How To Start Affiliate Marketing On Pinterest For Beginners

Pinterest used to be straightforward for affiliate marketers: create video pins, point them at your offer, collect traffic. That worked for a while. Then Pinterest changed its algorithm, started pushing a new format called Idea Pins, and everything shifted. If you keep doing what worked before, you will watch your reach slowly disappear while newer creators get most of the attention.

I have promoted everything from soundbars and security cameras to web hosting, online courses, and stand mixers through affiliate marketing, and Pinterest has been part of that strategy. In this guide I am going to walk you through exactly how I updated my approach after the algorithm change, including the two-upload trick that doubles your reach, why you must never link directly to an affiliate offer from a pin, and how to find unlimited content ideas without starting from scratch every time.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear picture of why the Pinterest algorithm changed and what that means for your affiliate strategy right now
The exact reason you should never send Pinterest traffic straight to an affiliate offer
How to set up a free or low-cost middle-layer website using Google Sites, ClickFunnels, or Bluehost
How to create polished video pins using Canva without showing your face
The Idea Pin and regular pin split-upload method that puts the same video in front of two different audiences
How to use Answer the Public and YouTube competitor research to find endless content ideas
How to repurpose one pin to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, and more without doing extra work
Not sure which niche or product to start with? finder.platformproof.com helps you match your existing knowledge to a monetizable path in minutes.

How Pinterest Changed and Why Your Old Strategy May Be Failing

For a long time, video pins were the go-to format for affiliate marketers on Pinterest. They stood out in a sea of static images, they got engagement, and they sent traffic to offers. Over the past year that changed. Pinterest began giving a format called Idea Pins far more algorithmic reach, and the numbers show the difference clearly.

I uploaded the exact same video to my account twice: once as an Idea Pin and once as a regular video pin. The Idea Pin version pulled 146 views, 1,000 saves, and 5 close-up clicks in a short period of time. The regular pin? One play, two seconds of watch time, and zero saves. Same video. Same topic. Completely different results based purely on format. Pinterest is actively rewarding Idea Pins with distribution right now, and regular pins are getting very little organic push by comparison.

Look at the trending pins on Pinterest in any niche and you will see the pattern. An “Start an LLC” Idea Pin in one of the searches had 3,700 views. Regular video pins on similar topics sitting right beside it had almost nothing. The platform wants creators to use Idea Pins, and it is making that preference very obvious through reach.

This does not mean you stop creating regular pins. It means you create both, you understand that the Idea Pin is your growth engine, and the regular pin is a secondary distribution layer. I will walk you through the exact two-upload workflow later in this guide.

Step 1: Build Your Middle Layer Before You Create a Single Pin

Here is the mistake that kills most beginners on Pinterest affiliate marketing: they create pins and link them directly to an affiliate offer. That is a problem for two separate reasons. First, Pinterest has been removing or suppressing pins that link directly to affiliate offers in many categories. Second, and this is the bigger issue, if you ever switch affiliate programs or a program shuts down, every pin you created is now pointing at a dead or irrelevant link. You lose all of that compounded traffic overnight with no way to fix it.

The fix is to put something in between: a website, landing page, or blog post that you own and control. That middle layer is where you place your affiliate links, and it is what you point your pins to. If you change affiliate programs later, you update the link on one page and every single pin you have ever created continues to work correctly. The pins never need to change. Only the destination page does.

You have three main options for building this middle layer. The simplest free option is Google Sites. Google Sites lets you build a basic website at no cost, and you can publish it publicly with either a Google subdomain or a custom domain if you have one. It is not fancy, but it works for getting started. You create a simple blog post or tutorial guide on Google Sites, embed your affiliate links in the content, and that page becomes your destination for every pin you create.

The second option is ClickFunnels, which lets you build landing pages and blog posts quickly without touching code. Some people find ClickFunnels faster than setting up a traditional WordPress site because you can get a page live within an hour. The blog post feature inside ClickFunnels lets you write a guide with your affiliate links in the body text, and you can start pointing Pinterest traffic there the same day you sign up.

