Professional UK book editor reveals the truth about Tailwind and whether the scheduling platform is worth all the hype and money!
Do you spend hours searching for ways to:
Get more page views on your blog?
Increase your website traffic?
Drive potential clients to your services?
Encourage new readers to buy your book?
Attract customers to your paid products?
...only to be told that Tailwind is the answer to all your problems?
I've done the same, and I also read multiple articles about how Tailwind has exploded other people's traffic & allowed them to generate a high amount of passive income. So, I joined Pinterest's #1 scheduler and tried it out for myself!
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So, is Tailwind worth all the hype and money?
Well, yes and no.
One feature of Tailwind actually made my Pinterest analytics drop like a b*tch, but the other part of Tailwind really has sent a sh*t ton of traffic, new readers & new clients to my website & blog.
Let's start with the bit that didn't go so well.
After reading loads of articles that promised HUGE results from using Tailwind as a scheduler, I got so excited. Little old me would be able to significantly grow my editing business and change my life, all from scheduling my pins to different group boards.
Wrong. Wrong. WRONG!
Oh how wrong I had been!
My Pinterest analytics dropped.
My website traffic plummeted.
My blog views decreased.
And my business stopped growing!
Here's a screenshot of my Pinterest analytics between the 1st July 2020 and the 1st September 2020:
As you can see, I had a total audience of 347, and an engaged audience of just 8. My engagement had dropped by 62% and my engaged audience had dropped by 27%. I had been using Tailwind to schedule my own pins at this point!
And the worst part about this was - I didn't understand why everything had dropped, so I had no clue how to fix it.
But now I know what went wrong.
After reading EVEN MORE articles and Tailwind reviews, I stumbled across other business owners and bloggers who had struggled with the same problem. And they all recommended the same thing: ditch Tailwind as a scheduler and stick to manual pinning.
So, I had been spending TOO much time relying on Tailwind's scheduler and not enough time on Pinterest.
I learnt from these other business owners and bloggers that Pinterest really does prefer its users to actually BE on the platform rather than depending on a third-party scheduling tool, even if Pinterest has approved it as the #1 scheduling tool for its platform.
So, I binned EVERY pin I had scheduled with a heavy heart and returned to manual pinning, and d'you know what? It f*cking worked!!
My Pinterest analytics jumped.
My website traffic skyrocketed.
My blog views increased.
And my business grew again!
Here is a screenshot of my Pinterest analytics between the 1st September 2020 and the 1st November 2020, so very shortly after my previous screenshot:
As you can see, EVERYTHING soared when I stopped relying on Tailwind to schedule my own pins and resumed to manual pinning.
So...does this deem Tailwind a waste of time and money then?
Absolutely not! Because I didn't achieve these amazing analytics by manually pinning alone - Tailwind also came into play.
See, even during those months in the first screenshot when my analytics, traffic, views and business took a nosedive, the one thing that kept me above water was Tailwind's Communities (originally called Tailwind Tribes).
Now, if you haven't yet joined Tailwind and therefore have no idea what I'm talking about - the Tailwind Communities are like GIANT group boards that each focus on different niches. For example, because my editing business targets writers who need book editing services, I've joined a lot of communities for writers and authors.
Although group boards aren't always effective due to their lack of SEO and people only dumping their pins and leaving, the Tailwind Communities are super focused on each niche, so you'll only share your pins with relevant, like-minded people who will likely add your pins to SEO-enriched boards.
PLUS, the majority of Tailwind Communities have a 1:1 pinning rule, which means that for every pin you add, you have to schedule someone else's.
So, pinners have no choice but to share other people's content if they wish to contribute to the Community, otherwise they'll get kicked out (the community creator can see who's obeying the rule). As a result, you could get a crazy amount of shares, and re-pins off the back of it!
Here is a screenshot of how many shares and re-pins I've received from ONE community alone:
I understand that this may just look like a load of numbers if you're not yet familiar with the Tailwind Communities, so let me break it down.
The top two numbers is just what this particular community has achieved from everyone sharing each other's content, but the bottom three numbers are the most important as they're unique to me.
Receiving 257 re-shares means that my pins within the Community have been shared to Pinterest 257 times, and 196 re-pins is the number of times my pins have then been saved on Pinterest off the back of people sharing them from the Community. As a result, I've reached 531,700 users.
I hope that makes sense.
I'm currently part of 17 Communities, so you can imagine how much exposure I receive!
So, is Tailwind actually worth all the hype and money?
Again - yes and no.
If you're hoping to rely on Tailwind's scheduler to do all the work for you instead of actually spending time pinning on Pinterest - don't.
As I mentioned before, Pinterest rewards its users who manually pin, so I would strongly advise against using Tailwind for your own pins. I only use the scheduling feature now for other people's pins, which I schedule from the Communities.
On the other hand, if you like the sound of the Communities - absolutely knock yourself out! The number of people you can reach through the Communities is extraordinary, and without that reach, my analytics and website traffic would flop.
So, after using Tailwind since mid 2020, I would DEFINITELY say that it's worth the hype and money, just for the Communities feature!
But...how am I supposed to MANUALLY pin 25+ pins a day on top of everything else?
Yeah, I questioned that as well.
When I used Tailwind to schedule my own pins, I scheduled around 30 a day to different group boards, so the thought of doing that myself worried me a little.
At first, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of which pins I needed to add to which group boards each day, but I've recently realised that group boards are f*cking useless!
My analytics have revealed that I'm only receiving under 5 saves and clicks from about 4 group boards each month, which is poxy compared to the amount I get from Tailwind's Communities.
So, instead of relying on other pinners within group boards to save and re-pin my content, I now focus on Pinterest SEO as well as the Tailwind Communities, which helps me to reach a wider audience over a longer period of time.
The Communities will help me to spread my content so far, and then the SEO will do the rest, but that's a post for another day!
Upcoming Related Post: How to Increase Your Traffic & Page Views Through Pinterest SEO!
5 lessons I've learnt about Tailwind:
Don't rely on Tailwind to schedule my own pins; manually pin them instead.
Use Tailwind's Communities to increase my reach.
Manually pin 2 - 4 brand new pins to Pinterest each day.
Forget about group boards.
Focus on Pinterest SEO.
With these 5 lessons in mind, here is my current Pinterest strategy:
Upload 2 - 4 brand new pins per day and pin them to my own SEO-enriched boards.
Add them to relevant Tailwind Communities.
Repeat each day.
Seriously, this strategy is so much more effective than scheduling or manually pinning every pin to multiple group boards for days on end.
Anyway, I'm rambling now, but I hope this post has helped you to make an informed decision about Tailwind.
If you're interested in joining Tailwind for FREE today, click here to sign up!
- Chelsea x
ABOUT CHELSEA
Hey! I'm Chelsea and I'm a professional book editor at Stand Corrected Editing, my editorial business in the UK. If you need professional book editing services and are currently looking for a manuscript editor, please get in touch and we can get started today!
With my book editing and proofreading services, I hope to spread my knowledge and expertise on how to make your novel a success, and be a mentor to others who desperately want to pursue a fruitful career as an author!