Fall Trends on Pinterest

Today we’re going to be talking all about fall trends on Pinterest. Traffic seems to surge on Pinterest during the fall unlike any other time of the year. we definitely want to help you gain some extra steam that you can put behind your marketing strategy to help catapult you into the next year.

This increase in traffic is larger for those of you who pin mostly DIY, crafts, lifestyle, food, etc. For those of us who have business to business accounts, we don’t get as big of a surge, but there’s still some increase regardless. If you are in that business to business niche, think about how you can add a fall twist to your content. Don’t discount this episode if you don’t have a specific seasonal component to your content.

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Fall Trends on Pinterest

For this episode, we created a special Fall Pinterest Trends worksheet. Fill in the form at the end of this post to get the worksheet delivered via email. Download it and you’ll have a list of all the trending keywords, as well as a place for you to list your top 3 pins from last year (so you can create a plan to update them). There’s also a place to list three posts you’re going to create this year. This will help you to capitalize on the trends of what people are clicking on this time of year.

If you listened to the podcast episode I recorded with Lindsay of Cotter Crunch, you’ll remember how she talked about creating a product based on a popular pin. That’s why it’s important to be aware of trends — so that you can monetize and continue to serve your audience simultaneously.

We have been working month-by-month through the Simple Pin Planner that I created with Tailwind. We don’t want to just repeat those things year after year, which is why we’re doing this fall trends episode, but you can go check out those episodes from last year:

• September Pinterest Trends
• October Pinterest Trends
• November Pinterest Trends

Another great way to get your finger on the pulse of what’s trending on Pinterest during a specific timepoint is to explore keywords using the Pinterest Trends Tool.

Seasonal Traffic Increases

The fall is a time for significant site traffic increases. What we’ve observed over the past five years is that traffic slowly creeps up throughout August and September, but really explodes in November. It dies back down in December and then falls off a cliff on February 15th.

Every February 16th, people begin to worry about their traffic dipping. Just know it happens year after year and learn to expect it.

Become familiar with when your people are pinning more pins and when they’re on your account. Knowing that will be super helpful. Go listen to this podcast episode about seasonality on Pinterest and see how it affects everyone!

Things to Pin

September is a huge time for the topics of football and comfort food. If you’re in the gardening niche, this is your time to shine and share all your preserving recipes. Fall weddings may not be quite as big as spring weddings, but they are still a popular search term this time of year. (We’ll be doing a deep dive into the trends of pinning for weddings on Pinterest next week on the podcast, so make sure you listen).

As fall approaches, a lot of people want the sun to stay around, but everyone gets tired of the heat eventually. Most everyone is also ready for the “cool-down effect.” It’s cliche, but everyone also likes pumpkin spice lattes! 

Board Names 

 Think about your boards as fall is approaching. Look at the names of your boards specifically as they relate to fall. Go a little more niched down. If you have a board called “Fall” think about changing that to relate more to your pillar content. For example, if you’re a knitter (I don’t know how many knitters listen to the podcast but I’m going with it!), think about using “Fall Knitting Patterns” or “Fall Scarf Knitting Patterns.”

Remember, your board names are very important in the search feed. Be as specific as possible.

If you don’t want to change your board name, create a new board! A lot of people have Thanksgiving boards, so be specific with a new board name, like “Thanksgiving Gluten-free Desserts.”

Before you make any changes to your board names, jot down a list of ideas of new board names. Then think about incorporating those keywords into your pin descriptions. That will continue to help Pinterest match up your content with the user.

Thanksgiving leads to traveling for a lot of families. Consider pinning all about travel tips — how to get cheap airfare, how to fly with kids, best snack ideas for long car rides, etc.

We talk about A/B testing your images a good bit here on the podcast. It’s good to test your images if you’ve been marketing for more than a year. Make sure all your images are the correct size for the platform. Experiment with adjusting the size of the image and then move around the text. Make sure if you’re using stock images that they very closely relate to the topic.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are right around the corner. Gift guides are huge! Dust those off and get them ready for fall. Maybe create a few more to compliment the ones you already have. You can create a  gift guide for anything: back to school, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you’re celebrating.

 

Hard Stops

I don’t want to fill your plate with too many action items. We don’t want you to be stressed and exhausted when December comes around. So, along with thinking about new posts and coming up with new board names, I want you to make a game plan for when you’re going to slow it down and take a step back. You need rest and breaks.

Schedule in advance and then take a week off. The online world can be fast and furious. We need to pace ourselves so that we don’t experience burnout. I call these breaks “hard stops.” I do these “hard stops” daily at 2 p.m. and we also take a break from the podcast, email, and our communication as a team the week of Thanksgiving and take 3 full weeks off in December. That costs us financially but we believe in rest and pauses and those weeks off are necessary for evaluation and growth.

It’s hard to take those breaks but it’s okay and the world won’t stop spinning. Pinterest isn’t going to stop sending you traffic and you’ll be more creative after taking the time to rest and recharge!

Time Stamp:
Intro
2:54 – Fall Pinterest Trends
7:45 – Seasonal Traffic Increases
11:11 – Things to Pin
19:20 – Hard Stops