Apart from the usual entertainment dose, Instagram allows businesses to promote themselves without coming across as pushy.
As per the latest social media statistics, 90% of Instagram accounts follow at least one business, and 89% of Instagram users use the platform to discover new products and services.That means the platform is jam-packed with opportunities to reach potential leads in the masses. However, marketers often sweat in fear of a mediocre presence and dull performance.
The fierce competition has made it intrinsically difficult to boost their engagement and ROI. However, there’s a way out. Compared to those who don’t, businesses that use the best tools for Instagram have cracked the code to success.
But what exactly are Instagram tools?
Instagram tools, a.k.a. Instagram marketing tools, are the ones that offer brands, influencers, and marketers an additional set of features like content scheduling, posting, viewing analytics insight, adding contact information, and promoting posts for Instagram.
We did our research and compiled a list of the top 19 paid and free Instagram tools that will considerably elevate your social media presence.
Let’s get started!
Later is a marketing tool that is highly focused on visuals, making it a great hit as an Instagram tool. It even has a story button that allows you to schedule Instagram stories for later. You can also use Later to manage other platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Unlike other social media marketing tools that allow you to create a post before attaching a photo, Later requires you to select a picture before drafting it.
Later provides a media library option. This helps you manage the pictures you have. Furthermore, with Later, you can manage comments on Instagram. You can locate and reply to all the comments made on any of your posts.
Pros
Jennifer M.
As the platform is still evolving, there are (more often than I would like, but this may not matter for some lighter users) errors, which means that my clients’ posts are sometimes late or do not post at all.
Cons
Ayo B.
Although I enjoy using Later for posting to Instagram, my only annoyance is not being able to publish videos without the push notifications automatically. I hope this is a feature that Later plans to add soon.
One of the chief attractions of Hootsuite is its popularity. It is one of the widely recognized social media management tools and is used by more than 18 million subscribers worldwide. This Instagram tool works across several platforms and integrates more than 200 business applications.
Hootsuite allows you to monitor keywords as well as schedule posts efficiently. Its features also allow multiple units to collaborate and work from remote locations simultaneously.
Pros
Thomas C.
I find their integration with Instagram somewhat lacking. During my time with Hootsuite, I have scheduled countless Instagram posts, but the way the marriage between Instagram and Hootsuite works means that you can schedule the post, but you need to open the app on your phone and hit send when the time comes “actually to publish your post.”
Cons
Shanna T.
The UI seems a bit dated. The features themselves are great, so it truly doesn’t matter, but it’s just not as modern and beautiful as other platforms.
SocialPilot makes it possible to keep up with your Instagram page’s performance with its outstanding social media analytics and reporting features. With the click of a button, you can access in-depth information for your posts, reels, stories, and profile.
Generating concrete reports of your Instagram marketing activities is just a few clicks away.
SocialPilot’s Instagram analytics helps to discover the locations with the highest density of your followers and see when they are the most active. This lets you calibrate your content strategies to target these particular demographics.
And since SocialPilot is a complete Instagram management software, you can align your social media strategy with the help of all the insights on every type of content the analytics gives you and make your efforts more productive.
Features
Pros
Verified user
SocialPilot is continuously improving. In the year I’ve used this software, they’re unrolled new features like Reels analytics, carousel posts, and scheduling first comments. Using a platform that keeps up with social media trends is a key component of our success across dozens of accounts.
SocialInsider is an analytics tool that helps you collate information on social media. It can go as far back as 5 years before the time of the search to filter content and present it to you.
SocialInsider is one of the few Instagram growth tools you can use for competitive research so you understand your audience better and create a strategy to win them over with. Here’s a list of Instagram analytics tools if you just want to opt for an affordable solution to measure your Instagram campaigns.
Pros
Alexandra M.
It saves time by having everything in one place. Great for benchmarking, comparisons between brands, and quick reports.
Cons
Hunter W.
