How to Promote Gift Guides on Pinterest (That Actually Get Sales)

‘Tis the season for promoting gift guides on Pinterest… well, actually it’s the season to promote gift guides everywhere. I’m just going to stick to Pinterest, because I feel like people are very much confused about how to do that right.

I know I say this in every single thing I write, but Pinterest is a search engine. People do not know you or trust you YET. They go to Pinterest because they need help deciding what to give x person in their life and they’re looking for a solution. If you market on Pinterest correctly, you can show up as the solution in their search results. That is not where your job ends though, because if you want them to actually purchase rather than just see your graphic and keep scrolling, you have to warm them up to buy.

When you’re seeing a lot of traffic to content that has affiliate links, but not a lot of purchases… you might not be providing them with enough value to make that purchase decision. What would make them buy vs. what would make them uncertain whether this was the right decision? While Instagram and TikTok followers know you and trust you, because they see you as a real person that they may even have a parasocial relationship with… Pinners just met your content.

In this guide, I’ll share how content creators and bloggers alike can effectively promote gift guides on Pinterest that get SALES.

Timing for Promoting Gift Guides on Pinterest

The thing about Pinterest is it’s going to tell you exactly when people want to see what you’re creating. Trends.Pinterest.com is a goldmine and you can see historically what happened and even see their predictions based on search volume for the future for some gift guides. Here’s an example:

What we can learn from the above is pinners start searching early and the search does continue until December BUT then it’s a free fall into nothing-ness. What we want to do is get our content onto Pinterest early enough so that

1. It has time to rank: Pinterest has to categorize your content. In order to do that correctly, you need to know Pinterest SEO aka what words to use and where to put those words in order to help Pinterest understand what searches your content is relevant to. It wants to know what the content is about and who it would best serve. We need it to get seen so that…
2. It has time to get engagement: Saves, pin clicks and outbound clicks help Pinterest know that people think your content is valuable. If they know people like your content they’ll keep showing it to more people. They want to be sure you’re adding value to their users’ experiences (so the people stay on Pinterest).

Your content needs to get seen (impressions), get engaged with (saves, pin clicks) and then get traffic (outbound clicks) in order to make a sale. That’s a process that needs time!

Is November Too Late to Promote Gift Guides on Pinterest?

Yes and no. With our Pinterest management clients, we like to get it out earlier so that it has time for this process and better chances of getting picked up, BUT also you never know because the searches are so high for gift guides in November. If your SEO is great and your pins are eye-catching, that could mean it gets engagement more quickly since there are more opportunities for it to be searched.

The other beautiful thing about Pinterest is that if you do it right, you gift guides can go out this November. Some might explode. Some might get no traction. All of them have a chance to rank the following year when people are searching again (like July-October). Time spent on Pinterest is worth it because content doesn’t die after 24 hours there. It has the longest shelf life of any “social media platform” because… well, it’s not social media. It’s like Google. People keep searching; Pinterest keeps serving it to them.

Get it up in November, but maybe skip the “2026” keyword. Share as a general “gift ideas for women,” “what to buy your best friend who has everything.” Those can be found next year, for birthdays, etc. Lots of opportunities there.

How to Make a Gift Guide That You Know Will Perform Well on Pinterest

As a general rule of thumb, I tell creators to repurpose content onto Pinterest instead of creating new content specifically for Pinterest. The thing is, if you’re a lifestyle creator, you have data on Pinterest you are underutilizing. I am 100000000% sure of that. Trends.Pinterest.com shares what people are searching and when in your niche. Why wouldn’t you start there to make something people will be searching for vs. creating something you HOPE people will be interested in?

I’ve written about this more than once, and I will keep singing its praises. Here’s how to use it for your gift guide specifically.

Step 1: Search inside of Pinterest Trends

Nobody types “gift guide” and stops there. They’re shopping for someone. Look up the recipient keywords on https://trends.pinterest.com/ too, because they don’t all peak at the same time:

1. “Gift ideas for her” roughly tripled between early November and the week of December 7 last year
2. “Gift ideas for mom” and “gifts for teachers” peaked later, the week of December 21, in both 2024 and 2025

Step 2: Head to Pinterest’s search bar

Then go to the regular Pinterest search bar and type in your recipient keyword to see how people actually phrase it. That phrasing is what will help you narrow down more specific gift guides and see what people are really looking for when it comes to the people they’re buying for.

What problems are they looking to solve that you can help with and cut through the noise of the more broad search terms?

Step 3: Turn those into a content plan with dates

• Now through early December: create fresh pins for your “for her” gift guide from last year, narrowing on different angles that people are searching for. Create fresh content and gift guides specifically targeting moms and teachers.
• Late November through mid-December: create and share the pins for your mom and teacher angles before their December 21 peak
• After Christmas: don’t forget about these posts. “Gift ideas for mom” and “gifts for teachers” spike again in May for Mother’s Day and teacher appreciation, so your guide gets a second season

Write all of these dates down somewhere BUT push up the timeline. That way you’re not redoing the research next November and instead can start resharing this content earlier in the search season (July- October is ideal).

Bonus: find gift ideas that are rising in your niche

Since we’re already in November, there will be gift guide ideas trending. You can see what people are actively searching and what they need help finding. Create content around that and share back on Pinterest. Even if you missed the boat for this year, again, it will be helpful for next year AND social media will likely eat it up (this year)!

On the Trends homepage, scroll to Discover Trends, select “growing trends,” and filter by your niche under Interests. For example, in fashion this week, “2026 christmas wishlist” is up 500% month over month. A wishlist post built from products you’ve already shared is a quick, easy gift guide that people are actively searching for right now.

