Influencers reveal how much Pinterest was paying them in a program it's shutting down — and how they're approaching the platform now (2024)

Some creators were earning thousands of dollars a month from the program. As part of the program, Pinterest rewarded creators monthly for completing specific posting goals related to the platform's short-video feature called Idea Pins.

For one lifestyle influencer, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about the payouts, the program was worth the time spent. They earned around $14,000 from the program, according to documentation viewed by Insider, and they would often cross-post the short videos to other platforms like Instagram, where they have over 200,000 followers.

A second lifestyle influencer, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about the payouts, said they earned a few thousand dollars from the program by posting one Idea Pin every week.

Some examples of rewards offered to influencers were a $1,300 payout for completing 1 Idea Pin every week for a month, and a $300 payout for every Idea Pin with at least 3 saves, according to documentation viewed by Insider.

Some influencers were making far less, however. Seyi Famuyiwa, a fashion and beauty influencer with 17,000 Instagram followers, earned $58 from the program in May and $70 in June, according to documentation view by Insider.

Although the influencers Insider spoke with said they didn't depend on the bonus program for their business, they did wish the platform would continue to reward its creators for their video content.

"As far as if I'll keep creating at the same level, honestly probably not," the first influencer said. "Only because obviously I have to focus on where I am making money. That is a crucial piece of the creator economy — especially for people who aren't doing this as a hobby, and instead as a career."

Pinterest isn't the first platform to end a paid creator program this year. In August, Instagram shut down itsnative affiliate-marketingprogram after a year of testing,and in October, Snapchat once again reduced payouts for its short-video feature Spotlight.

Pinterest will be paying a one-time cash bonus for no additional work to creators who participated in at least one reward goal in August, September, or October, the company said. November reward goals will be paid out as usual by the end of the year.

Some monthly payouts began dropping in May

Some creators noticed that the invite-only bonus program — which rivaled Instagram's Reels Bonus program, TikTok's creator fund, and the YouTube Shorts creator fund — began to change earlier this year.

Five creators told Insider in July that they were making thousands of dollars a month from the program, but payouts dropped sharply in May.

Creator Natasha Greene told Insider in July that she made over $5,000 in both March and April from the program, but $1,800 in May.

Still, some creators were surprised to see it end so suddenly.

"I find it kind of odd that they are just cutting the program so quickly out of nowhere," the first influencer said.

Even though the program is over, creators can still earn money on Pinterest from tools such asproduct tagging, affiliate links,paid partnerships and acreator fund focused on rewarding people of color, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Famuyiwa, who was part of Pinterest's Creator Fund, said the program pays creators for posting a certain number of times a day for a certain period of time.

Aside from the paid bonus, the second influencer said they'd found the most success on Pinterest by directing users to their blog.

"Will I stay publishing on Pinterest? Yes, definitely," the second influencer said. "Pinterest is still a big marketing machine for me that helps drive traffic."