New (to me and maybe you?) Pinterest Information

[Malissa]

I have been doing research on the Pinterest changes for 2023 and I am not sure when this change was implemented, but I have read some interesting info that could possibly explain some things.

Apparently, if you use a product pin on Pinterest in which you have tagged pins with products and added an affiliate code, the code only works if you use a desktop computer and click the black arrow that appears when you hover over the pin. If the link is clicked on a phone (which supposedly 80% of P users do), then the affiliate code is not included. This was presented as fact by a pinterest "expert" I get newsletters from and she usually has very reliable information and digs in the code to figure things out, but you never know. 

I don't really have any product pins to speak of that I have tagged, but that made me curious if the same thing applies to a regular product pin. I used one of my older non-promoter pins created using the nifty auto pinner on my desktop (laptop) and when I see the url that appears when you hover over the black arrow the tracking code is definitely there. Which I knew it would be. Then I used my iphone and opened the P app and copied the link and just pasted it into my phone browser as well as my notepad to look at. What I got was a shortened url.

All that to ask, does that shortened url mean that smart phone users are not getting the link with our referral id? I think I remember hearing not to use shortened urls when creating pins so I am not sure if this is the same type of result or not.

Then, perusing the Zazzle pinterest threads, I saw this reply from Scott, but it is in reference specifically to pins pinned from Zazzle I believe.  The pin I checked was not pinned directly from Z. (I used Nifty that pulls from Z using an rss feed).   But maybe that means the shortened url that I got using the phone app still contains the referral code?  I don't know how or if all the info contained in a shortened url can be seen.   

Has anyone else heard of the issue with trying to affiliate using tagged product pins specifically on phones? Do you think a non product pin would be affected in the same way?  I just get a newsletter and don't really have a way to ask the person that puts out the info directly.

[ColsCreations]

I'm not very active with promoting on Pinterest so am wondering what you mean by "tagged product pins" / "tagged pins with products".

[Malissa]

@ColsCreations 

When you add a product pin there is an option to tag products.  So say you added a home decor image that shows a throw pillow, a blanket, a poster, and a mug that you want to link to there is an option for you to add the links to all of those products and I think it shows a little dot on the image where the product is.  Kind of like the front page of Zazzle.  I can't find one to show you, but here is a pinterest help article about how to do it.

[Malissa]

I have learned ( thanks to Mark Highton Ridley) that if you copy the link using the "visit" button when you are on the Pinterest phone app, that the full url is indeed there, but if you click the 3 dots at the top of the image (like I did initially yesterday) and then choose copy link, you get the shortened url.  I wish I knew where the pinterest VA got her info on the referral info being stripped from the shortened url.  I  am going to see if I can find out when I get time in the next few days, but it will prob be early next week with a busy Father's day weekend coming up for me.

[Malissa]

I finally had time to dig a little more into this and the issue is specifically for "idea pins" that have been tagged with products.  Static pins links are not affected just the idea pin affiliate links. 

eta- I don't have any idea pins tagged with product links so I can't check to confirm.

[DancingPelican]

I just noticed something odd on my Pinterest pins today. Under most of my pins, just under the price, it says “free shipping”. That seems like false advertising. Not sure where that is coming from. It is not something that I included in my pin.

[DancingPelican]

One more clarification, this “free shipping” text only appears on products that I pinned directly from Zazzle. It doesn’t appear on any of my self-created pins.

[DancingPelican]

Here is an example of a pin I pinned directly from Zazzle that indicates free shipping under the price: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/304204149844635558/

[Malissa]

On the few that I have pinned directly from Zazzle recently, I saw "free shipping" on some and alternately "see price on site" or a price on the pin.  My only guess is that since there is an offer for a free trial of Zazzle plus available with your first order on Zazzle it is probably referring to that.  It is a little misleading, but I have seen a lot of places do that where you click through and there is some caveat to the free shipping like on "orders over $50" or something similar. 

eta- it is not something you added to the pin because the ones pinned direct from Zazzle pull information from Zazzle and do not use the description that you wrote.

[DancingPelican]

Thanks Malissa. That makes sense.

[Malissa]

You are welcome.  It seems Pinterest is an ever changing puzzle to be solved.  lol

[Barbara]

That's odd. I just spot-checked a number of my recent pins that were direct from Zazzle and there's nothing about free shipping or even "see price on site." What the heck? Why for some users and not for others?

Colorwash's Home

[DancingPelican]

Barbara, I am not sure if it is occurring with my pins because I am in the Promoter program or some other reason. I notice the "free shipping" on some products consistently (like invitations, water bottles, t-shirts, pillows, foam core signs, and some business cards). It does NOT show on other products pinned exactly the same way, like 3-ring binders, coffee mugs and notebooks. Not sure what causes the "free shipping" to trigger and post.

[Barbara]

I'm also in the Promoter program, and so I checked business cards specifically since I don't sell the other things you mentioned. No free shipping. It has to be something in Zazzle's code that's making it happen, given that it's not something Pinterest would randomly add all on its own. Is it only items you've pinned recently?

Colorwash's Home

[DancingPelican]

I just went back through my pins a couple of years. The "free shipping" text seems totally random going back as far as I checked. Some pins have it, some do not. I even found one of the pins that I created had it, rather than only the pins pinned directly from Zazzle. It is puzzling trying to determine what triggers that free shipping notation. 

[Barbara]

It's deceptive enough that maybe sending off a question to Pinterest would clear things up. Probably not, but you never know.

Colorwash's Home

[SylviaB]

Hi Barbara,

You made a good point by pointing out that it has to be something in the Zazzle code, and not in Pinterest. Pinterest scans information from any given link being put in. So, I went through my product pins I shared from Zazzle. Interesting is, I posted 2 new pins of the same product. First screenshot is when I shared it to Pinterest from the Zazzle marketplace. The second screenshot is from when I shared it directly from my Zazzle store. 

I know it does not really explain it, but I thought it's interesting. However, the second pin, shared from my store, it looks like it displays as of the pin is located in the Zazzle Pinterest account.

 

 

[Barbara]

Odd. My pins don't look like that at all. Do you have a business account?

Colorwash's Home

[SylviaB]

Yes. Sorry, I forgot to mention that. That most likely has an impact, too. 

[SylviaB]

It's a great feature on Pinterest.
There are just a few things to remember. 
For the tag products feature to show up, you need to have a claimed website.
"Add a title, description, alt text, and your claimed website as the destination link"
https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/tag-your-products-in-your-pins 

Claimed website. In order to get one you have to place a HTML code snippet in the website code. 
Since I don't have access to the Zazzle store code, I used my SmugMug website to claim. As I have access to add code snippets.  It's explained in this Pinterest help article: https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/claim-your-website 

The Pin with products: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/47921183528107054/ 
Since I can't use my Zazzle Store link, the pin is attributed to my SmugMug website, but the products are not located on that site. 
Most of the time I use the carousel feature to display products in separate images or combine related products in an image.
Examples: https://www.pinterest.com/sylviablaauw/ 
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/47921183526827821/ 
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/47921183527615721/ 

I use Canva to make the Pin images. I think Canva is the most versatile to make such mockups. Not just for Pinterest, but any social media, flyers, cards, ...