By: Kevin Donnelly
Improving Social Media
June 24, 2022
16-minute read
Introduction
With over a billion active users monthly, Instagram has opened up tremendous opportunities for brands to find new customers and make their products visible. However, while tactics like running Instagram ads and engaging with influencers are effective, it can be challenging without the right tools to know what to post on Instagram and achieve the results you desire.
To help you enhance your Instagram account, we’ve compiled this list of the best Instagram business tools and apps – that will set your business apart, attract more customers to your online store, and help you understand how to effectively make money on Instagram.
Best Instagram Design Tools
One of the most important parts of having an effective presence on Instagram is filling your feed with stunning images that clearly express your brand identity and the value of your products.
Even if you’re not a professional photographer, you can create beautiful images using your smartphone and some of the best Instagram design apps.
1. VSCO (iOS, Android)
It’s been a long time since Instagram’s default filters were the most advanced mobile photo editing tools. In the meantime, VSCO has emerged as the primary Instagram tool for creating beautiful images on the go. It’s both a photo editing platform and a social network, and it should be a core part of your Instagram strategy.
VSCO boasts a comprehensive editing suite and a large collection of high-quality default filters that can take your smartphone photos to a whole new level. There’s also a massive library of filters available in the premium plan, giving you endless options to customize your photos and make them stand out from the rest.
Price: Free for basic filters and standard editing tools; $19.99 per year for access to the complete collection of filters and photo and video editing tools.
2. Snapseed (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows)
Snapseed is another photo editing app that allows you to fine-tune your images. While Instagram’s default filters edit your entire photo at once, Snapseed’s Instagram tool lets you apply effects with a brush so you can enhance details in each image.
Another feature of Snapseed is Stacks, which allows you to save groups of filters as a template. These groups can be applied to future images, giving your entire feed a consistent look and saving you time.
Price: Free.
3. Afterlight (iOS)
Afterlight is a photo editing app that features a virtual collection of dozens of filters, styles, and frames, giving you many different options to instantly enhance your images. You can create and save your filters and work with multiple photo formats. Afterlight also includes printing tools to help your photos stand out.
With its sleek and simple design, Afterlight is an easy-to-use and essential tool for making your Instagram photos pop.
Price: $2.99 per month or $17.99 per year after a seven-day free trial.
4. Canva (web, iOS, Android)
You can use Canva to create standout images, whether in your Instagram feed or your stories. You can overlay text on images, create multiple photo layouts, and use a wide array of pre-designed graphics to enhance your posts and grab your followers’ attention.
It’s particularly useful for creating standout Instagram stories, and if you stick to a few consistent image formats and fonts, you can start to ensure that your followers always recognize your content.
Price: Free for image designs with premium graphics available based on request; starting from $12.95 per month for Canva Pro, which includes transparent backgrounds, animated graphics, and GIFs.
5.
Photoshop Express (iOS, Android, Windows)
Yes, you can use Photoshop on your phone.
While the mobile app doesn’t come with every feature present in the desktop app, it provides a robust photo editing experience that gives you a lot of control over your images. It simplifies the work you do on desktop with useful tools like blemish removal, which can get rid of spots, dirt, and dust from your photo with just one touch.
It also gives you access to several controls, filters, settings, and options you won’t find anywhere else, such as the ability to add a watermark to your images.
Price: Free.
Best Instagram Video Tools
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to create engaging videos for your business’s Instagram account. These apps make it easy for anyone to capture quick videos on their phones and turn them into high-quality professional videos without needing a laptop and video editing software.
6. Vimeo Create (iOS, Android)
Vimeo Create automatically transforms your existing product images and text into polished social media videos. Just answer a few questions about your product, and videos will be created for you – no video editing experience required.
Price: Free, with options to upgrade for advanced editing tools and templates.
7. Boomerang from Instagram (iOS, Android)
Boomerang is an app created by Instagram that lets you create a looping video similar to a GIF from a series of pictures. Once your video is complete, you can either post it to Instagram immediately or save it for later posting.
Price: Free.
8. Life Lapse (iOS, Android)
While Boomerang for Instagram is great for creating quick, GIF-like videos for social media sharing, Life Lapse is another mobile app that features more capabilities for creating long stop-motion videos to showcase your products. You can capture an unlimited number of photos, customize the size of your video, adjust the speed of the transition between images, and even add royalty-free music.
Price: Free, with in-app purchase options.
9. HypeType (iOS)
The extensive library of fonts and animations in HypeType includes a wide range of fonts and animations that make it easy and quick to create captions for different parts of the video captured using the app or a video that has already been uploaded. When finished, you can post your video to Instagram without leaving HypeType.
Price: Free with a watermark on the video; in-app purchase available to remove the watermark or buy extra fonts.
