Pinterest Giveaway &
Contest Tool
9 Pinterest-specific entry methods covering pins, boards, follows, and repins. Run giveaways that tap into Pinterest's search-driven, shopping-intent audience and keep working months after they end.
Pinterest Entry Methods
Pinterest has 9 entry methods across three categories. Mix and match them in a single giveaway alongside entry methods from 30+ other platforms.
Pin & Board Discovery
Sends traffic to a specific pin. Product pins work best here - entrants land on your pin and see the product, price, and link to your site.
Drives traffic to an entire board. Great for showcasing a product collection, seasonal lookbook, or curated inspiration.
Entrants save your pin to their own boards. This is the most powerful Pinterest action - each repin puts your content in front of a new audience and feeds Pinterest's algorithm.
Profile & Board Growth
Grow your Pinterest profile following. New followers see your pins in their home feed, which means ongoing traffic to your site.
Build followers for a specific board. Useful when you have product-focused or seasonal boards you want to grow independently.
User-Generated Content
Entrants submit a link to their own pin. Perfect for recipe contests, style challenges, or any UGC campaign where users create pins featuring your product.
Entrants submit a curated board. Run "dream room" or "wedding inspiration" contests where participants build entire boards around your products.
OAuth-connected. Users log in with Pinterest and select a pin directly from their account. No manual URL copying needed, and verification is automatic.
OAuth-connected board selection. Users log in and pick a board from their account. Ideal for curated board contests where you need verified submissions.
Every giveaway also supports refer-a-friend viral sharing, email capture, and entry methods from 30+ other platforms. Grow your Pinterest, website traffic, email list, and more from a single contest.
Set Up in 5 Minutes
Create your giveaway
Sign up (free plan available), add your prize, set your start and end dates. 8-14 days tends to pull in the most entrants.
Add Pinterest entry methods
Click "Pinterest" in the entry methods section. Choose from 9 actions across pins, boards, follows, and UGC submissions. Assign point values to each - higher points drive more completions.
Add cross-platform actions
Stack in email signup, Instagram, Shopify purchase tracking, or any of 30+ other platforms. Pinterest giveaways pair especially well with e-commerce integrations.
Publish and pin it
Embed the widget on your site or use the free hosted landing page. Create a pin linking to your giveaway - it will show up in Pinterest search and keep driving entries for weeks.
Why Pinterest Giveaways Drive Product Sales
Pinterest is not a social network. It is a visual search engine where people go to plan purchases. That distinction changes how giveaways work here compared to Instagram or Facebook.
Users Are Already Shopping
Pinterest users are planning weddings, redecorating rooms, researching recipes, and bookmarking products to buy. They are further down the purchase funnel than users on most social platforms. When someone enters your giveaway, they are already in the mindset of discovering products - not scrolling past memes. A giveaway pin featuring your product sits alongside other products they are actively considering.
Pins Keep Working for Months
An Instagram post peaks in 24-48 hours. A tweet is buried in minutes. But a Pinterest pin can drive traffic for 3-6 months because it lives in search results and recommendation feeds. Your giveaway pin continues showing up when people search for related topics long after the contest ends. Even after winners are picked, the pin still links to your profile and site. The Repin entry method compounds this: every time someone saves your pin to their board, Pinterest shows it to more people.
Connect to Your Store
SweepWidget integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce for purchase-based entry methods. Combine a "Follow on Pinterest" entry with an "Earn entries per $1 spent" action in the same giveaway. Entrants discover your products through Pinterest, visit your store, and earn bonus giveaway points for buying. You can also distribute instant coupons when entrants hit point thresholds, turning contest participants into first-time customers.
Pinterest Giveaway Ideas
Pinterest giveaways work best when they match how people already use the platform. Here are three campaign types built for Pinterest's visual, product-focused audience.
Product Discovery Campaign
Best for: E-commerce brands, Etsy sellers, product launches
Create a pin showcasing your product and use Visit Pin as the primary entry. Add Repin so entrants save that pin to their boards, putting your product in front of their followers. Stack in Follow User so you build a Pinterest following that sees future product pins. Every repin extends your reach organically. This approach works especially well for home decor, fashion, food, and beauty products - categories where Pinterest users are actively searching.
Entry methods: Visit Pin (2 pts, daily) + Repin (5 pts) + Follow User (3 pts) + Email Signup (2 pts)
"Dream Board" UGC Contest
Best for: Wedding vendors, home decor brands, DIY creators
Ask entrants to create a themed board - "My Dream Kitchen," "Wedding Day Inspiration," "Summer Wardrobe" - and include at least one of your products. Use Select Board (API verified) so participants log in with Pinterest and select their board directly. SweepWidget verifies the submission automatically. Enable a leaderboard so the best boards compete for the top prize. This creates a flood of user-generated content featuring your products, all saved permanently on Pinterest where others can discover it through search.