I’m most disappointed in the reporting. While it gives a good overview, I’d love to see some customization. One specific report I’d like to see is the ability to pull the top x-number of posts from a certain time period. The default report gives the top 5 posts, but I’d love to customize that to see the top 20 or 50+ posts over a period.
Sprout Social is an interesting Instagram analytics tool that helps understand your audience better. This popular tool enables access to industry, brand, and competitive insights.
Organizing and sharing data with stakeholders is easy with this tool. It helps you prepare attractive reports with all relevant information.
Connecting audience reactions to marketing campaigns is easier with Sprout Social. This tool can help in quicker data collection and assists in decision-making by brands.
Pros
Stephanie M.
Sprout makes scheduling content, listening, reporting, and community management so easy to use. It’s really got everything in one place that you need for successful social media management. The roles function makes it easy to set up a team, and as someone who works with a lot of colleagues around the world – this is a lifesaver!
Cons
Luke B.
It would be nice if LinkedIn personal profiles could be connected for analytics, otherwise, everything in the platform has worked well for us so far. The mobile experience could be better as well.
SocialPilot fits the bill of an effective tool that empowers your Instagram marketing efforts with the minimum hassle involved. Stand out from the ever-growing crowd and leave the competition behind with its powerful capabilities to boost all the Instagram business pages under your watch.
It has many features specific to Instagram, such as post, story, and reel scheduling, content curation, first comment scheduling, image customization, social inbox, location tagging, and more. All of these make SocialPilot a complete package for Instagram marketing.
Features
Pros
Verified user
My agency has used SocialPilot for social media management for multiple clients with several social platforms for the last three years. Each year, we evaluate competing products to ensure that we are using the best tool available—we always are! My favorite part of SocialPilot is that their development team listens to customers and adds new features we want.
Agorapulse helps manage your social media by offering a host of tools for publishing, monitoring, reporting, and team collaboration.
This intuitive platform helps in collaborating and scheduling content for social media platforms. It helps ascertain trends about the brand and its competitors.
Agorapulse can be a great tool for a marketer aiming for Instagram growth with its automated marketing strategy.
Pros
Natalie H.
Saves a lot of time and makes scheduling and monitoring so easy. Reports are very comprehensive. Great to be able to proof and publish junior team members’ posts after they have been uploaded.
Cons
Melissa L.
It is a very good application, but it is quite expensive so not many people can access it, I have many colleagues who use other applications because they are cheaper.
Shortstack is another Instagram tool for marketers. It is built for lead generation and engagement optimization. Shortstack has several features that help you create effective landing pages and improve social media marketing.
Shortstack can be used to run contests and promotions to spread awareness of your social media page. It also collates email addresses and enables you to conduct polls to gather valuable opinions of your users on social media.
Pros
Deepti S.
Information retrieval and exportation are rather confined to a tiny amount of applications, as the deficiency of an API implies that there is certainly no workaround.
Cons
Jay T.
It’s really simple to set up a competition or landing page quickly, with easy-to-modify templates and the new theme customization. However, data retrieval and exportation are very limited to a small number of apps, and the lack of an API means that there’s no workaround.
Another Instagram tool to consider is Sendible. If you are a marketer with a large agency interested in Instagram growth tools, then Sendible should work just right for you.
It comes with an intuitive interface, so you don’t have to spend much time learning it. Sendible has a content library feature that lets you store hashtags and responses in one place. Queue your posts, and Sendible will do the rest for you.
Pros
LeeAnn B.
Their app is not as intuitive as the desktop platform. Hopefully, it’s in the works, and it more than likely is.
Cons
Kaylee P.
Sendible doesn’t always learn quickly; some of the notifications refuse to go away. LinkedIn requires users to log in again through Sendible every 60-90 days, which is tiresome and occasionally forgotten, so it affects our calendar. The tracked metrics could be more specific with more personalization opens.
Modash can help you grow on Instagram by connecting with influencers. The platform lets you search & analyze influencers to find creators with engaged audiences who are likely to be interested in your brand.