The third option is the one I recommend for long-term growth: buy a domain name and sign up for real web hosting through a provider like Bluehost, then install WordPress. If you are promoting Bluehost as an affiliate, this is also a smart personal choice. You become a customer of the exact product you are recommending, which makes your content more credible. You get a real website with full control over every page and post. And you can write a thorough step-by-step guide like “How to Start a Blog” with your Bluehost affiliate link embedded naturally in the content where readers are most likely to take action.

Whatever option you choose, your middle layer needs one thing: content that is genuinely relevant to what you are promoting. For a web hosting offer, that means a guide on how to start a blog or launch a website, with clear affiliate links placed where readers are ready to buy. Write the guide as if you are helping a friend who just asked you the question. Keep the focus on solving their problem, and the affiliate conversions will follow.

Step 2: Set Up Your Pinterest Profile Before You Post Anything

Your Pinterest profile is the first thing people see when they click your name on a pin. If it looks incomplete or generic, many of them will not bother following you or clicking through to your content. Before you create your first pin, go into your account settings and add your website URL in the designated field. This links your profile to your middle-layer website and gives Pinterest a clearer signal about what your account is about.

Fill out your bio with a short, focused description of who you help and what outcome you provide. If you are in the blogging niche, something like “helping beginners start profitable blogs step by step” is clear and specific. Avoid vague descriptions. Pinterest uses profile data to determine which audiences to show your pins to, so a focused bio helps the algorithm match your content to the right people. Once the profile is complete, you are ready to start creating.

Step 3: Research What Your Audience Is Actually Searching For

Before you create a single pin, spend fifteen minutes on Pinterest running searches related to your niche. If you are in the blogging or web hosting space, type “blog” into the Pinterest search bar and look at the full results page. You will see hundreds of pins on how to start a blog, how to make money blogging, blogging tools for beginners, and related subtopics. Those search results are your content calendar. Every one of those topics is something people are actively looking for.

Pay attention to save counts on the pins you see. Pinterest shows how many times a pin has been saved, and a pin with thousands of saves is telling you clearly that the topic is in demand. When you create a pin on that same topic, you are not guessing. You are following evidence. Look for topics where the save counts are high but the number of video pins in the results is low, because that combination is your opening. Your video will naturally stand out against a feed of static images.

In one search for “how to start a blog,” nearly every result on the page was a static image pin. There was only one video pin in the entire feed. That one video pin stood out immediately because it was the only thing moving. If you create a video pin on that topic, you are automatically getting more visual attention than almost every other creator in the results for that search.

Step 4: Create Video Pins with Canva, No Face or Fancy Equipment Required

The tool I use for creating Pinterest video pins is Canva, and the basic version is free. Go to canva.com, type “mobile video” into the template search, and it will show you designs in the correct Pinterest dimensions automatically. You can start from a template or from a blank canvas in the mobile video size. Either works.

You do not need to show your face to make effective pins. There are two approaches that work well. First, you can pull free stock images from Pexels or Unsplash and use those as the visual base for your pin. In Canva, go to the Elements panel, search for an image that fits your topic, and drop it onto your canvas. Then add a text overlay that states the topic clearly, something like “How to Start a Beauty Blog” or “Beginner’s Guide to Web Hosting.” Make the text large enough to read easily on a phone screen because that is where most Pinterest users are watching.

Second, if you have a tutorial to walk through, you can simply point your phone camera at your computer screen and record yourself navigating the steps. No special editing is required. I have done this many times and it works. The screen-facing approach looks authentic, gives viewers something concrete to follow, and requires nothing beyond your phone and a topic to demonstrate. You can add a voiceover narrating what you are doing, but it is not required. The video works without audio too.

Once your video is ready in Canva, click Share and then Download to save the file to your computer or phone. Aim to create three to five video pins per day when you are building momentum. Consistency is more important than production quality at this stage. A simple, clear pin published today beats a perfect pin that never gets finished.

Step 5: Upload the Same Video Twice, Idea Pin First and Then Regular Pin

This is the most important tactical step in this guide. Once you have your video file ready, you are going to upload it twice: first as an Idea Pin, then as a regular pin. This is not against Pinterest’s terms. It is a distribution strategy that puts your content in front of two different audience segments on the same platform.

