💡 How to Make Pinterest Boards x999 times smarter · The Bunker #45

Hello! New week, new post!

This week has been quite eventful, it has been interesting.

We have finished a new Webflow project, we have created a website proposal for Ali Abdaal's Deep Dive podcast. Today is Sunday, so tomorrow, Monday, will be the presentation. That's why I can't give you the link to check it out right now, but I'll leave you my Twitter so you can stay tuned for tomorrow's publication.

https://twitter.com/espinosa_ux

Well, today we bring up a quite interesting topic.

Something that has always piqued our curiosity. And that is the topic of inspiration and the resources of inspiration to generate new projects.

It's no surprise, you know that I use Pinterest, I've mentioned it many times on Twitter (you know I like to share all my tips and secrets on Twitter).

The thing is, I've been using Pinterest for about 10 years, but it's only recently that I've been using it properly. I had always used it casually, and you probably have too.

But there's nothing wrong with that, I mean, using the platform the way it's designed to be used is normal.

However, if you want to make the most out of the platform, you have to use it slightly differently than how the platform tells you to use it.

First of all, we have to keep in mind that what interests us is to find the best references possible. Therefore:

1. Don't save everything you find.

The first thing you need to do is be very selective about what you save. If we want the algorithm to recommend us really cool stuff, we need to tell it "this is really cool."

How do we tell something is really cool? Basically, by being super selective.

If you save 2,000 pins to your Pinterest board, the algorithm might give you a very wide variety of recommendations.

If you keep a board with a maximum of 100-200 pins, and those pins are extremely good, the probability of being recommended very good content is very high.

What I do is rate the pins I save from 1 to 10, and I only save those that are a 9 or 10 for me.

If you don't want to lose the pins that are a 7 or 8, you can create a board called "drawer" and save everything less relevant there.

2. Find inspiration within boards, not in the generic feed.

A very common mistake is to look for inspiration on the main home feed, the generic feed.

However, there is a functionality called "ideas" or "get more ideas," which can be found within each more specific board.

This feature will simply give you more specific recommendations related to that board instead of recommending everything that interests you (i.e., everything you have saved on your profile mixed together).

3. Delete anything that becomes an 8.

Another common mistake is not reviewing previous pins.

Over time, it's normal for our tastes to improve and adapt.

Therefore, I recommend that from time to time, you go through your pins and review what you had saved months ago and delete them.

Reducing the number of pins on your board is very positive because it gives more prominence to the truly good pins and it's a way of telling the algorithm "I'm no longer interested in this."

4. It all starts from the outside.

To make the most of the platform, what you need to do is basically feed the algorithm.

If you search for "UX/UI" on Pinterest, you might find a lot of junk.

And remember, we always have to deliver the best of the best.

And where can we find the best of the best?

Most likely on Twitter, Arena, Instagram, and other platforms. In short, in our day-to-day lives, we come across extremely cool things.

So, take all that and bring it to Pinterest.

You can do this with the Pinterest Chrome extension.

Anything super cool you come across on other platforms, bring it to Pinterest and feed the algorithm.

And this brings me to the final point.

5. We're only interested in the algorithm.

We only want Pinterest for how good it is at recommending similar things. Therefore, we'll take advantage of its algorithm.

The procedure is as follows:

1. When you browse the Internet, in your day-to-day life, when you find something extremely good, use the Pinterest extension and save it to your board.
2. Don't search within the platform.
3. Bring outside content inside so that what it recommends to you are really cool things.
4. Don't save everything you find.
5. If you want to keep everything that's an 8, save it to a Notion or something similar. But not on Pinterest because we don't want to confuse the algorithm.

In the end, everyone uses the methodology that works best for them.

This is the one that works best for me and the one I get the most out of. Pinterest ultimately thrives on content from Dribbble, Arena, Behance, Twitter, Instagram. I like it because it's an all-in-one platform.

Bonus: Try to create super specific boards. Instead of having a board called UX/UI, have a board called "footers," "hover effects."

Bonus 2: Also save animations/gifs and interactions, not just images.

Bonus 3: When you start a new project, bring that Pinterest content to Figma to have everything organized in one place. But we can talk about this in next week's post.

Remember, create your own method, figure out what works for you, and apply it.

What works for others may not work for you.

What works for you may not work for others.

Let everyone work in the way that suits them best.

Until next time,

Cheers, Jordi Espinosa.