11 Instagram tools and aps for more success

More than 1 billion Instagram accounts are active each month all over the world – with more than half of them being used daily (as of August 2020). Approximately 90 percent of these accounts follow at least one company according to internal data collected by the photo network. Instagram has lots of information about user activities as well as impressive success stories on its website to show interested companies, bloggers, and influences how appealing the social platform really is. Whether high-quality product photos, narrative Instagram stories, or target-oriented advertisements: the success of marketing in the photo-sharing network seems practically certain from a superficial point of view.

In fact, Instagram marketing also involves a lot of work that would not be possible without technical aids. The tools chosen play a decisive role in the optimisation of image and video material, which is decisive for the presentation. But also when scheduling publications and interacting with the target audience, relevant programs can be really useful. To make it easier for you to find the most suitable apps, this article presents some of the best Instagram apps and desktop programs.

Visuals play a central role on Instagram. Only those who convince through their external presentation can gain the attention of users on the platform and spread their marketing messages successfully. This makes Instagram tools for high-quality images and collages just as indispensable as matching filters, fonts, and colours.

Ready-made collages can be exported with a single click and then sent by SMS or email, stored in the Cloud (Dropbox), or shared on social networks. Before the post is added to Instagram or wherever you want to post it, you can also make use of the filters and effects and write texts for the posts. iOS and Android users can find Pic Stitch in the App Store or Google Play Store as a free download. Windows users only have access to a paid app in the Microsoft Store, which is relatively cheap at a price tag of $1.99.

A Color Story can be downloaded for free. The app for iOS and Android devices can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play Store, respectively. Access to all functions is only available for paying users at an annual subscription fee of $24.99. Alternatively, individual filters can be purchased in-app at varying prices starting at $0.99. Tools that require a fee-based subscription are marked with a plus sign in the app.

Canva’s start-up menu notifies users that not all its functions are free to use. Free elements in the basic version are marked as such. And there are plenty to choose from, but full access to the library of over 60 million templates, fonts, and stock images is only available in the paid-for Canva Pro version via a monthly ($12.99) or annual subscription ($119.99). The basic version is available on the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android) remains free even for heavy use of the Instagram tool.

As is the case for newsletter marketing, Instagram marketing requires good planning. Choosing the right content to post is important, but so is the timing and frequency of posting your content. To make things a little easier, a range of useful Instagram tool apps exists. We’ll show you three of the top ones.

Hootsuite not only facilitates managing your own social media posts, but also has many useful optimisation features such as automatic link shortening and detailed analytics reports (from the “Professional” edition onwards). In addition, the application tracks the actions of platform users (comments, likes, shares, etc.), which makes it even easier to work out how successful each post is. Another useful feature is the possibility to display brand or company references, or new postings on specific keywords: this way, you get valuable information about where you stand, and at the same time, you have helpful input for interacting with the community. The Instagram app, which is available for iOS and Android can be used for free for up to three social media profiles.

WhenToPost presents multiple values in its overview. For one, the Instagram tool shows the top three times for posting in a single day. This is combined with a countdown and a weekly planner that summarises the best times to post for the full week. The basic version of the program is available as a free download for iOS and Android. Some additional features, such as dynamic graph or diagrams for the top days of the week, can be added for a fee.

Its practical planning functions aren’t the only thing that make Combin Scheduler special. The tool lets users edit pictures with features for trimming, zooming, and adjusting the size of an image. Further, location tags and hashtags can be fully integrated in the desktop application. New users are given one week to test the tool and its functions for free. A monthly subscription costs around $21.

The time-lapse effect is suitable for a wide variety of application scenarios: for example, it gives behind-the-scenes videos of companies a certain “je ne sais quoi”. It also proves to be just as practical when it comes to presenting products – from conceptual design and manufacturing to the finished product. In addition, the top speed videos offer an ideal opportunity to show a product in action in a short time. Instagram’s free app is only available for iOS, but with Microsoft Hyperlapse Mobile, there is a similar and alternative option (which is also free) for Android and Windows devices.

Boomerang is a tool created by Instagram. Usable as a standalone app or from within Instagram, the free tool shoots 10 photos in quick succession to produce a minimalist photo series with the well-known boomerang effect. In this way, short and exciting animations that hover back and forth like a boomerang can be created. Boomerang is available for Android or for iOS.

The recorded clip can be instantly shared to Instagram or Facebook via the app, saved locally, or shared with friends and family via email, WhatsApp, etc.

The majority of InShOt features are free to use. You’ll need a Pro account to use all available stickers, effects, and co. The costs range from $3.99 per month or $11.99 per year, or you can pay a one-off fee of $34.99. When you purchase an upgrade, all in-app adverts and the InShOt watermark are removed from your projects. The app is available for free download from the Google Play Store or the App Store. The free version provides plenty of opportunity for testing the Instagram tool extensively.

Hashtag marketing is by no means an exclusive discipline among Twitter marketers. For healthy audience reach and engagement, the right keywords are indispensable on Instagram. A well-advertised link in your biography can make all the difference too.

inTags not only allows you to individually search for the best tags for a selected keyword or any combination of keywords, but also offers ready-made categories such as ‘Food’, ‘Sport’, or ‘Drinks and desserts’. The Instagram tool for Android devices, which is just as useful for researching Twitter, Pinterest, etc. is free of charge in the basic version (with advertisements). For a one-time payment of around $2, users can activate the full version if required, which doesn’t contain any ads.

Even the basic version of the Instagram tool allows for an unlimited number of links to be included. In addition, the free edition provides insights on how many times a link was clicked. Themes can be individually adjusted for each link selection. Additional themes and analytics insights such as click-through rate are included in the subscription version of the app ($6 per month or $48 annually). The Linktree watermark is omitted in the Pro version.