It’s trusted by big names like Google & Bolt, but you can use Modash to kick-start your influencer marketing program even as a newcomer. The UI is beginner-friendly and backed by a world-class support & success team.
It’s perfect for eCommerce & B2C SaaS brands looking to boost their Instagram reach.
Pros
Kyun Lok N.
Impossibly good! We’re really loving the tool! Keep up the great work!
Cons
Kaarel R
Some bugs have popped up in the early days, although the support is super quick to respond and reach out to you.
TINT is a popular Instagram tool for influencer marketing. It is trusted by the most popular brands across the globe and is customizable to fit your requirements.
This user-friendly platform enables the easy collection, curation, and display of reviews on Instagram. TINT uses advanced AI features that help greater audience engagement and sales conversion.
Authentic performance insights, analytics, and generating detailed reports are possible with the help of TINT.
Pros
Kim K.
I enjoyed the easy-to-use interface that was visual and intuitive.
The customer support we received in onboarding was also top-notch—through recorded sessions and hands-on demos.
Cons
Natasha S.
Platform breaks down, has random glitches that even after you think you have fixed them with the help of the support team come back eventually
Awario is appropriately termed a social media ‘listening’ tool because it gathers information relating to the brand’s mentions and tags on social media.
Awario scours social media, blogs, and the whole of the internet to pinpoint locations where you are mentioned, ensuring you don’t miss out on any opportunity to engage in a conversation involving you.
As an Instagram tool, Awario helps you gauge your brand’s health. It also enables you to keep an eye on the competition. This way, you know what areas to improve on to match up to expectations.
Pros
Marco M.
I love that the blog is useful and teaches us how to use the interface to a greater and greater effect each week.
Cons
Brian A.
It seems to miss a few posts from Instagram that we thought it would and should easily catch.
Keyhole is one of the popular Instagram tools for business that keep track of your hashtags in real time. It lets you keep tabs on what is going on around you and help you make changes in your campaign strategy.
With the constant competition of staying with the trend, Keyhole gives you a competitive advantage with social listening and monitoring capabilities. It can also help you in instant engagement as it scours the web and notifies you whenever your brand is mentioned. This is an excellent tool for reaching out to your audience fast.
Pros
Fatima M
The metrics given on Keyhole are unmatched and help us in setting KPIs and measuring results accordingly. The layout is also very user-friendly, and everything is exportable, so that’s wonderful.
Cons
Ben K
I felt like it broke A LOT. Sometimes info would not be pulled, and the reports would be screwed up, etc. When I requested help, I was made to feel like I was the one making mistakes when I was a pretty savvy user.
Sprout Social is a one-stop social media managing platform for brands to manage conversions and achieve robust growth.
Social listening tools from Sprout Social helps to identify gaps to improve the health of your brand. It assists in coping with the latest trends and identifies the influencers who can help in brand promotion.
The user-friendly platform enables effortless integration of social media listening with your business strategies.
Pros
Andrew H.
Data analysis – easily displays all the information I want and need to be able to reflect on previous performance, future trends, competitors, etc. The tool is quite straight forward which makes it very user friendly.
Cons
Lukas W.
I doubt this is the fault of Sprout, but in the messages and posts, it is a bit inconvenient that I can’t like all the tagged posts through the platform. Little things like that and only being able to like, comment or share certain types of posts from various platforms do cause issues.
Brand24 is an excellent social listening tool for Instagram. This tool helps take action in real-time based on interactions of viewers. It can help identify issues before they become serious, based on monitoring sudden increase in the volume of discussions about your brand.
This tool helps you customize the mode of alerts. Obtaining accurate results is madepossible through its robust filtering options.
It is an easy-to-use tool that lets you analyze competitors and your conversions to take immediate corrective action.
Pros
Doug L.
The software is easy to use, they have decent guides and help docs, and the support is stellar. A very good app for tracking mentions. Lots of filters to hone in on the results that matter.
