If you’re wondering whether to connect Instagram to Pinterest, here’s my honest answer: not as a replacement for a real Pinterest strategy.

I’m hired mostly by busy businesswomen who don’t want to deal with one more marketing task. They need more time and energy. The temptation to connect Instagram to Pinterest, so all those Instagram posts they’ve spent time creating get repurposed, makes sense.

I get why it’s tempting. You’re already creating content for Instagram, and flipping one switch so it shows up on Pinterest too feels like the ultimate time-saver. Post once, show up twice. Who wouldn’t want that?

But when you connect Instagram to Pinterest and send your posts straight over, it can quietly confuse your account. Pinterest ends up unsure what you do and who to show your pins to. In this post, I’ll walk you through what actually happens when you flip that switch, and what to do instead.

What I found in a client’s account

I’ve seen this with so many clients at the beginning of our work together. It’s incredibly common. One recent client is a perfect example. She’s a smart business owner with great content, and she had her VA connect Instagram to Pinterest to save time. Totally reasonable for a Pinterest layperson.

When I started going through her account, I had to edit, and sometimes take down, the Instagram posts. Not because she’d done anything careless, but because they’d been feeding Pinterest information that made no sense for search, like her having lunch out with her family on a Saturday.

Instagram rewards the popular marketing advice to share glimpses into our private lives. Pinterest does not.

The result was a misindexed account. Pinterest simply couldn’t understand what her account was about, so it didn’t know who to show it to.

Why it happens: Instagram and Pinterest speak different languages

Instagram is social media. Your posts are written for people who already follow you, and they’re designed to get attention for a day or two. You spend a lot of time branding.

Pinterest is a search engine. People type in what they’re looking for, and Pinterest decides which pins to show them based on keywords, strategy and how clearly it understands each account.

So when your Instagram posts land on Pinterest as they are, Pinterest gets fed:

• Hashtags, emojis and chatty captions instead of the keywords your dream clients actually search
• Links back to Instagram instead of your website, blog, freebie or shop. Ask yourself: does that Instagram post or video actually solve the problem they were searching for?
• A mix of unrelated topics, like personal moments, quotes and promotions, with no clear theme
• Square images instead of the tall format that performs best on Pinterest

None of that is wrong for Instagram. It just doesn’t help Pinterest do its job.

The cost: a confused, misindexed account

When Pinterest can’t tell what your account is about, it can’t match your pins to the right searches. That means the people actively looking for what you offer may never see you.

The tricky part is that it looks like it’s working. Pins are going out, your account looks active, and you feel like you’re showing up. But behind the scenes, Pinterest is guessing, and your content isn’t reaching the people it was meant for.

The longer it runs this way, the more confusing signals pile up, and the more cleanup it takes to get your account back on track.

What to do instead

The good news: your Instagram content can absolutely work on Pinterest. It just needs to be translated first. Here’s how:

1. Turn off auto-posting from Instagram. This stops new confusing signals from reaching your account.
2. Find your keywords. Look up what your dream clients actually type into the Pinterest search bar and use those words in your profile, boards and pins.
3. Give every board one clear topic. Name each board with a keyword and fill it with pins that match.
4. Link every pin to your own home base. Send people to your website, podcast, blog, freebie or shop, not back to Instagram.
5. Repurpose your content the Pinterest way. Take your best Instagram content and give it a keyword-rich title, a helpful keyword description and a tall pin design.

This way, you still get the time-saving benefit of creating once, without confusing Pinterest about who you are.

What changed for my client

With her Instagram-fed pins, I began by fixing the ones worth keeping and adding keywords to each. I also cleaned up her boards, and in many cases deleted boards that were personal or made no sense for her business.

As we got her back on track and added properly strategized pins, Pinterest began to understand her account and connect her with the right searchers. I can already see her outbound clicks surpassing those of her previous pins.

She’s a recent client, so we don’t have enough analytics yet to show the whole picture. I’ll share an update later this year once we do.

So, should you connect Instagram to Pinterest?

If you’ve already chosen to connect Instagram to Pinterest, please don’t beat yourself up. Unless you’ve had Pinterest training, there’s no way to know. Many businesswomen don’t realize these two platforms work so differently.

The great news is that your content is already valuable. With the right setup, Pinterest can share it with the people searching for exactly what you offer, for months and even years after you post it.

Wondering whether Pinterest can work for your kind of business? Read Why Your Business Is Not Too Niche for Pinterest Marketing.

Want to manage Pinterest yourself? Start with the right foundation.

If you love creating your own pins and want to stay hands-on, that’s wonderful. The best gift you can give yourself is a proper setup before you start. That’s exactly what my Pinterest Setup is for.

I’ll research your keywords, set up your profile and boards, clean up any confusing signals from Instagram, and show you how to keep it running. Then you take it from there, knowing your account is built so Pinterest understands who you are and who to show your pins to.

Not sure if your account is confusing Pinterest? I’d love to take a look. Book your Pinterest Setup or hit reply to ask questions. I’m on Instagram @megancorebeliefs.