You can make money on Pinterest, but it requires a strategic approach rather than passive pinning. Most earners use the platform to drive traffic to a blog, promote affiliate products, or sell their own items. Brands and creators also use Pinterest to build visibility, which leads to partnerships and sponsorships.
Set Up Your Pinterest Account for Earnings
Before monetizing, switch your account from personal to business. A business account gives you access to analytics and promotional tools that track how your pins perform.
Building a following is the next priority. That requires knowing your audience and creating visually strong pins that match what they're looking for. Pinterest SEO matters too: well-written pin descriptions that use the right keywords help your content appear in search results.
Having somewhere to send traffic is also essential. A blog, an online store, or active affiliate partnerships are the three most common monetization routes. Regular pinning and engaging with other accounts builds credibility and keeps your profile visible over time.
Ways to Earn on Pinterest
Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Pinterest is an effective traffic source for blogs. Create pins that link directly to your articles, with visuals strong enough to earn a click. The more targeted the pin is to a specific audience's interest, the more likely it converts to a page visit, and from there, to ad or affiliate revenue.
For online store owners, Pinterest's Shopping Tool lets customers buy products without leaving the platform. Setting up a shop turns individual pins into product listings, shortening the path from discovery to purchase.
Sponsored pins pay you to feature products from brands that match your niche. Keeping promotions relevant to your audience maintains trust and engagement. Sponsors often provide products for review, which generates content alongside the fee. Focusing on one niche rather than promoting unrelated products makes sponsorship deals easier to land and more valuable over time.
Join the Pinterest Creator Fund
The Pinterest Creator Fund provides financial support and educational resources to underrepresented creators. It's designed to improve pin quality and increase platform visibility, making it easier to grow a following and attract brand partnerships.
Manage Pinterest Accounts for Businesses
Companies and professionals who want a Pinterest presence often lack the time to build one. Account managers handle pin creation, scheduling, board organisation, and audience development on their behalf. The work draws on content curation skills and pays in proportion to the results you drive for clients.
Create Video Content
Pinterest surfaces video content prominently in user feeds, giving it a reach advantage over static pins. Tutorials, DIY walkthroughs, product reviews, and behind-the-scenes content all perform well. Higher engagement on video pins signals value to brands looking for creator partnerships.
Sell Pinterest Templates
Designers can sell ready-made pin templates to users who want a consistent visual style without building layouts from scratch. Templates can be sold through a linked online store or website, and a strong catalog can attract commission work from businesses that want exclusive designs.
Sell Courses on Pinterest Marketing
Pinterest marketing courses sell well because the platform's traffic potential isn't well understood by most users. A course covering follower growth, content strategy, and analytics can be sold through platforms like Teachable or Skillshare, and promoted through your own Pinterest boards using pins and testimonials.
How Many Followers Do You Need to Earn on Pinterest
Pinterest doesn't require a minimum follower count to start earning. Affiliate marketing can generate sales with a few hundred engaged followers. Brand collaborations and sponsorships typically require a larger audience, usually several thousand, before companies consider the partnership worthwhile.
Engagement quality and the ability to drive traffic to monetized links matter more than raw follower numbers. A smaller, targeted audience consistently clicking through to products outperforms a larger disengaged one.
How Much Can You Earn on Pinterest
Earnings vary significantly depending on the method. Blog traffic monetized through ads and affiliate links scales with page views. Product sales through Pinterest Shopping are tied directly to inventory and pricing. Brand sponsorship deals depend on your niche, audience size, and engagement rate. Account management work pays a recurring monthly fee per client. Template and course sales generate passive income once the products are built.
Most Pinterest earners combine two or three of these methods rather than relying on one.