How to Share a Gift Guide That Gets Sales From Pinterest

Here’s the thing: you need to balance making it for what people are searching at a high volume with useful content that again, will help people convert because you’re warming them up and providing useful information they trust.

Deciding on the URL

The first part on getting them to convert is remembering that where you send them off of Pinterest matters. Each URL has a different likelihood of converting. Let’s break it down:

1. Straight to an affiliate platform like LTK, ShopMy or Amazon: quick path to where to purchase but less opportunity for warming them up. A list of products does not hit like a person who explains why they picked each one. It’s a grid of products with no context and no reason to trust your picks (yet).
2. Instagram/TikTok video: this is the longest path to sale since neither platform makes it easy to get off the platforms. The connection opportunity is high here because seeing your face and hearing you talk about a gift builds trust fast. BUT neither platform makes it easy to leave, so the path to the actual purchase is long and clunky.
3. Blog post= this takes a little longer to get to the place of purchase than #1 but it’s SO much more effective in warming them up. It also has the benefit of other revenue opportunities like display ad revenue, subscribers to your email list and other sales on your website if they explore from that post rather than just stick to that page.

My favorite is #3 that’s why I’m “Pinterest for Bloggers” on social. I believe it is the most beneficial for many reasons, BUT it is not the only way. I would suggest #3 or #1 if you don’t have a blog. It is not worth sending them to Instagram or TikTok. In my experience working on 100’s of clients accounts, the blog post wins when it comes to what happens after the click. If you don’t have a blog yet, linking to a specific LTK post, ShopMy collection or Amazon idea list is totally fine (and so much better than sending people to your storefront homepage).

Refresh Last Year’s Gift Guide Before You Pin It

Your best gift guide is probably already written. Before you make a single new pin for it, give it a quick refresh, because gift guides are the one type of holiday content that doesn’t age well. Products sell out, links break and prices change.

1. Check your links. Click every single one. Make sure they work and that the items are still for sale.
2. Add “similar to” options for anything that’s sold out or no longer available.
3. Update the text and photos where needed. If the title has last year’s date in it, read this section of my holiday content post before you touch the slug. You don’t want old pins leading to a 404 page.
4. Make sure there’s a CTA. Shop the post, join your newsletter… pick no more than two so people aren’t overwhelmed.

Not sure which guide to start with? Look at Pinterest Analytics (or Google Analytics, filtered for Pinterest traffic) and see which posts got the most traffic last October through December. Start with those, since they’ll likely perform again.

Give Pinners a Reason to Trust Your Picks

This is the part most people skip, and it’s usually why a gift guide gets traffic but no sales.

Go through your gift guide as someone who has no clue who you are. They searched “gift ideas for mom,” your pin looked helpful, and now they’re on your page. What would make them buy, and what would leave them unsure whether it’s the right gift?

For each item, add a sentence or two that a buyer would actually want to know:

• Who it’s for: “for the mom who’s always cold,” “for the friend who already has everything”
• Why you picked it: you own it, you’ve gifted it before, it’s what everyone asked about in your DMs
• The details: fit, sizing, quality, price range, whether it ships in time

It doesn’t have to be long. Honestly, one line of real context beats a paragraph of fluff. That’s the warm-up that turns a click into a sale.

Make a Pin Graphic for Each Angle

One gift guide does not equal one pin. Remember the research you did in Pinterest Trends and the search bar? Each angle you found can be its own pin graphic, all pointing to the same URL.

• Put the keyword on the graphic, in the pin title and in the pin description
• Add a hook that teases what’s inside, without giving all of it away (if you have 8 gifts, show 4 on a multiple photo pin)
• Start with at least 3 pin graphics per gift guide, and then keep going, because the limit truly does not exist
• Skip adding the year on most of them, so the pins can still be found next year (I would put in Pin titles/descriptions over the graphic because at least those can be edited later)

If you need a starting point, grab my canva pin templates here. More on what makes a pin get clicked in this post.

How to Schedule Your Gift Guide Pins

Pinterest wants fresh pins, but not spam. Keep it simple:

• Leave at least 1 day between pins that go to the same URL
• Schedule the first pin ever to a gift guide to the most relevant board first
• Use a scheduler like Tailwind so you’re not pinning manually every day during the busiest month of the year (it’s Pinterest-approved, so no worries there)

After Christmas: Give Your Gift Guide a Second Job

Please don’t let your gift guide sit there until next November. Pinterest’s own advice for the weeks after the holidays is to shift from gifting to everyday use. People go from shopping for others to planning, resetting and buying for themselves.

So that “gifts for her” guide can be re-pinned in January as everyday favorites, cozy at-home must-haves or whatever fits your niche. And remember, “gift ideas for mom” and “gifts for teachers” spike again in May, so that guide gets a second season with Mother’s Day and teacher appreciation. Birthdays happen all year too.

Then come July, when Pinners start planning the holidays again, your refreshed guide (and all its pins) is already there and ready to go.

FAQ: Promoting Gift Guides on Pinterest

Do I need a blog to promote a gift guide on Pinterest?
No, you need a URL. An LTK post, ShopMy collection or Amazon idea list works. A blog post just gives you more ways to warm people up and make money from the same click.

How many pins a day should I post?
Start with 3 a day (what I call the Bare Pinimum). For our management clients, we schedule 5 to 10 a day through Tailwind.

Is it too late to pin gift guides in December?
For this year, the window is closing, since searches for most gift guides peak in early to mid-December. But anything you pin now can still rank next year, so it’s never wasted.

Want Weekly Pinterest Trends?

Every Tuesday, my newsletter subscribers get a Pinterest Trends PDF showing what’s rising in lifestyle niches, so you know what to create and pin before it peaks. Subscribe here.

And if you’d rather we just did it for you… of course, we’re here for that too!