Best Instagram Marketing Tools
Starting from selling your products on Instagram
Shopify comes with powerful tools to help you list, promote, and sell products on Facebook and Instagram. Create product collections, showcase your brand and products, and make sales on Facebook and Instagram from one place. Start selling on Instagram.
You are about to get ready to post, but to help you increase your followers and connect with more people, you will need to engage with your followers and use some hashtags. The best Instagram marketing apps will help you do that.
10. Repost for Instagram (Android)
You don’t always have to be the one behind the camera taking pictures. If you have a community of customers who post user-generated content, you can use Repost for Instagram to select their photos and give them credit at the same time.
To share a picture from someone else’s Instagram account to your own, simply copy the post’s URL from the picture you want to share and open the Instagram tool in Repost on your phone. It will add the credit overlay to the image, copy the caption, and get you ready to post on your account in seconds.
Price:
Free.
11. AutoHash (Android)
AutoHash may be the easiest way to find relevant Instagram hashtags for your photos. It uses artificial intelligence to recognize objects in your images and provides you with the best hashtags based on those objects. It will then count the hashtags for you so you don’t exceed the maximum limit of 30 hashtags, and you can save your favorite hashtags in the app.
When you’re ready to post, AutoHash will save your selected hashtags to your clipboard, allowing you to paste them into the photo description or comments.
Price: Free.
12. Display Purposes (web)
Display Purposes is a web-based tool that gives you more control over the hashtags you choose for your post. Start with a keyword or an existing hashtag, and it will recommend additional hashtags to use in your image. It’s a good Instagram marketing tool to help you gain more followers in your niche.
You can increase or decrease the number of hashtags you want to include, and Display Purposes will fill your hashtags accordingly. If you prefer to do this manually, you can also switch to manual selection and choose from a list displaying the relevance and popularity of each hashtag.
Price: Free.
Best Instagram Analytics Tools
It’s very challenging to fill your Instagram feed with eye-catching, timely, and valuable images, so it’s important to know if your Instagram marketing efforts are helping you achieve your goals.
The right Instagram analytics tools help you measure how your Instagram marketing activities are impacting your profits, and understand which types of posts have been the most successful so you can replicate the strategies that had the greatest impact.
13. Sprout Social (web, iOS, Android)
Sprout Social is a social media management platform with a wide range of scheduling and publishing features. It also provides detailed Instagram analytics, allowing you to access in-depth reports about the performance of your latest posts.
With Sprout Social analytics, you’ll be able to track engagement and compare the success of your store’s account against other accounts you manage.
Additionally, Sprout Social has tools for monitoring hashtags and comments, helping you keep up with your community and discover new engagement opportunities.
Price: Starting at $99 per user/month for the standard plan after a 30-day free trial.
14. Iconosquare (web, iOS, Android)
Iconosquare is a dedicated Instagram analytics platform designed to explore your content’s performance on Instagram.
Using Iconosquare, you can track standard engagement data such as followers and likes, as well as obtain specific statistics about your followers, including their location and their influence on social media. By identifying your most influential fans, you’ll be able to uncover new influencer marketing opportunities and connect with them.
Iconosquare also allows you to compare your performance against your competitors, helping you get a better sense of your standing in your niche.
Price: Starting at $29 per month for the professional plan after a 3-day free trial.
15. UserGems (Shopify)
Have you ever wondered if any of your customers might be social media influencers? With UserGems, you can find out. This app for Shopify pulls social media information about your customers so you can sort through to see exactly who you’re looking for.
You can use Instagram analytics tools in UserGems to identify customers with over 10,000 followers – or who include “blogger” or “journalist” in their social media profiles – helping you build an influencer campaign. You can also browse the profiles of all your customers if you’re working on a targeted campaign to create user-generated content.
Price:
Free for up to 100 clients per month; starting at $19 per month for the basic plan that supports up to 250 clients per month.
Best Instagram Management Tools
To grow your audience and give your current fans a reason to stick around, you need to regularly update your Instagram account with fresh content. But let’s face it, updating your profile with new images takes a lot of time – which is something most entrepreneurs don’t have.
Fortunately, there are several great platforms that provide you with the resources you need to schedule posts in advance and keep your profile filled with great content. Many of these tools also allow you to post to Instagram from your computer, so you don’t have to rely solely on the mobile Instagram app.
16. Sked (web, iOS, Android)
Sked is a scheduling platform that features a variety of tools – including browser-based scheduling – to run more effective Instagram campaigns.
Sked also comes with comprehensive photo editing features. With built-in editing tools, you can modify and enhance your images beyond Instagram’s default filters. Sked also allows you to upload images in bulk, so you can schedule batches of images at once and save time on your social media marketing efforts.
Price: Starting at $25 per month for the solo plan after a seven-day free trial.
17. Later (web, iOS, Android)
Later is an easy-to-use social media scheduling platform that comes with a variety of features for planning your campaigns, including the ability to explore hashtags and share user-generated content.
