Are You Missing Out by Ignoring the Little Red Notifications Button on Pinterest?

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By now I'm sure you have given some serious consideration to the roll that Pinterest will play in your overall marketing mix. The numbers are pretty staggering and recent studies, like this one from TailWindApp, demonstrate that the lifespan of a Pin exceeds what we can expect from content shared on other social networks and to say the least, it makes the network extremely difficult to ignorePinterest Marketing How To Check Your Notifications on Pinterest

The web is moving more and more toward a place where visual content is highly favored, and as a blogger, you're truly missing out if Pinterest doesn't show up as one of the top referrers in your traffic stats.

“According to Pinterest:

There are more than 750 million boards with 30 billion Pins hand-picked by travelers, foodies, and other Pinners, so the right idea is just a few taps away.”

That's 30 Billion with a B. 🙂

Once you become an active participant on the platform (aka a Pinterest addict), it's important to recognize that monitoring your notifications on Pinterest is a vital tool for growing your account.
When it comes to increasing your engagement levels, your visibility and your interactions with other Pinners on the popular image sharing and discovery platform – Pinterest notifications are where it's at!

Importance of Notifications on Pinterest

Most likely you have turned off email notifications from Pinterest, which is an even bigger reason to pay attention to that little red notifications button at the top of the page. Let's explore the power behind Pinterest notifications and how they can help you grow your follower count and engagement levels on the platform.

NOTE: If you're on mobile, the number of notifications will appear in red off to the side like the image on the right.

Here's a short list of notifications that will appear when you click on that little red button:Little Red Pinterest Notifications on Mobile via @BasicBlogTips

  • A Pinner starts following you
  • A Pinner follows one of your boards
  • A Pinner invites you to a group board
  • A Pinner Repins one on your pins
  • A Pinner comments on your Pin or @ mentions you (thanks to Gerald from Viral Content Bee for the reminder)

In the video, I introduce you to the concept of Group Boards and how to accept invitations to them. For those of you who would rather read the instructions, you can scroll down to the end for the full video transcript.

Pinterest, similar to Facebook YouTube and Google+, is constantly tweaking their features, and along with the latest update called Guided Search, I noticed another subtle change that might go unnoticed by most users. In the past, next to the notification that one of your Pins was Repinned, you would see a preview of the actual Pin. However, in the last few days, they made an update and now what you see is the board the Repin was Pinned to – the down side to that is depending on how active the Pinner is, you might not be able to find out exactly which image they Repinned.

However, if you have an account with TailWindApp, login and go to Trending Pins Report. Click the All Your Latest Pins tab and you'll see exactly which image was Pinned, who Pinned it and whether or not their pin was Repinned! Find out more about TailWindApp in this tutorial

Use TailWind To Find Recent Pins And Pinners

Are You Checking Your Notifications?

How often do you click that little red button to see who is engaging with you on Pinterest? I check them everyday and I try to check out the boards of the Pinners that are interacting with my content. It's a great way to grow your following and get more Pins!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT FOR: Pinterest Quick Tip: How To Check Your Pinterest Notifications

Hey guys it's Ileane from Basic Blog Tips and today I want to give you a quick tip about Pinterest.

I know many of you who may be using Google+ as well as Pinterest you have a tendency to ignore this little red notification button over in the top right hand side but although you may ignore it on Google+ please don't ignore it on Pinterest. This is where all the action and engagement is.
Let me just give you an example. It's telling you who likes your pins, how many people who are following you, who's repinning you, who's following your boards. And this is where you reach out and interact with people.

Now I see that Melinda is following my Podcast and Podcasting board. So I'm gonna go over check out Melinda's profile see what kind of boards she has and if she's repinned any of my pins I can just go to her “pins” link and see if she's pinning anything about Podcasting. Or maybe I wanna just like or repin one of her pins so I show up on her notifications button as well.

You also get notified whenever your friends join Pinterest. And these would be friends from any connected social network you have like Facebook or Twitter. See if someone left you a comment. This is my friend Ashley, he's left me a comment. So you see it right there in that notifications area.

But you have to click it on!

