Tailwind receives a lot of praise in the blogging community. Personally, I love Tailwind, but I also think there’s some misleading information out there about this Pinterest scheduler. If you want a super honest Tailwind review, read on to get my take on whether Tailwind is worth purchasing for bloggers.
If you’re a blogger, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about Tailwind in some capacity.
Today I’m going to share with you how I personally use Tailwind for my blog, the thing that few bloggers talk about with regards to Tailwind, and the cautionary advice I have for all bloggers who are considering purchasing Tailwind.
Please note: I am an affiliate for Tailwind, meaning I make a small commission if you choose to purchase through my links. Please know, though, that I use Tailwind, and believe in its effectiveness. You’ll learn more about my honest opinion on Tailwind as you read on.
What is Tailwind?
First things first, for those who aren’t familiar with this tool, I’ll be brief here, but essentially, Tailwind allows you to schedule pins to Pinterest.
There are some other features, like tribes (groups where you can share pins with other bloggers) and loops (where you can “loop” your pins for maximum exposure), and there’s even an Instagram component, but today, I’m largely going to focus on the Pinterest scheduling aspect of Tailwind.
Why do bloggers schedule pins to Pinterest?
Largely, bloggers schedule their pins to be pinned on Pinterest because Pinterest has become a well known source for blog traffic.
Bloggers create individual pins that link to their blog posts, pin them on Pinterest to relevant boards, and then use various strategies to help get their pins in front of a larger audience.
Pinning a pin that leads to a blog post on Pinterest looks something like this:
This is my own Pinterest board for makeup. I pin all my makeup related pins to this board. Pins 1, 2, 3, and 5 are all pins I made that link back to blog posts I wrote.
With Tailwind I can schedule when pins get pinned to this board, along with when pins get scheduled to group boards.
For example, that first pin is a pin that I just pinned today. I used Tailwind to schedule that pin to also go onto other relevant boards that I own (beauty tips and beauty hacks boards, for example), along with other beauty/makeup related group boards that I’m a part of.
You can read more about my Pinterest strategy here.
How does Tailwind help bloggers get in front of more people?
Quite simply Tailwind ensures that bloggers are constantly pinning throughout the day.
As mentioned, it allows you to schedule pins to various boards (both your own boards and group boards), while also ensuring you’re not repinning the same pin over and over again to the same board. In other words, it takes the guess work out of pinning and keeps things nice and organized for you.
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right?
Mostly, yes, but often, when I read blog posts reviewing Tailwind, a lot of people credit Tailwind with their success on Pinterest (i.e. “I got 100,000 pageviews. Here’s how I did it.” And then the post ends up being a total sales pitch for Tailwind).
Have you ever come across one of these blog posts?
I know I have, and while there’s nothing wrong with these kinds of posts per se, I do think they can be a tad misleading…
Here’s what I think all bloggers should know about Tailwind
Tailwind is NOT a magical tool. Plain and simple.
Tailwind has this reputation as being this magical tool that will quickly and easily boost your blog traffic, and today, with the way the Pinterest algorithm is working, I just don’t think it works like that anymore.
This doesn’t mean that it’s not useful, or that I think bloggers would be better off without Tailwind, but I do think it’s important for bloggers to realize that Tailwind is not an absolute necessity.
Even if you do have it, I also don’t think it means you’re going to get those thousands of pageviews that people rave about simply because you’re using Tailwind.
There’s a lot more to Pinterest than that.
I’ll admit, with recent updates to Pinterest, I can’t claim that I know the exact formula for what Pinterest is looking for, but I do know that as someone who uses Tailwind and reads a lot about how others use Tailwind, Tailwind is NOT the ultimate key to success for getting blog traffic through Pinterest.
How do I use Tailwind for my blog?
Now, having said all that, like I said, I still use Tailwind for my blog.
Why?
Because I’m super disorganized, I don’t have the patience to manually pin everyday, and I know if I were to try manually pinning all the time, I would for sure completely forget to pin on multiple days (a big no-no when you’re trying to build a Pinterest profile that draws traffic to your blog).
Currently my strategy with Tailwind is largely about pinning my new pins to relevant boards.
In other words, when I make a new pin, whether it be for a post I wrote weeks ago or for a post I wrote that day, I first pin it manually to my most relevant Pinterest board (i.e. a pin about makeup will go on my makeup board). I then use Tailwind to schedule the pin to all its other relevant boards. Generally I’ll set a two day interval between each pin so that my pins get spread out.
If you’re not familiar at all with Tailwind that might sound a bit confusing, but the main thing to recognize here is that I’m only using Tailwind in a small capacity. It’s NOT the sole focus of my Pinterest strategy.
Pro Tip
I think most bloggers know this at this point, but when it comes to pinning to general group boards (i.e. a “Best Pin” board), I would suggest staying away from it. When you do this, it confuses Pinterest. You want to tell Pinterest what your pin is about, so it can be shown to people interested in that topic. For example, if it’s a makeup pin, only pin the pin to a makeup board, not general boards. This way, your pin starts showing up on the feeds of Pinterest users who are interested in makeup.
Is Tailwind worth it for bloggers? The honest answer
Honestly?
It depends.
I think Pinterest is worth investing in if you’re super serious about blogging.
If you’ve been blogging for a couple weeks (even a couple months now), and you can truly see yourself wanting to make this something beyond just a hobby, then yes, I say Tailwind is valuable for serious bloggers. I mean, undeniably Tailwind can help you reach more people. There’s no way I would be able to keep track of all my boards/pins if I didn’t have Tailwind working for me.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about Tailwind and how it can benefit bloggers here.
On the flip side of that, though…
Do I think Tailwind is absolutely necessary and essential for all bloggers in order to be successful and get traffic to their blog? No.
In fact, I don’t even think Tailwind is completely necessary for those who want to get blog traffic from Pinterest.
Helpful, but not necessary.
If you’re interested in manual pinning and/or you don’t want to invest in Tailwind, I highly recommend taking Carly Campbell’s Pinteresting Strategies.
This course is all about manually pinning without Tailwind.
And, even if you do use Tailwind, there’s SO much value in this course!
When I was first considering it, I almost didn’t buy it because I knew I couldn’t manually pin all the time, but this course is excellent even if you still want to use Tailwind. It’s for sure what allowed me to take my Pinterest traffic up to the next level.
If you’re interested in Pinteresting Strategies, use the discount code PINNING5 at check out to receive $5 off your purchase.
In addition, the other Pinterest course I’ve taken is Making Pinterest Possible with Ana from The She Approach. This ebook also majorly impacted how I approach using Pinterest for my blog. I discuss how it helped raise my Pinterest views and my blog traffic in these two posts; however, if you’re specifically looking for an in depth course that will allow you to manually pin, I would recommend Pinteresting Strategies.
Trust me, as someone who doesn’t often invest in courses/ebooks for her blog, this is one that I’m confident is worth the price for anyone looking to take their Pinterest strategy to the next level. If you have any questions about it, or simply want to make sure it’s the right course for you, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to tell you more about it and my experience.
Bottom line, though…
No matter how you blog, what your goals are, or how much you’re willing to invest in tools, like I always say: THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO BLOG.
Personally Tailwind is worth it to me, but that doesn’t mean you HAVE to use it, or even that it will be effective for you.
Decide for yourself whether or not you want to use Tailwind. Just remember, for anyone who is telling you Tailwind is the magical tool that is solely responsible for their blog traffic, they’re probably just trying to make an affiliate sale…
(Nothing wrong with this; just being honest).
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