What You Should Know about Pinterest Hashtags

Hashtags have been made popular by Instagram and Twitter, but have also been used on other social networks, such as Pinterest and Facebook. When used correctly, hashtags can help create a user-friendly experience on Pinterest, just like on other platforms. With the right strategy, marketers can use Pinterest hashtags to their advantage in order to get their content out in front of a bigger audience.

Pinterest Hashtags Are Used to Search Pins

On Pinterest, you can use hashtags to search for Pins. You are able to click in the description of the pin and, if it has the hashtag the user is searching for, it may appear in the search results. You can add hashtags to the account description or other places, but users won’t be able to click them.

When trying to use Pinterest hashtags for search purposes, you will find that the searches can return boards that don’t necessarily have that specific hashtag, but that include the words in the title or description. This means that using general terms can cause a lot of unrelated things to pop up. Being more specific produces better results. When searching for pins, you will find that the most current pins show up first. Just like on Instagram, Pinterest will give you a list of popular hashtags for suggestions when you use the hashtag symbol.

How Many Hashtags?

Having too many hashtags can impact rankings, according to Pinterest for Business. If you are going to have a Promoted Pin, you are only allowed one hashtag. While the strategy on Instagram and Twitter can be to add as many hashtags as possible in order to get more people to see content, on Pinterest you want to be strategic with hashtags and use one important hashtag.

You have 500 characters to use in your Pinterest description, so in theory, you can add up to 20 hashtags. Many users that see too many hashtags think of the pin as spammy, so it’s important to remember that while you can add multiple hashtags, it may not be a good idea to do so. You may only want to add three to four for a new pin or promoted pin. Adding hashtags to the end of your content can help make sure users aren’t driven off by your content since they are clickable and you don’t want people to click away.

Searching with Hashtags

It’s possible to search for pins using hashtags and include them to have users find content. Users can search for pins in two ways. They can click on a hashtag in a pin description they come across or search for a specific hashtag, such as #bathroomdesign. Sometimes, boards show up with hashtags as well instead of just pins, but hashtags are designed best for pins.

Optimizing Pins with Hashtags

In order to optimize search for your pins, incorporate a mix of niche hashtags, evergreen hashtags, and time-sensitive hashtags.  Don’t go too broad with hashtags. Just because there is a hashtag on a pin does not mean that it will appear in the search results. Not every pin with hashtags is going to be indexed by Pinterest. There isn’t a need to add hashtags to old pins, just add to new ones.

Hashtags Work for Pinterest Contests

Since the search feature of Pinterest hashtags doesn’t work very well and it’s in your best interest to use unique hashtags, using a specific hashtag for a Pinterest contest could work. Hashtags for Pinterest should be the opposite of ones on Twitter and Instagram; they should not be frequently used search terms. A one-of-a-kind hashtag performs much better.

One of the ways to get traction on Pinterest is by doing a Pinterest contest with the one-of-a-kind hashtag. Businesses have had success by asking participants to create a Pinterest board with the unique hashtag. They then pin images from their website onto the board. This would enter them into the contest to win something from the company.

Not only does this provide traction on Pinterest, it can also help with discovery and brand awareness. Once the contest is over, there will still be plenty of pins from the website floating around Pinterest.

Utilizing Hashtags for Social Media Campaigns

It doesn’t have to be a contest in order for a hashtag to promote content. You can use a unique hashtag in order to boost other social media campaigns. As long as the hashtag is unique and memorable, you can use it to help keep tabs on marketing efforts. If you are using a unique hashtag, clicking on it will help your pins show up in the search, as long as you aren’t trying to search for boards.

If used correctly, you can make use out of hashtags on Pinterest and use them as part of your marketing campaigns to get more users to see content.