Instagram is a popular social network that has over 500 million active users. It also owns 25% of the mobile photo-sharing audience. Thus, it makes sense that many businesses are interested in gaining exposure on this platform because of their significant user base and the opportunity to create brand awareness. Here we’ll provide you with some tools to help Instagram users manage and monitor their account more easily and effectively, thus making your job as an Instagram marketer a whole lot easier!
ey, looking for the best Instagram tools for growing fast?
Today, I’m going to give you a peek under the hood at our “Instagram growth pack”, apps we use to create, manage, and market Instagram accounts to grow as quickly as possible.
It’s actually way easier than you think. Most of them have FREE plans that can help you get thousands of new followers quickly if you use them right.
But First, Here’s Something I Learned the Hard Way About Instagram…
Instagram might seem like it’s only about cool pics of you schmoozing with digital marketing celebs.
For your personal account, that’s totally fine.
But if you’re doing this as a business, you’ve got to treat it like one.
Which leads me to this…
If you don’t treat your Instagram account just like any other business, you will FAIL.
If you don’t schedule Instagram posts, touch up photos, search hashtags, use analytics, research competitor posts, or any other of the social media strategies you’re supposed to do, you will lose the war for attention.
It’s a zero-sum game. All of your competitors are doing it.
And guess what? Instagram loves accounts that do it. So if you aren’t prepared to optimize your strategy, quit now.
Trust me, you cannot do Instagram without help.
You need proper analytics and data, you need to know what to post, when to post it, and who to share your post with. You need to understand hashtags, social karma, how to hook users, edit images, and cross market on Facebook.
Introducing: Instagram Tools
Without Instagram tools, you won’t be able to grow your online business, personal account, nor an Instagram business. Period.
Sure you’ll get a few followers here or there, but you won’t ever get the real growth you need to actually start making money.
And here’s the thing – all of your competitors are using Instagram tools, and probably a ton of other apps for social media too.
So if you don’t, they’ll have better content, better analytics, and better scheduling. So every time someone is looking for a business, your competitors will get their attention first.
Or when a potential customer views both your content, they’ll choose theirs.
Sucks. That’s social media in a nutshell. That’s life too – people will always choose the better option (damn that’s dark for an Instagram tools guide).
Anyways, lucky for you it’s way cheaper and easier to use Instagram tools to grow a social media following than it is to improve yourself. So, here are the best tools on the market broken down into the most important categories including pricing.
The Best Instagram Management Tools
1. Hootsuite – The Best Social Media Management Tool
Price: $19 per month billed annually
Free trial: YES.
What is Hootsuite?
A real life-saver.
The most popular and powerful Instagram management tool for small and large businesses. An all-in-one social media management platform for scheduling, messaging, monitoring, analytics, and advertising your Instagram account that integrates with everything.
Why I Recommend Hootsuite:
- The most advanced Instagram planning and scheduling platform available
- The best management tool for big businesses with multiple accounts and users
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Granular social insights into what’s working (or not!)
- Schedule your social posts in minutes
- Mobile app included in pricing
Hootsuite is my favorite Instagram social command center. This is the only Instagram account management software I use… because I literally don’t need anything else.
It covers all my bases. I can:
- Brainstorm, plan, and schedule posts
- Connect my Instagram marketing with all other social accounts (eg Facebook)
- Easily promote any Instagram post
- Evaluate social content performance and even choose the best influencers based on recommendations
- Monitor my account comments, likes, and message all from one place
Plus it integrates with just about every major marketing app out there. That’s what I really like about it. If there’s something it can’t do, you just add a 3rd-party app and BOOM, now it can do it.
I use it as a solopreneur, but it’s really meant for big businesses and influencers.
You can manage dozens of social media accounts from one spot, manage clients, assign tasks/messages to any user, keep all communication in one place, and instantly add high-quality images, videos, and stories with company-approved media all in one place.
For the price, it’s a steal.
2. Snapseed (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows)
Snapseed is another photo-editing app that gives you the option to fine-tune your photos. While Instagram’s default filters edit your entire image at once, Snapseed lets you apply effects with a brush so you can perfect the details of each photo.
Snapseed’s Stacks is another great feature, letting you save groups of filters as a template. These Stacks can then be applied to future photos, giving your entire feed a consistent look and saving you time.
Price: Free.
3. Afterlight (iOS)
Afterlight is a photo-editing app that boasts a default set of dozens of filters, textures, and frames, giving you lots of different options for tweaking your photos right off the bat. You can create and save your very own filters and work with multiple image formats. Afterlight also includes typography tools to help your images stand out.
With its sleek and straightforward design, Afterlight is an easy-to-use, must-have tool for making your Instagram photos pop.
Price: $2.99/month or $17.99/year after a seven-day free trial.
4. Boomerang
Boomerang is a standalone app by Instagram with built-in integration that adds looping effects to photos. The Instagram tool offers a simple way to spruce up static photos that can be posted to the grid or stories.https://www.instagram.com/p/B2IBeZHAEYl/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=13&wp=640&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hootsuite.com&rp=%2Finstagram-tools%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A28462.90000000596%7D
5. Adobe Lightroom
When Instagram’s Valencia filter and editing tools no longer cut it, try Adobe Lightroom CC. The app makes professional photo editing tools easy to use, especially if you’ve downloaded Lightroom presets.
Source: Adobe
6. Snapseed
Snapseed is a photo editing app owned by Google that consistently earns top rank in the photo categories of the App and Google Play stores. Among its 29 tools and features, this app offers selective editing options so you tweak just parts of a photo that need a fix.
7. VSCO
VSCO is more than just a photo and video editing tool, it’s a community—with weekly challenges, #VSCO hashtags, VSCO girl memes, and all. The app is best known for its filters—10 of which are free when you download the app. Subscription members get access to advanced tools, including filters by Kodak, Fuji and Agfa and its latest tool video and photo Montage tool.https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1B-mznb0q/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=13&wp=640&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hootsuite.com&rp=%2Finstagram-tools%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A28515.59999999404%7D
8. Prequel
Prequel’s bold filters and special effects will keep you on trend with Instagram aesthetics. Among its latest updates are palm shadow effects and Aerochrome filters that will make your videos and images pop. Both weekly and yearly subscriptions are available.https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQvgOJBmqm/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=13&wp=640&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hootsuite.com&rp=%2Finstagram-tools%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A28628.80000001192%7D
9. Adobe Premiere Rush
Up your mobile video production game with Adobe Premiere Clip. Shoot pro-quality video on mobile, edit with advanced features, add subtitles, and publish directly to Instagram. This free app also lets you combine videos or export 15 second clips for Instagram Stories, with plenty of templates on offer, too.https://www.instagram.com/p/CAY1ZYZAsft/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=13&wp=640&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hootsuite.com&rp=%2Finstagram-tools%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A3%2C%22os%22%3A34155.69999998808%7D
Looking for more Instagram tools for photo editing? Here are 8 that will help you make stunning Instagram collages.
Conclusion
If you’re a blogger or a social media marketer, you’ll probably agree with me. That visual content is crucial to get more traffic to your site and attract more followers on your social media accounts. But how can you do it? If you want to create content for Instagram, here are some free tools that I like to use: