How To Schedule & Automate Your Pinterest Pins For Free

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I started my blog just a few months ago and kept hearing that Pinterest was the best way to drive traffic to my site. I started out by manually pinning my blog posts until my friend recommended Tailwinds. This post is not how to use Tailwinds. This Is A Step By Step Guide To Automate Your Pins FOR FREE to Pinterest!

Follow the steps below – SCREEN SHOTS INCLUDED – to set up you automation loops for your Pinterest Pins.

Tailwinds is a user friendly tool that’s linked to your Pinterest account. You can schedule pins and put them on a “loop” to reoccur on certain days. I used a free trial of Tailwinds, and it was great, but I really didn’t want to pay for my Pins to be reoccurring.

The method that I’m using is combining IFTTT (If this, then that) with Google Calendar. At a high level, it allows to you to say “If this Pinterest Pin is on my calendar, add it to XYZ Pinterest Board.”

It sounds a little confusing at first but — I PROMISE — it’s WAY EASIER than it sounds.

Follow this Step By Step guide to get started and you can repeat the process for as many Pinterest Boards and Pins as you’d like!

Step 1: Create IFTTT and Google Calendar Accounts

If you don’t already have a Google account, you can start there. Click here for some great guidance on how to do this if you don’t already know.

You’ll also need an account on IFTTT. It’s completely free – just sign up to create your username and password or connect with your Google or Facebook account.

Sign Up For IFTTT

Step 2: Create a Google Calendar

Create a new google calendar that will correspond to the Pinterest board that you want to publish pins to. If you want to keep things consistent, name the calendar the same as your Pinterest board. I use the EXACT name as it appears on Pinterest so that I don’t get confused.

In the example below, my Pinterest Board is called “DIY Blog – Group Board“

Step 3: Add A New Applet to IFTTT

Log into your IFTTT account. Click on My Applets on the top left.

Click New Applet. The arrow is pointing to this in the screen shot below.

Click the + button next to the word if.

A search box will come up. This is the part where you want to check IF something is on your Google Calendar. Start typing Google Calendar and the icon will appear below

Click on Google Calendar

Choose the trigger of Any Event Starts

This trigger is linked to the NAME of your GOOGLE CALENDAR. Remember, the Google Calendar is the exact name of the Pinterest Board you want to pin to.

Now that we have first part of the “IF this THEN that” setup, we can tell it what to do if there is an event on our Google Calendar…. which is PIN to a Pinterest Board.

Click the + button before the word that.

Search for Pinterest and select the Pinterest button when it comes up.

Select “Add Pin to Board”

The parameters in the next screen are very important.

Board Name – The EXACT name of your Pinterest Board. If it does not match exactly, it will create a new board and not pin to the board you are expecting.

Photo URL – Select Title. This is going to correspond to the event settings from your Google Calendar. This will make more sense when we go through creating the calendar event in the next step.

Add a Description: Select Description

Source URL: Select Where

Again, everything on this screen links to the field on your Google Calendar Event. It’s essentially a variable that the Applet is passing back and forth between your Google Calendar Event and Pinterest Board.

Your new Applet should look something like the one below! Check to make sure the calendar name matches your Google Calendar.

Step 4: Create Google Calendar Event

You’re almost there! This is the last step.

Create a Google Calendar Event for the time that you want to Pin to the Pinterest Board that you just specified in your Applet.

Fill In The Settings

Open the settings and fill them out as I have described below and shown in the screen shot. DON’T SKIP A SPOT HERE.

Title – Image Source Location. The easiest way to get this is to go to your blog post, right click on the image you want, and click “copy image address“

Frequency – This is how often you want this Pin to publish to the Pinterest Board.

Location – This is the full URL of your blog post of website that you want this Pin to link to.

Calendar Name – Next to the calendar icon select the Google Calendar name that you want this to be published on. Remember, this should correspond to your Pinterest Board Name. (When you repeat this process, you will have a Calendar for each Pinterest board you’re wanting to create loops/schedules for.)

Description – This will be the Pin description

Another Tip: Document Your Pin Schedule

When I started setting up this process, I created a spreadsheet like the one pictured below. This shows me an overview of my posts and which boards they’re currently pining to! Do this in the beginning and it won’t be a hassle to set up later down the line.

Now What? Re-create For All Pins!

This process might have seemed a little overwhelming the first time around. I thought so too! But for real, once you do it a few times, you won’t have to refer to these instructions.

You will need to repeat this entire process for each NEW BOARD/CALENDAR that you want to start pinning to.

To add a new Pin to an existing Calendar/Board, all you have to do now is REPEAT STEP 4!

Need Help?? Leave me a comment below!

Like it? Pin it!

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