One easy way of gaining passive income as a side hustle (that could potentially become your main income in the future) is doing affiliate marketing! And one of the best places where you can apply as an affiliate marketer is Amazon. With their thousands and thousands of products and loyal customers, you can surely gain a few commissions even just by starting out.
So, if you are looking for an easy way to start affiliate marketing, join the Amazon Associates Program!
In this article, I will teach you how you can make your affiliate marketing efforts not go to waste and actually get sales and clicks – all by just using Pinterest!
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Can you promote Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest?
So, is it actually allowed to promote Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest? The quick answer to that is yes, you can! Do you need a WordPress blog to do it? No! However, when promoting Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest, make sure you follow Amazon’s Affiliate Program policies.
This includes disclosing that you are part of the Amazon affiliate program and you have to make sure you avoid using link shorteners for the Amazon links and avoid promoting restricted product categories (that are also not allowed on Pinterest).
Aside from this, Pinterest has its own set of guidelines for affiliate marketing on its platform. But mainly the thing you have to avoid is the excessive use of affiliate links in a day to avoid spammy behavior.
Best practices for Amazon affiliate marketing on Pinterest
You may now be so excited to add Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest so you can start to earn money and commissions! Sure, you can just start uploading pins and placing your link in the pin, but if you want a more direct and strategized plan for your Pinterest marketing strategy, then here are some best practices to help you effectively promote and pin Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest:
1. Create a Pinterest business account
The first thing you need to do on Pinterest is to make an account, of course. However, as someone who is looking to make a business or income on Pinterest, you should not make just any other account. You have to make a Pinterest Business Account.
This is because there are a lot of exclusive features and benefits a Pinterest business account has that a personal Pinterest account does not have. Some important features for a business are Pinterest Analytics, Pinterest Ads, Shopping Pins, and more!
Here is how you can create a Pinterest business account.
2. Optimize Your Profile
It is now time to fill up your Pinterest profile with short and brief information about yourself. You can use a photo of yourself as long as it is professional-looking. And make sure that your bio is clear and straight to the point as the Pinterest bio does have a limit of words that is shown before the “…more” button.
Do not forget to add a nice, bright photo as your profile cover as well!
3. Find your niche
I know that it is so exciting to promote every Amazon product you can find and get affiliate sales. However, one strategy of users who make money on Pinterest is that they have a niche and they learned to master it.
In your case, finding your own niche and sticking with it is important when it comes to Pinterest affiliate marketing. Having a niche makes it easier to build a loyal set of followers. It also sets you apart from other Pinterest users and can even be a benchmark for some users when it comes to a specific topic.
For example, you can pick the lifestyle niche. You can end with that or you can go even more specific. You can either choose fashion, beauty, home decor, and more!
4. Create High-Quality Pins
And now, to the most important step of all: creating and uploading high-quality pins. You cannot promote anything on Pinterest without creating pins, right? And you definitely have nowhere to put Amazon affiliate links if you do not upload pins.
Creating pins on Pinterest is pretty straightforward. But, you need to know which types and formats of pins go viral the most on the platform. I would recommend using pin images that are long and vertical. You can start with a 1:2 aspect ratio; 1000×2000 pixels maximum.
Use high-quality images and graphics and use bold, clear titles or text overlays that encourage clicks. Of course, do not forget to add your pin title and Pin description that includes relevant keywords of the products you are promoting.
If you do not have the time to create Pinterest pins from scratch, I have here 20 Pinterest templates you can use in Canva!
5. Add your affiliate links
Before publishing your pins, make sure you have your affiliate link added to the URL field of your pin. Once you have your affiliate products on Pinterest seen by other users, and you have your affiliate links on your Pinterest pins, then you can start to make money.
This is because once Pinterest users click on your pins, they will be redirected to the Amazon product page and they just need to purchase using that link for you to get a commission!
Again, just make sure that you do not use any link shorteners when adding your affiliate links to your pins.
6. Create Pinterest Boards
Pinterest boards help you and your Pinterest followers and potential buyers go through all of your pins per category. Again, if you belong to the Lifestyle niche, you can start making Pinterest boards per category such as “Fashion”, “Beauty Products”, “Home decor” and more!
This helps Pinterest users find specific products they need easier and quicker which increases the likelihood of them engaging with your pins which gets you more clicks on your affiliate links.
7. Add keywords everywhere
Aside from being a social platform, Pinterest is also a visual search engine meaning that people go there to search for something and look for answers – exactly like Google. With this, adding relevant keywords to your profile and pins is super important so that you can appear in search results.
If you’d like to learn more about Pinterest SEO Optimization and keyword research, check out my Free Pinterest Masterclass or join my Pinterest SEO Traffic Secrets course.
8. Pin Regularly and Consistently
Pinterest loves active users on its platform. This means that you need to maintain an active presence on the platform by pinning consistent content on Pinterest. I generally recommend pinning 10 pins a day. But do not worry if you think that this is too many pins to make in a day. The 10 pins per day can include repins from other Pinterest users.
You will also want to make sure to pin during the best, active times on Pinterest. You can read here the best times to post on Pinterest for success.
Consistency can help grow your follower base, have your pins boosted by Pinterest, and reach a wider audience.
9. Avoid Spammy Behavior
Do not flood your Pinterest boards and followers with affiliate links or promotional pins (sales, discounts, etc). Also, it is ideal to not pin the same links more than once or twice a day since it can be seen as spammy behavior on Pinterest which can result in account suspension.
Pinterest is one of the social media platforms that take spam and suspicious activity very seriously.
10. Check your Pinterest Analytics
Lastly, it is helpful to regularly check the performance of your pins on your Pinterest Analytics tab. In there, you will see your top pins and top Pinterest boards. Seeing these is a great help so you can adjust your marketing strategy when needed.
You will be able to see which pins get the most clicks – these are the pins that you need to continue doing and implement in other pins.
I’m Anastasia and I’m a full-time blogger, online entrepreneur, and Pinterest marketing strategist. I help digital entrepreneurs and bloggers drive targeted traffic from Pinterest either through my online courses or through Pinterest consultancy.