Start with the Idea Pin. Click the Create button in Pinterest and select “Create Idea Pin.” Drag and drop your video file into the editor. Add a title for the pin such as “How to Start a Beauty Blog Step by Step.” Then, in the notes section, include the URL of your website or landing page. The notes field is the only place inside an Idea Pin where you can add a reference to your site, so do not skip this step. Publish the Idea Pin first and let it go live.

Once that Idea Pin is published, go back to Create and select “Create Pin” to upload a regular pin. Use the exact same video file. Write a strong description that includes your main keyword and explains clearly what the viewer will get. Add relevant tags in the tag field such as “content marketing,” “affiliate marketing,” and “social media” to help Pinterest categorize your pin correctly. Then, in the destination link field, add the URL of your middle-layer website or blog post. This direct link is a feature that regular pins have and Idea Pins do not, so take advantage of it.

The result is that you now have two versions of the same content working for you. The Idea Pin gets the algorithmic distribution boost and will collect saves and views from people browsing their feed. The regular pin captures people who search for your topic directly and want to click through to a website immediately. Both formats serve a different part of the Pinterest experience, and running both together gives you far more total reach than either would alone.

Not sure which product or niche to promote on Pinterest?

Take the Platform Proof finder quiz at finder.platformproof.com and get a clear recommendation based on the skills and knowledge you already have.

Step 6: Find Unlimited Content Ideas Without Guessing

The biggest thing that slows down new Pinterest affiliates is running out of content ideas. You create ten pins and then stare at a blank screen wondering what to make next. The good news is that you do not need to come up with ideas yourself. There are two free research tools that will give you more ideas than you can use.

The first is Answer the Public. Go to answerthepublic.com, type in your niche topic such as “blog” or “affiliate marketing,” and hit search. Answer the Public pulls real search data and organizes it into questions, comparisons, and phrases that people are actively typing into search engines. Every item in those results is a potential pin topic. A result like “how to start a blog without experience” or “blog vs YouTube for affiliate marketing” is a pin idea ready to go. Switch the view from the visual wheel to “Data” mode and you will see a clean list you can scan quickly.

The second source is YouTube. Go to YouTube and search for your niche topic, then filter results by channel to find creators who are consistently publishing content in that space. Look at what they are covering. Channels like “By Sophia Lee Blogging” or “Create and Go” in the blogging niche publish multiple pieces of content around the same topics their audience cares about most. You can look at their video titles, see which topics they return to repeatedly, and create Pinterest content around those same ideas. You are not copying their content. You are identifying what the audience already wants and then making your own version of it for Pinterest.

Step 7: Repurpose Each Pin to 10 or More Platforms

Once you have a video pin created and uploaded to Pinterest, your work for that piece of content is almost free to multiply. The exact same video file can go on Instagram Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, and Reddit, among other places. That is at least seven additional platforms where your content can reach new audiences without you creating anything new.

The video dimensions from Canva’s mobile video format work for all of these short-form video destinations. You do not need to resize or reformat the file. Download the video from Canva once, and then upload it to each platform in sequence. On each platform you can customize the caption or description slightly to fit that audience’s tone, but the video itself stays the same. Three to five new pins per day on Pinterest, repurposed across seven or more platforms, means you are generating thirty or more pieces of distributed content per day from a single creative effort. That is the most efficient way to build reach across multiple platforms when you are working with limited time.

Honest Drawbacks to This Strategy

Pinterest affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick system. The volume of content you need to publish, three to five pins per day, is a real commitment. If you publish five pins one week and nothing the next, the algorithm will not prioritize your account. Consistency over months, not days, is what produces compounding results on Pinterest.

Idea Pins currently do not allow clickable links in the traditional sense. You can add your URL in the notes field, but viewers have to manually copy and paste it rather than clicking a button. Some percentage of people who see your Idea Pin will follow through to your site, but the conversion path is more friction than a regular pin with a destination link. This is why you run both formats together.

