How I Brought 100K+ Visitors to My Substack via Pinterest

+ the exact process you can copy.

A few weeks ago, I posted a note about how I made my first $1K on Substack, mentioning that Pinterest was one of the biggest drivers behind it. I wasn’t expecting much, but that note exploded. I had almost a hundred comments asking for the full breakdown of how I use Pinterest: how I set it up, what I pin, how often I post, what boards I use, how I pick keywords, and whether Pinterest still works in 2025.

So this is the deep dive everyone asked for.

Most of my growth on Pinterest started to pick up pre-summer. And once things started moving, the compounding effect was unbelievable. Pinterest has now brought over 100,000 unique visitors to Petal & Hearth since I began posting consistently, and it all came from a strategy that didn’t require ads, advanced design skills, or a huge following — just time and a steady flow of content.

Normally I reserve tutorials like this for paid subscribers, but I’m making this one free for everyone since so many of you asked for it. If you want more behind the scenes content like this, I’d love to welcome you as a paid subscriber — more on the features and benefits at the end of this article.

Alright. Now let’s talk Pinterest. I’m linking my profile here if you want to refer to it throughout this post.

The real reason Pinterest works: content, content, content

Before we talk about strategy, it helps to remember one simple thing: Pinterest can only send traffic to places that exist.

Every pin needs a destination. That destination might be a Substack post, a blog post, a product page, or an affiliate link. The more high quality destinations you have, the more doors you’re giving Pinterest to open for you.

Note: You don’t need hundreds of posts to start, but you do need something you can confidently send people to. This is the foundation of everything that follows.

Step 1: Gather what you can actually link to

If you’re starting from zero, this is your first job. Sit down with a notebook or a Google Doc and make three simple lists:

• Every Substack or blog post you already have

• Any resources or products you already recommend to people

• Any ideas you know you want to write about soon

That becomes your starting library.

Personally, my library is huge at this point. I’ve written more than 200 posts on my Substack, and that alone fuels most of my Pinterest strategy. Every post becomes multiple pins. Every angle inside that post becomes a new graphic. Every product I mention can be its own pin later.

But, if you only have five posts right now, that is still a library. You can still create multiple pins for each one. You can still start.

Step 2: Decide how affiliate links fit into your Pinterest plan

Now that you know what you can link to, you can layer in affiliate income in a way that makes sense instead of just slapping links everywhere.

Here is how I think about it:

My first priority is always to send people to my own world: My Substack. That’s the long term, relationship based piece.

Affiliate links are an extra layer that can earn money while I build that world.

If you’re brand new to affiliate marketing, the Amazon Associates program is one of the easiest to start with because of how their system works (I know, Amazon is a controversial topic here, but hear me out…)

When someone clicks your link and lands on Amazon, a little timer starts. If they buy anything within that window, you get a commission on the entire cart. It doesn’t need to be the exact product you shared. They might click through for a candle and end up buying a vacuum and three books. You still earn on that.

So here’s the practical way to approach this:

1. Make a short list of products that genuinely fit your world. Think books you love, office tools, beauty products, kitchen basics.

2. Add those to Amazon as idea lists or individual links inside your affiliate account.

3. Treat those links as destinations, the same way you treat your blog posts. They become places your pins can point to.

For example, if I share a pin with a photo of my reading nook, that pin can link to a page with my favorite lamp, blanket, and book stack. It still feels natural, and I am not forcing products into content where they do not belong.

Affiliate links make the most sense when they’re woven into things you already talk about. Pinterest is simply the bridge that carries people there.

Step 3: Turn one piece of content into multiple pin ideas

Once you know what you’re linking to, you can start stretching each piece of content into several pin concepts. Take a single blog post, for example, “How to create your dream home library.” You might pull out:

• A graphic pin with the title of the post

• A pin that focuses on one specific tip from the post

• A lifestyle photo of the reading corner that links to your affiliate products

• A quote graphic using one simple line from the post

Example of multiple pins, linking to the same content.

You’re not reinventing the wheel every time. You’re reframing the same idea in slightly different ways so Pinterest has more chances to match it with someone’s search.

Step 4: Set a realistic pinning rhythm

When I was going hard on growth, I pinned ten times a day. I know that number can feel wild if you are just starting, so here’s how I would ease into it if I were beginning again.

Start with a small daily target you can keep up with for a month. That might be three pins a day. If that feels easy after a couple of weeks, you can move up to five. Once you have templates and a routine, it becomes much less intense than it sounds on paper.

A simple way to think about it:

• One or two pins that link to your own content

• One or two pins that link to affiliate products or a curated list

• The rest can be variations or fresh angles on those same pieces

When I was doing everything myself, batching made the whole process easier. I’d open Canva, pull up a few templates, swap in new titles and images, and create a week’s worth of pins in one sitting. That kept me from having to design from scratch every day, and it made the daily Pinterest routine feel light instead of overwhelming.

Now I work with a subcontractor who handles the design, uploading, scheduling — all of it. My role is simply to review the batches he creates, approve the pins, and make sure everything aligns with the direction I want for my brand. The workflow is still essentially the same as when I did it myself, just much lighter. And that consistency, even with someone helping, is what keeps everything growing in the background.

Bottom line: The exact number of pins is less important than the consistency. Pinterest rewards accounts that show up regularly far more than accounts that show up in bursts and then disappear.

Step 5: Make SEO your friend

Pinterest SEO sounds like a big technical concept… but it’s not. The key is to use Pinterest the way your ideal reader uses it.

