Tools to Run Your Pinterest Marketing Business
Running a Pinterest marketing agency requires tools that help you manage client accounts, schedule pins, track performance, handle invoicing, and communicate with clients. You’ll need a combination of Pinterest-specific tools, scheduling platforms, analytics software, and general business tools to operate efficiently. The right stack lets you scale from handling a few clients to managing dozens without drowning in manual work.
Most tools fall into a few core categories: content scheduling and automation, analytics and reporting, client management, invoicing and payments, and communication. You don’t need everything at launch, but you should prioritize tools that directly impact your ability to deliver results and invoice clients.
Content Scheduling and Automation
Buffer is a straightforward scheduling tool that integrates with Pinterest. You can batch-create pins, schedule them to post at optimal times across multiple client accounts, and track basic performance metrics. For a solopreneur managing 5–15 accounts, Buffer’s interface is intuitive enough that you won’t spend hours learning it, and its Pinterest-specific features cover the core scheduling needs without excessive complexity.
Later specializes in visual content and offers Pinterest scheduling with a visual calendar view that helps you see exactly how your pins will appear. It integrates with Canva, which is useful if you’re also creating pin designs for clients. Later’s analytics dashboard shows pin-level performance, helping you identify which content resonates and justify your strategies to clients.
Tailwind is built specifically for Pinterest and Instagram marketing. It includes an AI-powered pin optimizer that suggests the best posting times, and Tailwind Communities let you join group boards to expand reach. If Pinterest is your primary focus (not just one social channel), Tailwind’s specialization often delivers better results than generalist tools, though it’s more expensive than multi-platform alternatives.
Analytics and Reporting
Sprout Social pulls analytics across all your client accounts in one dashboard. You can create customizable reports showing impressions, clicks, follower growth, and engagement—exactly what clients want to see. It’s enterprise-leaning, so it costs more, but if you’re managing 10+ accounts, the time saved on reporting justifies the expense. You can schedule reports to send automatically, which reduces manual work significantly.
Hootsuite handles scheduling and analytics for multiple accounts. Pinterest analytics show outbound clicks and saves, which directly connect to your client’s business results. Hootsuite’s reporting templates are customizable, so you can match your branding and make reports look more professional than generic exports from Pinterest’s native analytics.
Client and Project Management
Asana helps you organize projects by client and track tasks like content creation, pin scheduling, and reporting cycles. You can create templates for recurring work (monthly reporting, content calendar creation) so each new client starts with the same proven workflow. For a marketing business with multiple moving parts per client, Asana’s task dependencies and timeline view keep you accountable to deadlines.
Monday.com offers similar project management with a more visual, customizable interface. Many Pinterest marketers use it to manage their content calendar visually, assign pins to clients, and track approval workflows. If you work with designers or content creators, Monday’s collaboration features make it easy to have everything—briefs, drafts, approvals, schedules—in one place.
CRM and Client Communication
HubSpot CRM (free tier) tracks all client interactions, proposals, and deal stages in one place. As your business grows, you’ll have past clients you upsell to, leads to follow up with, and prospecting pipelines. Even the free version lets you log emails, track contact history, and set reminders for follow-ups. You can integrate it with your email and calendar to make logging interactions automatic.
Pipedrive is designed for sales pipelines and is lighter-weight than HubSpot if you’re mainly tracking new clients and upsells rather than doing inbound marketing. You can see at a glance how many prospects are in each stage, which clients are renewal candidates, and what your sales forecast looks like—critical for managing cash flow in a service business.
Invoicing and Payments
Wave is free for invoicing and basic accounting, which makes it ideal for launching without spending money on infrastructure. You can send branded invoices, set up recurring invoices for monthly retainers, and track payment status. Wave also integrates with most payment processors, so clients can pay directly from the invoice link.
Stripe or Square handle payment processing. Most clients expect to pay by card or ACH transfer, and these tools make it frictionless. Stripe’s API integrations work with invoicing tools, scheduling tools, and almost anything else—useful if you want to automate billing workflows.
FreshBooks combines invoicing with time tracking and basic expense reporting. If you charge by the hour or retainer and need to track how you’re actually spending time with each client, FreshBooks bridges the gap between project tracking and billing. It’s more expensive than Wave, but includes client portal access so clients can see invoices, estimates, and payment history themselves.
Communication and Meetings
Slack keeps communication organized by client channel, project, or topic. You can integrate it with other tools (scheduling notifications, project alerts, invoice reminders) to reduce email overload. If you ever hire a contractor or part-time employee, Slack is standard for team communication and avoids scattered email threads.
Calendly handles discovery calls and check-ins without the back-and-forth of scheduling emails. You set your availability once, clients pick a time, and it auto-generates a Zoom or Google Meet link. Integrating Calendly into your website reduces friction for prospective clients and frees you from managing an email inbox full of scheduling requests.
Free vs Paid Tools
Start with free and freemium tools: Pinterest’s native analytics, Canva for design, Buffer‘s free tier for basic scheduling, HubSpot’s free CRM, and Wave for invoicing. These are enough to deliver your first 5–10 clients’ work without spending money on software. The free tiers have real limitations—fewer scheduled pins, no advanced reporting, fewer client accounts—but they won’t kill your business if you’re just starting.
Upgrade paid tools only when the free version actively costs you time or money. If you’re spending 5+ hours monthly on manual reporting, paid analytics software saves time. If you’re managing 15+ client accounts and scheduling pins individually, a scheduling tool pays for itself. Prioritize tools that directly generate revenue (scheduling, reporting) before nice-to-have tools (project management, communication).
The Minimum Tech Stack to Launch
- Buffer or Later — You cannot run a Pinterest marketing business without scheduling software. Clients expect consistency, and manual posting every day burns time you should spend on strategy or sales. Start with whichever’s free tier supports your initial client count.
- Wave — You need invoicing and basic accounting from day one. Even if you’re only making $1,000 monthly at launch, invoicing clients professionally and tracking income for taxes requires actual invoicing software, not spreadsheets.
- Free CRM or spreadsheet for tracking clients and prospects — Bare minimum is a Google Sheet or HubSpot free tier with client names, contact info, service type, and contract dates. As you grow, upgrade to a paid CRM, but don’t let CRM cost prevent you from launching.
- Canva or basic design tool — You either create pins yourself or help clients create them. Canva’s free tier or pro subscription is far cheaper than hiring a designer for every pin.
- Email and basic analytics — Pinterest’s native analytics dashboard is sufficient initially. You can pull monthly reports manually and share them in an email or PDF. As clients demand more sophisticated reporting, upgrade to Sprout Social or Hootsuite.