Why I Finally Started Using Tailwind in 2019

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Pinterest is my number one source of blog traffic.

But, it hasn’t always been.

At the end of 2016, I signed up for free trials of both BoardBooster and Tailwind. I loved how intuitive BoardBooster was, so I stuck with it.

I continued to grow my Pinterest strategy and was thrilled to see more traffic coming back to my blog.

Then, in the summer of 2018, BoardBooster shut down. With one devastating email, my Pinterest auto-pilot program broke down.

My traffic plummeted while I tried to figure out what to do.

I went back to manually pinning. And while my views and repins slowly started picking back up, so did the amount of time I spent dealing with Pinterest.

I’d pin a couple things from my blog in the morning. Then I’d look for a couple of pins to manually add to my boards while cooking lunch.Before I went to bed I’d pin some more.

It seems like all I did when I had a minute was hang outwith Pinterest.

By pinning manually, I was adding several pins all at once,which isn’t a good way to do things.

But, I refused to use Tailwind. So manually pinning content seemed like my only option.

In my mind it was too complicated to sit down and figure out another scheduler. So, I ignored my Tailwind account while continuing to wish BoardBooster would magically reopen.

It didn’t.

And I finally realized that with all the time I was spending on Pinterest, it may actually save me time to finally learn Tailwind. Since I’m scaling my business right now, I was ready to save some time however I could.

So two weeks ago, I logged into my inactive Tailwind account. And I finally took advantage of my 100 pins that came with my free trial.

Note: You read that right – the free trial I signed up for over two years ago was still valid. With Tailwind, it’s number of pins based not time based. So if you’re on the fence, sign up today. You can always let it sit!

Here’s what I discovered:

My Imagination Was My Biggest Problem

In my mind, Tailwind had become an insurmountable obstacle. Because it wasn’t automatically as intuitive to me as BoardBooster had been, I wrote it off.

Whenever I read blog posts about Tailwind, my obstacle grew bigger. There was so much to learn. So many terms I didn’t understand.

When I finally took a deep breath and decided to conquer my mental foe, I made a startling discovery.

Tailwind wasn’t nearly as complicated as I made it out to be.

Yes, there was a learning curve. With most new things there is.

But it certainly didn’t take me hours and hours to figure out how to use it. In fact, I had two weeks’ worth of content scheduled about an hour after I initially logged in.

There’s a handy tutorial in Tailwind that walks you through the process. It’s also okay just to play around with it.

Between watch the tutorials and doing some random clicking/exploring, I’m much more comfortable with Tailwind now.

If you’re like I was, and Tailwind seems too difficult, let me encourage you to spend an hour with your account. It’s amazing how much clarity an hour of dedicated time can give you.

There Are Many Features to Reduce Your Time Commitment

One of my favorite features of BoardBooster was the looping.That’s how I was able to set up a streamlined strategy for my group boards.

SmartLoop

While Tailwind has a looping feature (called SmartLoop), it’s not as easy to set up as I was hoping. You must select individual pins, instead of being able to just select a section of your board.

I started experimenting with this feature, and have it maxed out on the amount that’s included for my plan. I’m trying to decide if paying for the PowerUp is worth it. I know I’ll give it at least a month or two before I make that decision.

Here’s what SmartLoop looks like from your Tailwind Dashboard.

I just jumped in and started playing. There are video tutorials to watch, but my slow internet doesn’t really permit many of those! At first, my pins kept almost flooding my group boards on Pinterest. I wasn’t sure what was going wrong, so I dove back into this feature.

I discovered the “Board Rules” feature. This is important!

I went in and added rules for all of the group boards I’m participating in. For slow moving boards, I set it to publish only once a week.For faster boards, I opted for once a day.

It took a little time to set everything up, but now my pins aren’t filling up boards. I feel much more confident using this feature now.

SmartLoop – New Loop

I really like the option to create seasonal loops. This wasn’t an option with BoardBooster. I can take all my seasonal content (ie my gift guides that I want to start posting in the fall) and create a seasonal plan.

There’s also an evergreen loop option. I have two of those set up currently. One is for my blogging pins. One is for my working from home with kids pins.

Since I only have 250/month to work with, I had to strategically select pins. I also was thoughtful about which boards I selected.I want to make the most of my limited numbers.

It’s important to check the rules!

Look over the rules for each group board before you start setting this up. That way you know how many you can publish to each. It’s also important to save pins from these group boards. You don’t want to be a taker and not a giver.

So I use group boards to fill my queue on Tailwind. I just spend time in each board about once a week, and schedule some. Sometimes I wind up sharing more than I shared. That’s okay! Let’s spread the love on other people’s content!

Tribes

I always heard about Tailwind Tribes, but until recently had no idea how they actually worked. Now that I’ve spent some time exploring them, I must admit I really like them.

In fact, I created my own Tribe – Mompreneur Life. If you create content related to being a mompreneur, you can request to join here.

So, what exactly is a Tribe?

It’s a group of content creators who band together to share content. There are Tribes related to just about every topic imaginable. I joined three so far, mostly on topics related to blogging and being a mompreneur.

Without paying for a Tribe PowerUp, you can join five tribes and submit 30 of your own pins each month.

This rate is working for me for now, so I’m sticking with it. If I start noticing I’m always using my allotted pins, I’ll definitely upgrade in the future.

What I really love about Tribes is the ease of use. I log into Tailwind, and select one of my Tribes. Then I can easily see how many pins I’ve added, how many I’ve shared, and see some metrics.

I use Tribes to fill up my queue for the coming days.

To add a pin of your own, I’ve discovered it’s easiest to use a browser extension. I’m on Firefox, and this extension works well. Once you find a pin you want to add, you click on the Tailwind button. This screen pops up, and you select “Add to Tribes.” Then you can check the one you want to add it to.

You can also easily see how many pins you’ve added and how many of your allotted ones remain.

This seems like a great way to connect with other like-minded bloggers. I’m looking forward to diving more into Tribes in the coming months.

Does Tailwind Really Save Me Time?

I started using Tailwind hoping to save time. I don’t want to have to constantly log into Pinterest and deal with pinning.

These last two weeks, I’ve probably spent more time than in the past. That’s because I was learning the system and getting things set up. Now that I’m in the groove a bit, it’s much simpler!

And if I don’t get a chance to log into Pinterest one day, I still know I have some pins going out automatically. This has been such a relief! My marketing is no longer dependent on me going in each and every day.

I plan on continuing to use Tailwind. And I must admit – I feel kind of silly that it’s taken me this long to get started with it. I can already see how it’s going to streamline my efforts on Pinterest.

AND as a bonus, my Pinterest views are growing. I’m noticing more traffic back to my blog.

More blog traffic AND saving time? That’s a double win in my books!

And since Tailwind is an official Pinterest partner, I don’t have to worry about them randomly shutting down!

How about you – are you using Tailwind for Pinterest scheduling? What are your favorite features? I’d love for you to share in the comments.