create themed accounts... say something like "Love Unicorns"  I then posted only Zazzle unicorn products.  Every board was only a product board.  I had a few of these accounts and they all got tagged as spam in a short period of time. 

Pinterest wants you to be part of their community.  They don't see themselves as being there for you to only try and sell your wares... or other peoples.  They want you to make their community a better place with all sorts of different stuff.  They want you to repin, comment on other peoples pins, follow people, etc.  AND bring new pins that others really like...

PC

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[Cat]

@PacifierCity So, they sent you an email or something? Just wondering if I would know it if they'd flagged me as a spammer because it never occurred to me that I should be doing more on Pinterest than pinning products!

[Windy]

I've never gotten an email, but I have seen my monthly views go down, which is probably related to my not interacting as much as I should. But I find interacting to be a waste of time, because I get no action in return. If I comment on people's pins, I hear nothing back, and for all I know those people may not have been at Pinterest for eight years. There is no way on the app I use, to tell how long ago a pin was posted. 

[Cat]

Wait, what? You can comment on people's pins? Who knew?

[Windy]

Sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. I really do not like the platform and can't reliably figure it out. Which is another reason I don't interact as much as I otherwise would .

[PacifierCity]

@Cat 

Yes, they send you an email and you cannot access the account.

PC

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[Cat]

@PacifierCity Ahhhh... well that's a relief. I was sorta worried that maybe I was a spammer and didn't know it and was just wasting my time pinning things! Sorta like the Pinterest version of the 6th Sense! 😉

[Caprice]

"You can get dinged as a spammer at P for only  posting product pins" ....as opposed to...?

Sorry.  I'm a Pinterest Idiot.

[PacifierCity]

@Caprice 

No worries....

Someone might create a board and call it "Inspiration".  Pins that they post to that board might include photos of sunsets, beautiful nature scenes, poetry, etc...  You could have a board about creating art and save other peoples videos of them creating art to it.  The options are endless... really...  But in some way the board should relate to your accounts theme... if it has one.  Your brand has some sort of theme... yes?  It is MORE than just selling your art... RIGHT?...  P wants to see a rounded out account...IMO...

My 2 cents... for what its worth...

PC

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[wheresthekarma]

Thank you! That was very helpful! Appreciate the tips and your experience!

[TAngelone]

Hey wheresthekarma I just left you a couple of comments on YOUTUBE. Thanks for your videos btw. You have a very barebones approach and I personally like the way you teach in your tutorials. And yes we can all learn from each other!

That stated based upon information I myself have gathered regarding a number of pins to pin daily on PINTEREST would be around 15 pins. Anyone can obviously opt to pin more of them daily. 

Pinterest is really interested in quality and originality over quantity. Meaning if you have multiple sets of pins that all relate to one single theme or topic that has a related PINTEREST board then that number can and should increase. 

In terms of a maximum number I cannot answer that. I would venture to say that for most beginners or those new to PINTEREST 15 - 30 PINS daily during a monthly cycle is a healthy estimate. 

In terms of how often one should pin in terms of times of the day. I am honestly NOT sure as that depends on a number of different factors that are too broad to list here. 

I am told that consistency is also key on PINTEREST. Meaning that if one pins at certain times during the day like at 1 or 2 AM or at 1 or 2 PM for instance then stick to that. Don't just pin at random times just for the sake of pinning or trying to rank higher in search results. 

I will try to keep my responses shorter. 

Look forward to seeing more of your videos on YOUTUBE regarding all Zazzle related topics such as store set up, social media promotion etc. Thanks for serving the disabled community as well. 

I myself have invested in TAILWIND which is a PINTEREST scheduler. I am still learning how to use it. 

TAILWIND will take the guesswork out of how often to pin as well as help in making the actual pins.