Pinterest Contest Guidelines Are Changing: Make Sure Your Contests Comply

If you have followed us on social media, in our coaching groups or through our newsletters, you know that we love a good Pin-It-To-Win-It contest on Pinterest! Hosting this type of contest has been a great way to gain followers and exposure on the fast growing social media platform. If you have hosted one yourself, you know just how powerful they can be!

Unfortunately, it appears the Pin-It-To-Win-It contest has run its course. Pinterest recently updated their guidelines for contests and they make it very clear that they will no longer allow these contests to continue.

The New Don'ts Of Pinterest Contests

When we did Pin-It-To-Win-It contests in the past, we would pin an image and encourage others to ‘repin' it as a means to enter our contest. The winner would be chosen randomly from all of those who repinned the contest.

• When you look at the things that are no longer allowed, you see exactly why this type of contest needs to stop! You can no longer:
• Require that contestants pin a particular pin
• Require that contestants pin your contest or contest rules
• Run a contest where each like, follow, pin or repin is considered an entry
• Encourage people to comment
• Ask people to vote using pins, repins or boards.

What Does A New Contest On Pinterest Look Like?

These new guidelines make one thing clear: it is time to re-tool how you structure contests on Pinterest and how “winners” are chosen. I don't think there is going to be a clear picture of what a Pinterest contest looks like anymore. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing! On some days, my Pinterest feed was overrun with pinning contests!

The new rules seem to be aimed at making contests more meaningful for the participants and more in line with the original purpose of Pinterest – which was to engage people's creativity. These rules force brands to be creative in their contest designs and users to be creative in their participation.

Some ideas include:

• Ask people to pin before/after pictures using a hashtag. (Great for weight loss products or design projects.) You or your chosen panel will choose the best entry.
• Have people create a board around a certain topic and tag pins with a particular hashtag. The Baltimore Sun recently unveiled a Pinterest Preakness fashion contest using this technique.

Suddenly, Pinterest has made a change that once again makes it stand out as being different from other social platforms while at the same time reinforces its original purpose: bringing out the creativity in all of us.

What do you think? Are the new changes good or bad for Pinterest contests? Will they affect the way you run contests? Tell us in the comments!

About Author

Kim Garst

Kim Garst is a renowned marketing strategist and speaker who is trailblazing the use of artificial intelligence in digital marketing. With over 30 years of experience as an online entrepreneur, Kim helps entrepreneurs grow their business and authority online by using AI technology. She is leading the way with proven AI frameworks that help entrepreneurs build authority in their space.

She is keynote speaker and an international best-selling author of Will The Real You Please Stand Up, Show Up, Be Authentic and Prosper in Social Media.

Named by Forbes as a Top 10 Social Media Power Influencer, Kim is well-known for her skill to simplify complex technology and make the use of AI understandable for business growth. Her relatable, actionable advice helps guide new entrepreneurs to harness the power of AI to succeed in digital marketing. Kim is leading the way in combining human and technological skills to create a new model for AI-powered marketing.

See author's posts