Go to the search bar. Type the topic you’re about to create a pin for. Look at the little suggestions that appear underneath the search bar. Those suggestions are the phrases people are actively typing into Pinterest.

If you type “curly hair,” (top of mind, I’m getting my haircut today 😉) you might see things like curly hairstyles, curly hair routine, curly haircuts. Pinterest is literally handing you the language people are already using.

You can then:

• Use those phrases in your pin title

• Sprinkle them into your pin description in a natural sentence

• Name your boards with those phrases where it makes sense

• Update your profile description so it reflects the topics you are pinning about

You’re simply helping Pinterest understand “this account is about X, Y, and Z,” instead of “this account is a random catch all.”

Step 6: Organize your boards so Pinterest knows where to put you

Pinterest sorts your content by context. If your boards are vague like “random” or “stuff I like,” your pins are going to float around without a clear home.

I keep my boards specific and descriptive. For example:

• French lifestyle

• Cottagecore home decor

• Cozy travel

• Dinner recipes

• Winter aesthetic

• Home library inspo

Each board also has a short description written the same way I would explain it to a friend, but with keywords woven in. Something like: “Cozy home ideas for small apartments, warm lighting, soft textures, and lived in spaces you actually want to be in each night.”

Clear boards help Pinterest understand who your content is for and what kinds of searches it should match you with. Once that foundation is in place, Pinterest has a much easier time placing your pins where people will actually see them.

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A few things that helped me in the beginning

Keeping my profile description aligned with the topics I was actually posting about made a big difference. Pinterest needs to understand what you’re known for, and your profile is one of the first signals it reads.

I also spent a little time repinning things I genuinely liked each day. I can’t prove it changes anything in the algorithm, but staying active on the platform seemed to help my account settle into the right categories, and it kept Pinterest’s recommendations aligned with the content I wanted to create.

The other thing I had to learn was not to panic when a pin didn’t get engagement. Most pins will get almost nothing at first. That’s normal. Pinterest is a long-tail platform, and sometimes a pin doesn’t take off until months later.

And then there’s Pinterest Trends, which became one of my most reliable idea generators.

Pinterest Trends is a built-in tool that shows what people in your region are searching for right now. It updates constantly, and the data is pulled directly from what users are typing into the search bar. When you open it, you’ll see a list of trending topics and search phrases, often grouped by season, holiday, aesthetic, or category.

Here’s how I use it:

1. I open Pinterest Trends once or twice a week and scroll through the top searches.

2. I pay attention to anything that overlaps with my world — cozy home ideas, seasonal rituals, French lifestyle, books, fall outfits, candles, haircuts, small-space decorating, holiday planning, that kind of thing.

3. If something fits my niche, I turn it into content. This could be a blog post, a new set of affiliate links, or a batch of pins that point to something I already have on Substack.

For example, when I saw “fall nails,” “pumpkin carving ideas,” “autumn outfits,” and “seasonal rituals” trending, I immediately knew I could make pins for:

• A cozy fall rituals blog post

• A roundup of my favorite fall books

• A few aesthetic lifestyle pins linked to affiliate lists (candles, blankets, mugs, seasonal decor)

• A “what French women are wearing in fall” post

These are things I would have written or pinned eventually, but Pinterest Trends shows you what people are actively searching for right now, which means you’re creating content people are already asking for.

It’s honestly one of the easiest ways to keep your ideas flowing, especially when you feel stuck or you’re just getting started and don’t have a clear content plan yet.

The truth about performance: most pins won’t take off

This is the part most people never talk about, and it’s the reason so many beginners quit before Pinterest has a chance to work.

Most pins don’t take off. They get a handful of impressions, maybe a save or two, and then they disappear for a while. That doesn’t mean your strategy is failing. It means Pinterest is still figuring out where to put you.

Almost all of my traffic comes from what I call my power pins: a small group of pins that Pinterest grabbed onto and kept circulating long after I posted them. I have maybe fifteen or twenty of these, and they’re still pulling in new readers six months later. Those few pins carried me through entire seasons of growth.

The hard part is that you never know which pins are going to become power pins. Something you think will go nowhere might end up reaching thousands of people. Something you worked hard on might stay quiet forever. The only way to get a power pin is to keep posting so Pinterest has a big enough pool to choose from.

Power pin example, from my cottagecore era, lol…

Pinterest is slow to start because it relies on patterns. It needs time to understand what your account is about, who your content is for, and which searches match your topics. But once it makes those connections, the growth starts to compound. I’ve had months where my impressions hit numbers I never expected, all because a small cluster of pins aligned with the right searches at the right moment.

It helps to treat Pinterest like a tiny daily habit instead of something you need to master overnight. When you show up consistently — even in small ways — your account builds momentum. And when that momentum starts to stack, it changes everything.

I didn’t start with an audience, I didn’t start with authority, I didn’t start with a perfect system. I just had a handful of posts, a few simple templates, and a willingness to pin every day, even when nothing was happening. That consistency is what carried me to the place where Pinterest is now one of the biggest traffic drivers for Petal & Hearth.

I looooove me a well-curated Pinterest board 💓

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About the Author:

Hey there! I’m Olivia, the heart behind Petal + Hearth. Originally from California, I moved to the south of France in 2023 to create a slower, more intentional life, and share the journey along the way. By day, I run the business of my dreams as a freelance copywriter. Here, I pour my love for seasonal rituals, intentional routines, and the magic of shaping a life you can truly fall in love with into every post.

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