15 Instagram Tools You Can Use To Help You Use Instagram Like A Pro
Are you a busy business owner, wondering which tools and apps to use that will help you develop those thumb-stopping images and stand you out from the crowd in your niche on Instagram?
Using the right Instagram tools can improve your images, sell products, and save you time.
In this article, you will discover 15 Instagram tools that will help to improve on your Visual content. You will also learn how to use them to get the best out of your Instagram marketing.
Instagram is the fastest growing social network in the world right now with over 700 million users.
With more and more users coming on the platform, it’s becoming harder to stand out and gain the attention of your audience. To do this, you have to stand out in the newsfeed. Whether it’s creating better images, videos, and content in general, you must be creative. Good news is there are tools that can help.
I’ll be sharing them in various categories. That is, based on what they are used for.
Let’s Get Started.
For Quote Images
1. Canva
Canva is a creative app available on desktop and mobile that allows you to create text and quotes images simply and quickly. I’m not the most creative person out there, (I’m more of a numbers gal ;)) so when I do need to create images, this is my go-to app.
It’s the perfect tool for people who are not designers but want clean-looking and attractive designs.
The great thing about it is there are templates for almost any type of design you want to use so you never have to design from scratch. Simply select what type of design you want and you’ll have a list of design templates to begin to work with.
Another great thing about Canva is that they have a library of stock images that you could use along with your designs, both free and paid. You can find free images for most things but even if you don’t, an image on Canva costs just $1.
Here’s an image I designed in Canva with absolutely no design skills whatsoever:
It’s simple, easy to use and FREE.
2. WordSwag
Wordswag also allows you to create text and quotes images simply and quickly when you’re on the go.
It is, by far my favorite photo-creation app on my trusty iPhone.
With WordSwag, you can put text on backgrounds or your own pictures. It allows you to put in your logo – as image or text – into your designed pictures which is great for branding.
It also comes with a lot of cool fonts and filters.
Here’s an example:
If you’re always on the go and want to create images on your phone, then I recommend WordSwag. It costs $4-5 depending on what phone you have but it is worth every bit of this investment.
3. Typorama
Just like word swag, Typorama is great for creating text and quote images. It’s also very user-friendly and allows you to put text on backgrounds or your own pictures.
A unique, yet very cool feature with Typorama is the angles it allows you to place your text on your images. If done just right, you can have great looking images with a 3D effect that grabs attention.
It has a FREE Basic version but will include the Typorama watermark (which is a no-no) but you can remove by upgrading.
4. HypeType
HypeType is an app that allows you to add animated text to a collection of images or videos.
Animated text is another unique way to present your content on Instagram.
It has a FREE Basic version but will include the watermark but you can remove that by upgrading.
For Videos
5. Animoto
Animoto is a video creation app that allows you to make videos from a collection of pictures and videos.
It can be used on desktop and/or phone. It’s completely user-friendly and FREE to use.
6. Flipagram
Flipagram is very much like Animoto. It allows you to make videos from a collection of pictures and videos but on your phone so very good if you’re on the move.
7. Ripl
Ripl allows you to insert text into animated text on images to create a short, looped video.
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8. Inshot
This is an app that I love. Inshot is great for lightweight photo and video editing, but what I especially love it for is resizing images and videos.
Have you ever seen people post images to their Instagram feed or on Instagram stories, and the images were clearly not created for Instagram because some words are cut off?
I hate it when I see that. It clearly screams that you did not take the time to create content for your Instagram audience to see and are just trying to stick them with some other image.
Thanks to Inshot, that never has to happen again.
If you have pictures that were not created with the Instagram size guidelines in mind or videos that were taken landscape style, Inshot is your quick-fix solution.
9. Hyperlapse From Instagram
Hyperlapse allows you to create videos in fast motion. iPhone users have this feature – time lapse- in their camera and having this app might be a bit redundant but without an iPhone, this app is a great tool.
It’s another great and fun way to share content on Instagram that people don’t really use. It’s great for things that might otherwise be too long to watch e.g. Watching a sunset, activity on a beach, an artist drawing, baking a cake, city life etc.
You can use this to show the process behind what it is that you do.
For instance, this is a 15-second Hyperlapse video of me unboxing my Neewer cellphone ring light 🙂
Unfortunately, this app is only available for iOS devices, but here’s an article from BeeBom recommending 3 Android Hyperlapse alternatives.
For Scheduling & Tracking
10. Later
Later is an app that allows you to upload, schedule and manage your Instagram posts. There are more alternatives to this like hoot suite and buffer but I recently discovered Later, played around with it a bit and I absolutely love it.
It’s also has a basic package that is FREE to use so definitely check it out.
Note: One thing you should know is that there is no app available out there that allows you to schedule a post directly to Instagram. In other words, it’s not like Twitter or Facebook where you can schedule and forget.
What the Instagram scheduling app will help you do is allow you to plan your content ahead of time. You can decide what pictures you want to post, put in the image description, hashtags and the time and date you want it to be posted.
At the scheduled time, you will get a notification that your post is ready to be posted and then, you will be able to seamlessly (in 2-3 clicks) post to Instagram from the scheduling app.
11. InstaTracker
Tracking is one part of marketing that many people forget but it’s important to do so because it allows you to see what’s working and what’s not.
In this case, when it comes to Instagram, I use InstaTracker. InstaTracker allows to track your followers, engagement and see insights.
It lets you see those who follow and unfollow you, how your engagement improves or declines over time which might give you an idea of what’s working and what not.
12. Snapseed
This is an incredible photo editing app that turns images into stunning masterpieces. Snapseed is a free, complete and professional photo editing app developed by Google, which is a plus when it comes to quality and reputation. Snapseed comes loaded with image manipulation tools and presets that are quite easy to use. The app allows you to edit and fine-tune things like brightness, saturation, contrast, curves, shadows, and much more—giving you a surprising amount of control over the final look of your photos.
Get a good look at what Snapseed can to do to simple boring images @babyhealthybites on Instagram.
13. Preview
Preview is an app to plan, design and manage your Instagram. The app has a lot of features that help to plan your Instagram feed, rearrange the order of your posts, edit your photos, schedule, find trending hashtags, test your hashtags, and check your analytics.
We noticed that the goal of this app is to combine all the most important Instagram tools into one simple app (#savetime #morefunlessstress).
14. Planoly.
Planoly is one of the most effective visual social media planning and scheduling app out there. Just like Canva, it has a web dashboard that enables users to manage their posts and content visually before posting it live on Instagram. With the clean design, users are able to drag and drop their photos and videos around to visually see how it will look like on their Instagram profile feed.
15. Notes.
These days, every smart or semi-smart phone comes with an app that helps you capture all types of information and ensures they are easily retrievable. The Notes app on our mobile phones makes it possible for us to consistently follow our social media content plan and deliver relevant content to our followers and viewers.
Alright. That’s it.
This list is no way exhaustive. There are lots more great Instagram tools out there and we’ll be adding to the list from time to time.
What tools do you use for Instagram? Let’s know in the comment section below and we just might add it to the next list 🙂
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