How to Use Hashtag Effectively on Pinterest

Hashtag can be found everywhere on both Instagram and Twitter, and occasionally on Pinterest. As an avid Twitter, I’ve often wondered how come they’re not as prevalent on Pinterest. Perhaps there’s a marketing opportunity to exploit. But would it be worth the effort?

Initially my research into the topic yielded conflicting advice with people falling either into one camp or the other. In the end, I realized that hashtags can be useful in particular circumstances. Here’s what I discovered.

Hashtags Offer a Different Experience on Pinterest

Hashtags may be a great way of finding content on Twitter, but it’s a different case when it comes to Pinterest. Hashtags are supported on this platform, and they kind of work the same way.

But on Pinterest, hashtags in account descriptions, board titles, board descriptions or profile names aren’t clickable. The only place you can click and search hashtags are in a Pin’s description.

On the bright side, hashtag search results can be filtered to show just boards. But notice how the search for #growthhacking returned some boards that didn’t have the hashtag. Some just had the right word in the title or description. So putting hashtags in your board or account descriptions may not help much in the end at all, especially if they’re general terms.

Hashtag Searches Return Poor Results

Using a hashtag to search on Pinterest currently leaves much to be desired. Yes. You can do it, but you never know what you’re going to get.

It’s not uncommon for hashtag searches to return irrelevant results, making the entire exercise pointless and frustrating. Marketers on Instagram and Twitter use hashtags as a method of increasing their visibility because search algorithms on those platforms work elegantly. But in the case of Pinterest, the unpredictability of hashtag searches means using them can hurt more than help.

Using Hashtags for Pinterest Contests

Unique hashtags work best on Pinterest. Ideally, the hashtag should have nothing in common with frequently used search terms. You want a one-of-a-kind hashtag that can lead Pinners back to your content.

Using Hashtags for Social Media Campaigns

Even if you’re not running a contest, you can still use hashtags for promotional efforts across your social media campaigns. For branding purposes, you want to make sure the hashtag is unique and memorable. It’s an effective way of keeping tabs on your marketing effort because when you click on the hashtag in Pinterest, all the pins from that campaign show up in the search.

Hashtags have their place on Pinterest when used correctly. How do you use hashtags? Have you seen any good examples? Let us know in the comments below.