Pinterest’s algorithm will continue to change. The shift from video pins to Idea Pins is not the last change the platform will make. The core principles here, building a middle-layer website, creating consistent content, and staying close to what your audience is searching for, will hold up across algorithm changes. The specific format Pinterest rewards will keep evolving, but these fundamentals will not.

Finally, income from Pinterest affiliate marketing takes time to build. If you are starting from zero monthly views, expect several months of consistent pinning before your traffic reaches a level where affiliate commissions become meaningful. The creators you see with large accounts and significant Pinterest traffic built it over a year or more of consistent effort.

Find Your X

Pinterest affiliate marketing works best when you are promoting something you genuinely understand and can talk about clearly. If you are not sure which niche or product to build around, the Platform Proof finder quiz will help you identify where your existing skills and knowledge can translate into real income. Visit finder.platformproof.com to get your personalized starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a website to start affiliate marketing on Pinterest?

You do not need to own a hosted website to get started. A free Google Sites page works as your middle layer between Pinterest and your affiliate offer. That said, your own domain and WordPress hosting gives you more control and credibility over time. The important thing is that you have some page you own and control sitting between your pins and the affiliate link. Never send Pinterest traffic directly to an affiliate offer.

What is the difference between an Idea Pin and a regular pin?

An Idea Pin is a multi-slide video or image format that Pinterest currently prioritizes in its algorithm. It gets more distribution but does not allow a clickable external link in the traditional sense. A regular pin supports a direct destination URL that viewers can click to reach your website. The best current strategy is to upload the same video as both formats so you benefit from the reach of the Idea Pin and the click-through ability of the regular pin.

How many pins should I post per day?

Three to five pins per day is a solid starting target. That volume is enough to build consistent presence and give Pinterest’s algorithm enough content to work with, without burning you out in the first two weeks. As you build a library of content and get more comfortable with the creation process, you can increase that number. Consistency over weeks and months matters more than any single day’s output.

Can I do Pinterest affiliate marketing without showing my face?

Yes. Many successful Pinterest affiliate creators never appear on camera. You can build video pins entirely from stock footage, text overlays, and screen recordings. Canva’s free tools plus free image sources like Pexels and Unsplash give you everything you need to create professional-looking pins without a camera or video production setup. Pointing your phone at your computer screen to record a tutorial is another effective approach that requires no special equipment.

Why can’t I just send people directly from my pin to my affiliate link?

Two reasons. First, Pinterest is actively suppressing or removing pins that link directly to certain affiliate offers, particularly in categories like make-money-online and web hosting. Second, if you switch affiliate programs later, every pin you have created becomes a dead link. Building through your own page means you can update the affiliate link in one place and all your pins remain valid. It is a protection strategy as much as a compliance one.

What tools do I actually need to get started?

You need Canva (free), a Pinterest account (free), a middle-layer website (free with Google Sites or paid with Bluehost or ClickFunnels), and an affiliate program to join. Answer the Public is free for a limited number of daily searches. That is the complete toolkit for starting. You do not need paid scheduling tools or analytics software to start generating traffic. Add those later once you have proven the strategy works for your niche.

How do I find content ideas when I don’t know what to post?

Use Answer the Public to find questions people are searching in your niche, and browse YouTube channels that are focused on your niche to see what topics they return to most often. You can also search your main topic directly on Pinterest and look at which pins have the most saves. High save counts tell you that content resonated. Create your own version of that topic and you are following audience demand rather than guessing.

Can I use the same pins on other platforms?

Yes, and you should. The mobile video format from Canva works for Instagram Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, and Reddit. You can take the same video file and upload it to each platform without resizing. Customize the caption for each platform’s audience if you want, but the core content is the same. Repurposing across platforms is how you turn one piece of creative work into many times the reach without adding proportionally more time to your workflow.

Sources

Canva: canva.com: free video and image design tool for Pinterest pins
Answer the Public: answerthepublic.com: free keyword and question research tool
Pexels: pexels.com: free stock photos and videos for pin creation
Unsplash: unsplash.com: free high-quality stock photography
Bluehost affiliate program: web hosting affiliate commission structure referenced in video walkthrough
Google Sites: sites.google.com: free website builder suitable for affiliate landing pages