Entry methods: Select Board (5 pts) + Follow User (3 pts) + Refer a Friend (3 pts) + Leaderboard enabled
Recipe or Tutorial Pin Challenge
Best for: Food brands, craft supply companies, beauty brands
Have entrants create a pin showing a recipe, tutorial, or project using your product, then submit it with Submit Pin or Select Pin. The API-verified Select Pin option is smoother - users log in and pick their pin without copying URLs. Add Visit Board pointing to your own inspiration board so entrants see examples of what you are looking for. Daily re-entry on Submit Pin means participants can submit new creations every day for more points. This works particularly well for food, beauty, and crafts because those are Pinterest's highest-engagement categories.
Entry methods: Select Pin (5 pts, daily) + Visit Board (2 pts, daily) + Follow User (3 pts) + Email Signup (2 pts)
Pinterest Contest Rules
Pinterest has specific guidelines for running promotions. Here is what you need to follow.
- Do not require people to save a specific image. Pinterest's guidelines state you should give people a choice of pins to save, or let them create their own.
- Do not run "pin to win" sweepstakes where saving a pin is the only entry method. Pinterest discourages this format. Use SweepWidget's point system to offer repinning as a bonus action worth extra points, not the sole way to enter.
- Do not suggest that Pinterest sponsors or endorses your promotion. Include a disclaimer in your rules.
- Do not require a minimum number of pins or repins as a condition of entry.
- Post official rules covering eligibility, entry methods, prize details, winner selection, and contest dates.
- Include "no purchase necessary" language and provide a free alternate entry method.
How SweepWidget helps with compliance: Because SweepWidget uses a point-based system, Pinterest actions are always optional bonus entries, never mandatory requirements. Entrants can earn points through multiple methods (email signup, visiting a page, referring friends), so no one is forced to pin or repin anything. This aligns directly with Pinterest's promotion guidelines.
$5,000 threshold: In the U.S., if your total prize pool exceeds $5,000, you may need to register in New York, Florida, and Rhode Island, or exclude residents of those states in your rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I run a giveaway on Pinterest?
Create a giveaway in SweepWidget, add Pinterest entry methods (Visit Pin, Follow User, Repin, Submit Pin, etc.), assign point values, and publish. Share the giveaway link as a pin on Pinterest, embed it on your website, or use the free hosted landing page. Participants complete actions to earn points, and you pick a winner when the contest ends.
Are contests allowed on Pinterest?
Yes. Pinterest allows promotions as long as you follow their guidelines. The main rules: do not require saving a specific pin as the only entry method, do not suggest Pinterest sponsors the promotion, and follow all applicable laws. SweepWidget's multi-method, points-based approach is designed to comply with these guidelines.
What is the best type of Pinterest giveaway?
Board creation contests and product discovery campaigns perform well because they match how people already use Pinterest. A "dream board" contest where entrants curate boards featuring your products generates user-created content that lives permanently on Pinterest. Product pin giveaways with repins work well for driving traffic to specific items.
Can I run a Pinterest giveaway for free?
Yes. SweepWidget's free plan includes unlimited entries and two Pinterest entry methods: Visit Pin and Visit Board, both with daily re-entry. For Follow User, Follow Board, Repin, Submit Pin, Submit Board, Select Pin, and Select Board, you need a Pro plan or higher.
How long should a Pinterest giveaway last?
Based on SweepWidget data across 70,000+ giveaways, 8-14 days is the sweet spot, averaging 956 entrants. This is especially true for Pinterest because pins need time to circulate through search and recommendation feeds. Shorter contests do not give Pinterest's algorithm enough time to surface your pin to new audiences.
Can I use Pinterest giveaways for Shopify or WooCommerce?
Yes. SweepWidget integrates with both Shopify and WooCommerce. You can combine Pinterest entry methods with purchase-based actions like "Earn entries per $1 spent" in a single giveaway. This lets you drive product discovery through Pinterest and convert participants into customers through your store.
What is the difference between Submit Pin and Select Pin?
Submit Pin asks entrants to paste a URL to their pin manually. Select Pin uses Pinterest's OAuth integration so entrants log in with their Pinterest account and select a pin directly from their boards. Select Pin is smoother for users and provides automatic verification. Both support daily re-entry.
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