You'll also see if someone has invited you to pin to a group board. Now if it's a board you're interested in go ahead and accept that invitation. Group boards are fantastic way to make connections and engage with others on Pinterest.

So the key to engagement and reaching out to others on Pinterest is that little red notification button up at the top. Make sure you check it each time you log in.

There's a quick tip for Pinterest and this is Ileane from Basic Blog Tips be sure to subscribe for more tips and tricks.

Recommended:

ViralTag Tutorial for Pinterest Marketing and Social Scheduling

34 thoughts on “Are You Missing Out by Ignoring the Little Red Notifications Button on Pinterest?”

  1. Gerald Weber

    Looks like I’m guilty of not paying enough attention to the red button. I can see the usefulness, so I’ll pay closer attention from now on. Looks like you also get notifications there when someone comments on one of your pins.

    1. Ileane

      Great point Gerald. Yes you do see comment notifications. I covered that in the video but I’ll add it to the short list now too. Thanks!

  2. Harleena Singh

    Hi Ileane,

    That as yet another wonderful video post about Pinterest 🙂

    Yes, the little red button is often ignored, though you can’t really do that as there are always so many numbers shining bright within it each time I login! Yes, I always check those and also my email notifications about who has pinned my posts and try to pin their’s too, whenever possible. I think the latest Guided search feature is another feather in the cap.

    Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂

    1. Ileane

      Thanks Harleena!

      Are you finding differences between the email notifications and the one’s you see when you login? I think you would enjoy using TailWindApp too, great way to find some surprising stats like which boards are more popular and when it the best time of the week to pin.

      You have a great week too my dear!

      1. Harleena Singh

        Yes, there is a difference, though I usually stick to checking the email ones regularly and the login one once a week, due to shortage of time.

        I know I saw the first video post on TailWindApp on your blog here and it’s on my to-do list – just need to check it out 🙂

        Thanks once again 🙂

        1. Ileane

          Harleena, if you ever get a chance, please let me know which notifications you are seeing via email that you are not seeing on the red button. It would be a big help whenever you have the time. Thanks again!

  3. Lisa

    Hi Ileane, I was paying attention to it but not for all the reasons you mentioned. If I found someone to be liking or pinning several of mine I would check there’s out and do the same if applicable or interact with them too.
    I prefer that red button over the emails anyday!
    I love seeing an old pin get repinned, something that does not happen on any other social network. The lifetime of a pin is amazing!

    1. Ileane

      Lisa,

      Thanks for stopping by! Yes, you’re so right. VIVA LA PIN!! lol

      I was pretty bummed out when I saw that Pinterest changed the look of the notification so that now you only see what board the Pinner Repinned to instead of showing you the specific Pin. Did you notice that too?

      1. Lisa

        Yes, and I didn’t like that change either Ms Ileane. I’d rather know what pin it is quickly – otherwise it’s like that needle in a haystack.

        1. Ileane

          Hey Lisa,

          Is it just me or did Pinterest revert back to showing us individual repins instead of boards? I think they heard us 🙂

  4. Rich

    I find that 90% of the notifications I get are notes of repins. The other 10% are new followers – so I should probably be following these people in the hope that they follow me back. Sadly, while I get a decent number of repins, at present we’re seeing very few comments on the various boards we run for our blogs.

    Generally though, if I’m honest, I probably could (and should) pay more attention to my notifications if I’m really going to continue growing our various profiles.

    1. Ileane

      Hi Rich!
      Pinners on Pinterest are not generally big on commenting. Repins, follows and likes are the true measure of interaction and engagement on Pinterest. Some might argue that likes are no big deal either, but I typically give a like when someone has Repins one of my Pins or something from my blogs. Do you get any traffic from Pinterest?

  5. jossef salman

    very interesting post, i have never visited pinterest directly i only click the share button then submit, i think i need to spend sometime there, thanks you keep open new doors for us 🙂

  6. Ashley Walker

    Having a couple of Pinterest account, I find my self guilty about this one 🙂 Honestly, I didn’t even know some of the small red notifications for. I will spend much more time to evaluate more about Pinterest. Thanks Ileane for this one.

