Pinterest for Substack: How I Get More Subscribers, Organic Traffic, and Sales Without Ads
What started as a place for inspiration became one of the most powerful tools for growing my Substack, reaching new readers, and creating long-term organic traffic.
Let’s be honest: Pinterest is much more than just pretty pictures.
Many people think Pinterest is just another social media platform or a place where you can save aesthetic photos.
The truth, however, is completely different.
Pinterest is one of the most powerful tools for generating additional organic traffic, as well as additional sales. And why not more subscribers on Substack?
A year ago, the only reason I used Pinterest was to find inspiration for decorating my apartment. Or to search for beautiful quotes that simply matched the mood I was in at the time.
Everything changed when I started building my own online brand - and more specifically, when Not Exactly Ana was born on Substack.
That was the moment Pinterest became much more than a collection of beautiful aesthetic images. It became one of my greatest allies for generating additional organic views and subscribers.
The truth is that Pinterest is a search engine whose purpose is to generate long-term organic traffic.
It’s not a social network, even though those aesthetic pins sometimes make it look like the Instagram feed we all remember from years ago.
Long-term traffic on Pinterest means that a pin you publish today can continue driving traffic to your Substack or website even a year from now. In fact, the growth is often upward over time, unlike many other platforms where traffic tends to plateau after a certain period.
At the beginning, I made the mistake of not researching these things deeply enough. I assumed my pins simply weren’t working because a week had passed and I wasn’t seeing significant results.
This is where it’s important to understand that Pinterest results are not like Substack results.
Pinterest requires much more time for the algorithm to understand your content and begin recommending your pins to the right audience.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth using - quite the opposite.
The amount of time Pinterest requires from you is relatively small compared to many other platforms where you might try promoting your Substack newsletter or product.
Pinterest is an incredible tool for Substack creators, independent authors, small business owners using platforms like Etsy or Shopify, and businesses selling physical products or services.
In other words, it’s a place for any creator who doesn’t have an advertising budget but needs additional direct traffic to their Substack, product, or service.
What Is Important to Know?
Pinterest Loves Clear Niches
Especially if your goal is to generate traffic to your Substack.
Imagine you are a fiction writer on Substack. Your Pinterest strategy should clearly showcase exactly that:
Excerpts from book chapters
Short quotes with a clear CTA
Character mood boards and visual inspiration
All of these can be turned into pins that you can use for months, rotating and combining them over time with clear titles, descriptions, hashtags, and alt text.
The same principle applies to virtually any niche.
Try to keep your pin content focused on a single niche so Pinterest can accurately determine which audience your content belongs to.
If your Substack covers multiple niches, I would recommend creating separate Pinterest accounts for each one.
This helps keep your feed focused and allows Pinterest’s algorithm to better understand who your audience is.
Your Visuals Need to Be Readable
I know we all love italics and beautiful fonts that make us romanticize life. But the truth is that none of it will work if people can’t actually read what’s written.
That’s why your visuals should be clear, readable, concise, and strong enough to capture attention.
Once you find a text format that performs well, you can continue using it and simply experiment with different color palettes over time.
Don’t Forget to Add a Link to Your Substack
In the beginning, I published many quote pins on Pinterest. The truth is that almost nobody clicked through to my Substack profile.
I’ll admit - I was very close to giving up.
Then I started researching what a pin actually needs beyond a title and description. That’s when I realized how important it is for every pin to include a link to the platform or product you want to drive traffic toward.
For that reason, don’t overlook optimizing both your Pinterest profile and every individual pin you publish.
Focus on Outbound Clicks
One of the biggest mistakes many online creators make is assuming Pinterest is primarily about views.
The reality is that if you want your website to gain visibility and traffic, you need to focus on pins that generate outbound clicks.
Not just saves or impressions.
You want people to intentionally engage with your pin and click through to the destination you are promoting.
This is exactly what I focus on, and it’s one of the topics I discuss in my Pinterest strategy guide for beginners because I noticed many creators struggle with this specific area.
Ignoring Pinterest Tags Can Hurt Your Reach
Like Substack, Pinterest uses tags to help categorize content.
If you create content related to finance, for example, it makes sense for your pin to appear within that niche.
To help Pinterest recognize this, you can use clear tags such as finance, business, and other relevant keywords.
Pinterest allows you to use up to 10 tags, helping you cover your niche more effectively
These are only a small portion of the things I believe every creator,whether on Substack or another platform, should understand about Pinterest.
That is precisely why I created my Pinterest Strategy Guide, where I explain how I have been increasing traffic and sales through Substack over the past several months.
If there is one thing I would like to leave you with today, it is this:
Don’t stop publishing pins every week. Use whatever tools you have available to create them. Experiment. Test new ideas.
Consistency is key - not only on Pinterest and Substack, but in life as a whole.
📚The second edition of Not Exactly a Magazine is here and waiting for its readers - grab your free copy and dive into some of the best stories you’ll ever read.
📢If you’re a writer looking to grow your audience on Substack, share your story, and be part of a supportive creative community, you’re invited to join the next edition of my Substack Visibility Project.
Because your words matter — and someone out there needs them.
😍These types of posts will always remain free, because I believe that reassurance has no price. If you still wish to support me, you can always do so with a cup of coffee.
I'm going to use this for my keynote speaker endeavor. Thanks for sharing a potential goldmine in advertising/self promotion at minimal, if any, cost.
This is really helpful. I like the reminder that Pinterest is not about quick attention, it is about building a path for people to keep finding your work over time which is important for visiblity and constant growth.