Pinterest Contests 101: For Pinners

Why a Pinterest Contest?

Pinterest contests and sweepstakes are a great way to learn about new products, share your creative skills, and win great prizes. Pinterest contest prizes can be as small as a gift card to as large as a world trip — the possibilities are endless! By following these guidelines, the contest process should be a fun and easy way to get your hands on some amazing prizes and have fun.

To win a Pinterest contest you have to make a board that represents the brand’s aesthetics, tells a story, and connects with the brand through beautiful and high-quality pins.

Note: Don’t get a Pinterest contest confused with a Pinterest sweepstakes. A sweepstakes is won by luck when your name is chosen at random. A Pinterest contest is won by skill.

A Pinterest contest takes time, planning, and careful pinning to achieve a win. Follow these steps to increase your chances of winning a Pinterest contest and some awesome prizes – and don’t forget to have fun while doing it!

Check the Rules First

Before you jump right into making your board, first make sure you are eligible to enter. Sometimes there are geographic, age, or other demographic requirements or limitations.

Next, check the official rules. Go over the rules to see if they have any pinning requirements or restrictions. Also make sure to review how to submit your board to enter into the contest (is it by emailing the link, filling out a submission form, etc.?) Each brand and contest is different.

Now that you know you’re eligible and know exactly what you can and cannot pin, you need to do a little homework on the brand next.

Know the Brand

As someone who has won a few Pinterest contests, I know how important it is to do a little investigating before starting your board. Before making your board, check out the brand’s Pinterest profile and website. See what kinds of pins and products they have and see how they integrate their products with other images on their boards. After you’ve checked out their Pinterest aesthetic you can start making your board!

Pin Mindfully

When you start pinning, keep in mind that you need to keep a good mixture of their products and images amongst other random high-quality pins. Pinning one of their product pins per five total pins is a good ratio to strive for (but whatever you do, make sure it coincides with the rules).

It’s important to pin high quality, large, bright pins that are pleasing to the eye. Variety is also key – you want to share the brand’s products amongst other lovely pins in order to tell a story.

Here’s an example: If a company sells blenders, pin their products (as required by the rules) among beautiful images of smoothies, salsas, berries, napkins, smiling families, sunlight, pets, dining decor, etc… to create your own unique story around the product. Having a specific angle behind your story can help you stand out from the crowd — in the blender example, your board’s visual story could narrow in on how it might be used for a baby shower, including blender recipes, baby shower decor, crafts, and games. Giving the product a story creatively told through a beautiful array of pins is a sure way to keep you in the front running!

Give Them What They Want

Adding a description to your board is a great way to let judge’s know what story you’re trying to tell with your pins, and adding descriptions to each product pin is also a great way to go the extra mile.

Whether or not the brand has established a pin hashtag for the contest, I like to make sure every pin I put on my entering board has a matching hashtag. If the brand doesn’t have a hashtag set already, hashtag each pin with one hashtag choosing between their brand or product name, slogan, or contest name. Make sure it’s short and sweet.

Enter On Time & Correctly

Make sure you’ve re-read the rules before submitting your board for a contest. Each contest is different and you need to make sure the time you’ve taken to make this amazing board is worthwhile.

Some brands require that you email them your board URL, comment on one of their pins with your URL, or others have an official entering page. Make sure you do this correctly and before the contest closes!

Once you’ve done all this, there’s nothing left other than sitting back and keeping your fingers crossed that you’re named the winner! Keep in mind that this can take a while, so don’t delete your board entry until it’s well past the announcement date.

One site I love to use to find new Pinterest contests is Sweepstakes Advantage. I sort it by ‘date added’ and descending so I can check up on it every few days without seeing repeats.

Are you interested in learning more about running a Pinterest contest for your business? See our blog post last week “Pinterest Contests 101: For Brands.” Also, check out our HelloBuzz Pinterest contest platform feature and email us at [email protected] to learn more.