Why Looking For A Pinterest Group Board Is Like A Root Canal
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It’s tough to be a Pinterest virgin.
Advice resonates throughout the internet community when researching Pinterest marketing strategy; join a group board. The advice resounds in the blogging world, join a group board to enhance your blog/brand/product. Okay, sounds easy enough right?
Except that experience will show it is NOT quite that easy to join a Pinterest group board and in fact, the process is about as fun as a root canal. Long, somewhat tortuous and painful. Then again, attempting to join a Pinterest Group Board is free where a root canal is pricey.
The “How To” Advice On Joining A Pinterest Group Board
The Pinterest advice is simple for the bloggers, join a Pinterest Group Board aka Pinterest Community Board. In deference to the Pinterest guru’s, they do usually give a forewarning (which should be in HUGE, CAPITAL letters) it can be difficult to find the actual instructions as to joining a group board from the administrator.
Like the difference between a root canal on a tooth with one root or a molar with 4 roots, big difference.
My take: They haven’t tried to join a Pinterest Group Board as a Pinterest virgin in 2015 or 2016.
Why You Need To Be A Detective To Find A Group Board
I dutifully find the intended group board on pingroupie. Whoo hoo!
I navigate to the target group board.
On the top menu I look to the very left circle and find the target group boards administrator.
I click over to the administrator’s page and look to the profile for instructions as to how to follow the board… I click back to the intended group board and scan the board for any hints… I scan the board to try and determine if the posts are relatively timely (has the board been abandoned?) I click back to the administrator board and look for any hints. I scan the administrator board for an “Add Me” type pin.
I’ve lost count of my clicks.
There are no instructions to be found anywhere. Hmmm. Now I understand administrating a group board is a volunteer position. But why have a group board if you don’t want members? Or why not put a quick sentence on the profile, hey we are full? hey no can do? Or delete the board from the pingroupie listings.
And then Eureka, you find a group board with instructions.
Following And The Pinterest Feed
One of the inherent problems is the Pinterest Feed. ( I know, this is only news to us Pinterest virgins.) To be efficient, one needs to follow either the Administrator or the group board depending upon the instructions and then request the invite.
Which throws the group board posts into your Feed (or did? fast forward to Smart Feed.) Update for 2016 is the ever changing Pinterest algorithm which is once again being tweaked and its’ effect on group boards. Speculation abounds; I’ll leave that to the Pinterest pros to ascertain. Which is fine, except if one never receives an invitation from the group board and now your feed is even more cluttered. Not that the posts aren’t fine, interesting and pinworthy, but… I’d rather support the pinners in the group boards I belong to…
Which brings me to the question of …
What’s Up With The Pinterest Group Board?
The current market valuation of Pinterest is approximately $11 billion; Pinterest is one of the most anticipated IPO’s of the future. So my real question is directed at Pinterest – is this the best you can do with the group board scenario?
Why make members go through the Pinterest Group Board maze and frustrate your members? I don’t see the value in that loop de loop.
So what is the solution you ask?
This newbie’s thought would be to require and enforce that all Pinterest Group Board Administrator’s post in the Pinterest Group Board profile:
1. Are you accepting new members?
2. If the answer to #1 is No, no need to add any further information.
3. If the answer to #1 is yes, state the request contact information either in the profile or in an “Add Me” pin.
Yes, this would require Pinterest to expend labor and technology to tweak and twerk its’ system. But if a company is valued at $11 billion dollars? One would think – achievable.
Next In The Series: How to slow your blog down to a crawl with Pinworthy images….
There are so many social media avenues that I just can’t keep up. I’m on them all and then forget to post to them or interact! Thanks for your thoughts and ideas on Pinterest Boards and sharing with us at #OvertheMoon – I’m looking forward to your post on Pinterest Images.
I so agree with you, hard to keep up with the social media! Thanks for visiting!