  7. Sunday

    I don’t usually give attention to the Pinterest share button but I guess there are lots of things I am missing out.This article has reawaken the interest for Pinterest in me. I should try it out to see how I can make the most of it!

    Sunday

  8. Rahul Sharma

    Yes great informative video, I will make that not to ignore notifications on my pintrest account.
    Thanks for sharing.

  9. Samir

    Well seems like I never cared about the notifications in pinterest or as I do in facebook. The thing is I rarely use pinterest and I bet I wish missing lot of things.

    Secondly the app you’ve listed for checking the pinterest notifications is really helpful.

    Thanks

  10. Nithin Upendran

    Before reading your post, I was ignoring that tiny little red button. Thanks for opening my eyes. On an overall base I wasn’t giving much care for pinterest. But it’s importance seems to be big. I would like to thank you again for the article and wide opening my eyes.

  11. Sean Carey

    Great reminder post Illeane! I have gotten into Pinterest a whole lot more these last few months, and I think I click that little red notification button at least 5-7 times a day now! I do not think the entire blogging community has caught on to the effectiveness of Pinterest as a source of traffic. Also for the many other valuable resources it has to offer.

  13. Steven

    Yes, this is a great function but i never noticed it. Pinterest is great platform for promotion really, we should make use of it.

  14. robin

    yes .. this is cool function. i tried last week 🙂 but thanks Ileane for this one.

  15. Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Ileane,

    I need to check em more frequently. As for now, I check every few days but doing the daily bit and engaging freely makes you a superstar on any network.

    Thanks!

    RB

    1. Ileane

      Hi Ryan,

      I know it’s not easy to check those notifications on a daily basis but at least you are checking. Thanks a start! 🙂

      Thanks for adding your thoughts.

  16. Darragh McCurragh

    Thanks not only for the video, but for putting a transcript with it (I always argue with other SEOs as to why they don’t do likewise – most times they have a transcript because they have a script up front – and it’s the only thing Google can read to come up with the keywords). As for Pinterest it’s something I’ve so far always shied away from but I see that it can no longer be ignored although I’m waiting for the last straw in social media that’s eventually going to break SEOers’ backs … The hours in a day haven’t grown with the participation possibilities on the Net.

  17. Jane

    I did have the email notifications turned on. But once my follower base started to grow and once I started to have people pinning on my board, email notifications became a bit too much. But yes I do pay attention to the red notification button whenever I go on Pinterest – that’s once a day for sure 🙂

    Thanks for the headsup Ileane 🙂

    1. Ileane

      Hi Jane,

      Yeah, it’s cool to get emails when you are just getting started. But as soon as your account starts to take off, those emails just get deleted anyway. It’s so much easier to scroll down all the notifications from the app or desktop.

      Hey Jane, come to think of it, I don’t think we are on any group boards together – so look out for an invite to my Pinterest Tips for Bloggers board.

      Chat soon my dear!

  18. Phil Moore

    I agree that Pinterest is growing though it has not yet caught the wider imagination in many niches. I think some lend themselves better to the red button than others. Interestingly most people that I know personally outside of SEO’s don’t use it, being a a bit saturated with the many social networks that exist.

  19. Vicky

    For the record I’m not so active at pinterest as I’m at google plus and facebook and I think I’ll check this cool tips.

    Thanks

  20. hiren

    Hi Ileane
    such a nice article I really enjoy using pinterest. It is a great way to find unique images and so much more. first, I did not like the new changes. However, this post has really enlightened me. Thanks for the post!

  21. Shahid Khan

    Thanks Illeane For This Great Article….
    Indeed I Was Ignoring That Red Notifications Button From Long Time…
    But I am Feeling Guilty Now…

  22. Debbie Gartner

    Hi Ileane. Yes, I used to use those, but it seems like things just changed and they’ve added a TON of clutter. Now, it’s showing me things like so and so followed so and so, or likes 24 pins or repinned this. It’s kind of annoying now.
    BTW, I just realized I wasn’t following you on Pinterest, so I just fixed that.

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