Later allows you to organize and schedule Instagram posts using a useful content calendar and provides a preview of your Instagram feed before posting, making it easy to visualize how your strategy will unfold.
It also offers saved comments, which is helpful when planning and implementing your Instagram hashtag strategy. Save relevant groups of hashtags together so you don’t have to type them out again, or use your most effective tactics to boost engagement on your posts or increase clicks to your online store through your Instagram description.
Price: Free for one user and up to 30 posts on Instagram per month; starting at $9 per month for the Plus plan for one user and up to 100 posts on Instagram per month.
18. Hootsuite (web, iOS, Android)
You may know Hootsuite as a great tool for scheduling your social media posts on Twitter and Facebook, but you can also use it to schedule Instagram posts.
Set up your posts from mobile or desktop and Hootsuite will publish directly to Instagram on your behalf. With the premium plan, you can also create and schedule Instagram Stories, embed a shoppable Instagram feed on your website, and gain detailed analytics about your Instagram post performance.
Price: Free for one user, three social accounts, and ten scheduled posts; starting at $29 per month for the professional plan after a 30-day free trial.
19. Buffer (web, iOS, Android)
You may know Buffer as a great tool for scheduling your social media posts on Twitter and Facebook, but you can also use it to schedule Instagram posts.
Set up your posts from mobile or desktop and Buffer will publish directly to Instagram on your behalf. With the premium plan, you can also create and schedule Instagram Stories, embed a shoppable Instagram feed on your website, and gain detailed analytics about your Instagram post performance.
Price: Free for one user, three social accounts, and ten scheduled posts; starting at $15 per month for the professional plan or $65 per month for the premium plan after a seven-day free trial.
Best
Instagram Analytics Tools
It’s very difficult to fill your Instagram feed with eye-catching, timely, and valuable images, so it’s important to know if your marketing efforts on Instagram are helping you achieve your goals.
The right Instagram analytics tools help you measure how your Instagram marketing activities impact your profits and understand which types of posts have been the most successful so you can replicate strategies that had the biggest impact.
20. Sprout Social (web, iOS, Android)
Sprout Social is a social media management platform with a wide range of scheduling and publishing features. Sprout Social also provides detailed Instagram analytics, allowing you to access in-depth reports on the performance of your latest posts.
With Sprout Social’s analytics, you’ll be able to track engagement and compare the success of your store’s account with other accounts you manage.
Additionally, Sprout Social has tools for monitoring hashtags and comments, helping you stay connected with your community and discover new engagement opportunities.
Price: Starting at $99 per user/month for the standard plan after a 30-day free trial.
21. Iconosquare (web, iOS, Android)
Iconosquare is a dedicated Instagram analytics platform for exploring the performance of your content on Instagram.
With Iconosquare, you can track regular engagement data such as followers and likes, as well as gain specific statistics about your followers, including their location and social media influence level. By identifying your most influential fans, you will be able to discover new influencer marketing opportunities and connect with them.
Iconosquare also allows you to compare your performance with your competitors, giving you a better idea of your position in your niche.
Price: Starting at $29 per month for the professional plan after a 3-day free trial.
22. UserGems (Shopify)
Have you ever wondered if any of your customers might be someone famous on social media? With UserGems, you can find out. This Shopify app pulls social media information about your customers so you can sort through them to find exactly who you’re looking for.
You can use the Instagram analytics tools in UserGems to identify customers who have more than 10,000 followers – or who use the word “blogger” or “journalist” in their social media profiles – helping you create an influencer campaign. You can also browse the profiles of all your customers if you’re working on a targeted campaign to generate user-generated content.
Price: Free for up to 100 customers per month; starting at $19 per month for the basic plan that supports up to 250 customers per month.
Growing Your Business with Instagram
Now that you have the right Instagram tools for the job, it’s time to get out there and start capturing stunning photos and videos that showcase the true value of your products!
Do you have any other questions about Instagram marketing? Ask us in the comments below.
Frequently Asked Questions about Instagram Tools
How can I increase my Instagram followers?
Increase your Instagram followers by following and engaging with other accounts in the same niche. Follow relevant hashtags and location tags and pay attention to the content that generates the most engagement. Create visual content and engaging captions, along with relevant hashtags and a “link in bio” tag using a tool like Linkpop.
What are the best tools to use on Instagram?
Boomerang, VSCO, Instagram Shoppable Feed, Shopify App, Sprout Social, and Later are some of the best tools available for use on Instagram.
How much does advertising on Instagram cost?
The cost of Instagram ads ranges from $0.20 to $2 per click, and $6.70 per 1000 impressions, according to one source. The cost increases the more targeted and competitive you are.
What
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
The best time to post on Instagram is when your target audience is on Instagram. This timing will vary depending on the time zone in which your customers are located. Most people use Instagram in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening, although many people use it more frequently when working from home.
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