How to Use Tailwind Tribes

Have you been invited to test out Tailwind Tribes? A bit on overwhelm? Been there. In order to tap into all the amazing amplifying powers of Tribes, you need to master the basics. Welcome to your complete guide on how to use Tailwind Tribes (even if you don’t have a paid account).

What is Tailwind Tribes?

In case you’re new to Tailwind, this incredible tool is a Pinterest automation and analytics tool. The main feature people sign on for is the scheduling feature. Yes, you can schedule pins on Pinterest! But that’s not what we’re talking about today.

 

If you haven’t tried out Tailwind yet, get a free month on me by using my affiliate link!  

 

Tribes is a beta invite only program from Tailwind. The idea came from their members who were working in their own “tribes” to share and promote each other’s content. It would be the same if you and I (as well as a few others) had a pact to share each other’s pins on our boards. The original Tailwind users wanted a better way to track who from their “tribe” had shared out their content and make sure they reciprocated the favor. I heard rumors of the extensive spreadsheets these dedicated Pinners were using. In short – a headache.

 

To assist, Tailwind created this freaking awesome “Tribes tool.” Here everyone in the tribe adds their content to the main feed. It’s easy to keep track of whose content you shared, who is sharing your content and to see who is contributing to the group.

 

Even better, you don’t have to have a paid account to access it. While I personally recommend unlocking the full power of their Pinterest tool, I’m going to give you step by step tools on how to make the most of Tribes if you don’t have a paid account.

 

Accepting a Tailwind Tribes Invitation

As mentioned, Tailwind Tribes is an invite only feature. I’m not going to comment on how un-patiently I waited to get my exclusive invite in! Let’s just say I don’t do patience well. Once you get that divine link, you will be directed to this page:

 

Once you accept the invitation (giant green button) there are either two steps that will take place. First, if you don’t have a Tailwind account, it will have you create an account with your Pinterest login information. Tailwind is a trusted Pinterest partner, which means all your information is secure. Hooking up Tailwind to Pinterest is important since you will be accessing all your boards and scheduling out pins.

These are the two steps you’ll go through for a new account:

Then you hook up through Pinterest (once again – Tailwind is a trusted partner which means it’s completely safe to sign up through them).

If you already have an account (or once you make one), you will be directed to the Tribe page.

How to Use Tailwind Tribes

Tailwind will invite you to a tour of tribes (as well as through Tailwind’s Pinterest features). Here are a few shortcuts in case you’re perplexed after their tour:

On the left-hand toolbar, go to the “Tribes” Icon.

Once in the Tribes dashboard, you can toggle behind Tribes. I’m in several, so I can switch between them. Because I own Savvy Etsy Community, it’s above the dotted line with a cool little crown.

 

Each group owner will create a description for the Tribe and outline rules for participating. This most often includes:

• Type of content you can add;
• Pin formatting;
• Pinning ratio.

Once in the tribe, in the main part of the page you will see a feed that resembles Pinterest:

 

Next to the search bar, you will see four different filters.

This allows you to toggle between different selections of content.

• All- this is all the content that has been shared with the group;
• New – Content you haven’t interacted with yet (either through pinning or skipping). Your content will not show up for you in this tab.
• Yours – Content you have added to the board. It helps you keep track on how well your content is being shared, as well as what you have pinned to the group feed;
• Shared -Pins you’ve scheduled to post;
• Skipped – Occasionally there will be content that doesn’t match your boards. You can “skip this content in order to clean your “New” queue.

Make sure to only skip content when it doesn’t align with your boards. Ultimately these tribes work most effectively when everyone shares everyone else’s content. That said, when you scroll over a pin, you can click the “skip” icon.

To schedule a pin from the “New” feed, start typing into the board section. Then hit the green “Add to Queue” button.

\

 

Keeping Track of Engagement 

As I mentioned, the goal of Tribes was to create communities where everyone shares out other’s content. The idea is that a rising tide raises all ships. To ensure that everyone is participating, the owner of the group can see how many pins each person has added, as well as how many they have shared. As a participant in the group, you can see how many pins each person adds, but not shares. That said, you will be able to see your pin vs share numbers.

 

Here is an admin view:

 

You can also use a filter to only see the pins from one account by scrolling over their name and clicking “Only.”

 

Pinning to Your Tailwind Tribe (Even if You Don’t Have a Paid Account) 

First, you need to install the Tailwind plugin to your Internet browser. Here is a tutorial from Tailwind on how to do that. Once you have the plugin installed, go to the blog post that you want to include in the Tribe. Click the Tailwind icon on the toolbar (same as you would the Pinterest icon).

This is a screenshot of my Chrome browser. It’s the blue tail.

Next it will bring up all the images from the page. Select the one you want to pin and click “Go to schedule.”

Once you click that, it will bring up your image and scheduling options. Click “Add to Tribes.”

 

Then it will ask you which tribe you want to add it to. If you’ve added this pin to a tribe before, you will get a warning and it will highlight which tribes you’ve added it to before.

Success! It will show up in the feed now.

If you don’t have a paid account, this is where you finish this step. Should you be enjoying the full benefits of a full account, feel free to schedule that pin out to any (or several) of your boards.

 

Second Option for Adding Content 

The other option to schedule pins is to go to your Pin Inspector tool under the optimize section in the left toolbar. This works better for individuals with a paid account (especially if you use Tailwind a lot).

Once there it will pull up ALL your pins and give you a snapshot into their effectiveness. You want to filter to only your pins, which you will do in the menu options.

This will automatically filter it to show only your pins (as well as the metrics). Then you go through the same pinning to the Tribes steps I showed in the last step.

 

Where is the Schedule? 

Great question! Once you “add pin to queue” you might be wondering where exactly this “queue” is. Go to the side toolbar and under “Publish” you will find “Scheduled Pins.”

 

This pulls up your entire calendar. On the left it breaks out the full view of pins (including descriptions) whereas on the right you’ll see a snapshot schedule by day.

 

To adjust the timing of your pins (or increase the volume) on the left go to the bottom and click “Add / Remove Time Slots.” If you were new, Tailwind auto populated your time slots based on data from your account combined with recommended times.

 

Since Tailwind recommends 15-20 posts a day, it’s likely you will need to increase the volume of Pins. You can either add their recommended times or go straight to “Add Time Slot.”

 

Note: If you don’t have a full account, you can only schedule content from the Tribe. That means that you can’t schedule out your own content. Even with that limitation, Tribes is an amazingly powerful tool.

The Only Way Tailwind Tribes Are Successful 

I imagine that you are here boost your pins. Tribes can totally do that. BUT you only get out what you put into a Tribe. If you add your pins and bail, it means others aren’t getting value. The entire system breaks down. It’s also likely you’ll get kicked out of the tribe (remember that tracking piece).

 

Instead, use the Tribe to curate fantastic content for your boards. As I mentioned, it’s important to be regularly pinning. The recommended number is 15-30 pins A DAY! That’s a lot of content. I use Tribes to fill up my queue and keep my account active every day. Because of that, I’ve seen massive growth! As an active member, I also see my pins get shared out to other boards, which is driving more traffic my way.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Use Tailwind Tribes” guide! Tailwind is an absolutely amazing tool to amplify your Pinterest reach. Feel free to use my affiliate link enjoy a free month scheduling pins, driving traffic to your store and gaining momentum on Tailwind.