In this post, I’ll compare two Pinterest scheduling tools: the native Pinterest scheduler and the popular Tailwind scheduler.
While testing my manual pinning strategy a few weeks ago, I accidentally noticed the native Pinterest scheduler on the mobile app.
I was shocked to see it because I didn’t know Pinterest had a scheduling feature for business accounts.
So, I tested it out with a few pins, but to be honest, I wasn’t a fan.
Yes, it worked well.
I published my pins at the right time, but that was it.
It was as essential as they come.
As someone who has worked in social media and is used to all the progress scheduling tools have made, I was slightly disappointed.
But then, if you notice, all native social media schedulers are really just the bare minimum.
But that’s a conversation for another day.
Also, I noticed several bloggers were using the native Pinterest scheduler instead of Tailwind.
This piqued my curiosity even further. I wanted to know who has ditched Tailwind in favour of the native Pinterest scheduler.
I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t stop wondering why they chose it.
Anyway, moving on to the topic of the day.
For the sake of this post, I’m going to be comparing the two Pinterest schedulers based on the following criteria:
- Ease of Use
- Cost
- Limit of scheduled pins
- Time optimization
Overview: Native Pinterest Scheduler
Just as the name implies, the native Pinterest Scheduler is the official scheduler for the Pinterest app.
This means that while you have the option of manual pinning, you also have the option of scheduling directly on the app without any external tools.
In theory, it sounds easy and convenient, but how good is it actually?
Ease of Use:
No matter how much of a novice you are, you can figure out the native Pinterest scheduler immediately.
It is that simple to use.
This is mainly because it uses the same steps for manually pinning.
The only difference is the time of posting. So, I’m guessing one of the most appealing things about this scheduler is the ease of use.
Cost:
It is literally FREE. Just as the Pinterest app itself is free, so is the scheduler.
You don’t have to pay any monthly fees for anything.
It is forever free to use without any conditions attached.
Limit of scheduled pins:
Now, this is where it gets serious.
While the scheduler is free and easy to use, you can only pin 30 pins simultaneously.
As a Pinterest beginner, this is ideal for you.
Especially if you need to learn the ropes of Pinterest marketing.
Ideally, you should spend much time manually pinning to master the platform.
Then, you can graduate to scheduling before investing in a tool like Tailwind.
The native scheduler is a nice way to practice scheduling, and 30 is an ideal number.
Heck, as of last month, I posted 25 times a day.
But I’ve since upgraded to 40 times a day.
So, if you are on a shoestring budget and are not ready to invest in a paid tool, this works.
Time Optimization:
Yes, you can schedule 30 times a day.
But how do you optimise your pin for the best 30 times in a day?
You can consider posting every hour as an example, but trust me, there are times when you will lose out on an active audience because you posted at the wrong time.
The major downside of this native scheduler is the time optimisation, which is key in getting eyes on your pins!
Overview: Tailwind Scheduler
Over the last couple of days, I’ve analysed whether Tailwind for Pinterest is useful in 2020 and the best Pinterest Strategy between Manual Pinning and Scheduling.
Yes, Tailwind has been on my radar a lot.
Also, it has literally doubled my blog traffic, so I obviously can’t stop talking about it.
Let’s quickly go over why we’re here today.
Ease of Use:
Frankly, Tailwind is not the easiest platform to use.
The first time I signed up for it years ago, I was confused and completely discouraged.
I left it and never returned until I launched my new blog a year ago.
I’ve made it a mission to occasionally call them out on Twitter to fix their UI/UX until they listen.
I’m sure one of the reasons why many people use the native Pinterest scheduler is the ease of use.
For Tailwind, you’ll need to master it before even getting results, which is just long, to be honest.
Plus, they have this bad habit of shoving their tutorials down people’s necks, which is generally off-putting.
Cost:
Tailwind costs $15 monthly.
If you’re not making money from your blog or not in a position to invest from your pocket, Tailwind easily becomes non-essential.
For the price, when you consider industry standards, it’s actually fair.
Limit of scheduled pins:
If you go the extra mile and pay for an annual Tailwind plan, you can access UNLIMITED pins.
But that’s really just not possible but also unnecessary.
Hence, the monthly plan just works. You don’t need that extra pins per month.
Also, you don’t want Pinterest to flag your account for spam activity or even suspend it.
So you have to be careful.
Time optimization:
The best thing about Tailwind is how it optimizes your pins to post at the most active times.
If your audience is most active between 12 and 2 a.m., Tailwind will schedule most of your pins during that time frame.
It’s everything and then some.
If you want to know the power of time optimization, do an A/B test by posting two pins simultaneously.
One at the best time and the other at a random time.
Compare the results and see what happens.
While we might not be paying for anything spectacular, I’ll gladly pay for all 30+ pins to be posted at midnight for blog traffic.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, as a Pinterest beginner, the native scheduler works for you.
But if you want to speed up your efforts with Pinterest marketing and get that traffic as fast as possible, get on Tailwind this minute.
It will transform your Pinterest efforts, provided you know what you’re doing.
If you don’t and you need help to get started,
- Start with the Pinterest Optimization Checklist
- Use Pinterest with Ell for step-by-step, up-to-date strategies.
- Then, sign up for Tailwind.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your results.
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