Cons
Javier G.
If two brands use similar keywords it is complex to separate one from another.
Canva is one of the best design tools for Instagram. It features thousands of templates and designs of professional quality.
Presenting and downloading designs is easier with Canva. You can design a logo, poster, banner, video intro, meme, flyer, invitation, and more.
This tool also facilitates team collaboration with the best of their productivity tools.
Pros
Sharem S.
The most helpful in Canva is its ready world-class templates with stellar designs that can only be seen in their software. It saves your energy and time to think about what color, techniques, and fonts are because it is already there in just one click, and you are good to go.
Cons
Mihir G.
It has a lot of templates that are very attractive, but all of these are for the premium versions.
Instasize is a popular photo editing and resizing tool that can instantly transform your photos to make them captivating.
You can change the background, add filter effects, include borders, create collages, and resize photos with unlimited advanced features of Instasize.
It gives access to 130+ premium filter options for free so that you can try out various options before buying the premium version.
Pros
ChaoticSoul.
I started using this app for 4-5 months now and I haven’t had a single complain. The updates are regular and it doesn’t give you unnecessary pop up advertisements.
Cons
Rajrathod bvn.
InstaSize need purchase for unlock and download some features as well functions. We need watch 15 seconds video every time when we open application, it must for only one time but its boring us for watch every time.
Adobe Rush can be your best partner to express your creativity. This desktop and mobile video editing app can help you shoot, edit and share premium-quality videos.
Videos created here can be exported to any social media platform without disturbing the aspect ratio.
There are hundreds of in-app features for audio, graphics and adding titles in this app.
Pros
Matt C.
Ease of use, syncing across apps & platforms, integration with Creative Cloud.
Cons
Hilary H.
They’ve trimmed down everything good about the original Premiere. There are nearly no features available. It is very slim and doesn’t offer the capabilities other entry-level video editing software do.
Conclusion
Instagram is on its toes to launch newer features to help you break free from a rut and propel your brand forward. Its ever-improving algorithms ensure to put you in front of the appropriate people at the right time, so you receive more engagement and leads.
But what other app do most Instagrammers use?
Apart from the popular Instagram tools, there are many apps used by Instagrammers to enhance their posts, such as photo and video editing apps like VSCO, Snapseed, Lightroom CC, Square Sized, and Adobe Lightroom.
But that’s not enough. You need to further polish your marketing game with these Instagram marketing tools. These best tools for Instagram look after scheduling and analyzing your content, so you focus solely on creating high-quality content and brainstorming new campaign ideas.
You can start right away with SocialPilot as your Instagram growth tool and put your Instagram marketing on autopilot. Take advantage of your 14-day free trial to boost your branding like never before.
Instagram tools are used for promoting a business on Instagram. They come in large varieties to aid you in different aspects. Some tools for Instagram will help you with analysis, while others will let you schedule posts for later. However, a SocialPilot like tool helps in both.
The best time to post on Instagram is 6 am-11 am PST. But it is advisable to track your audience demographics to find your best suited time for better engagement on Instagram.
Posting once a day on Instagram is advisable because you don’t want your followers to mark you as spam. However, you can post multiple Instagram stories throughout the day for a pronounced reach.
Posting once a day on Instagram is advisable because you don’t want your followers to mark you as spam. However, you can post multiple Instagram stories throughout the day for a pronounced reach.
Some of the best tools for Instagram are:
The Instagram tools that let you post on Instagram directly are:
The Instagram tools that let you post on Instagram directly are:
There are many free Instagram marketing tools, but not all offer a worthy range of features. Although there are still some free Instagram marketing tools like SocialPilot, Buffer, Crowdfire, Later, BaazarVoice, Audience Insights, IconoSquare, and Leetags, among others.
Instagram Business accounts offer several additional tools and features unavailable to personal accounts. Here are some key tools that Instagram Business accounts offer analytics insights, contact button, Instagram ads, Instagram shopping, Instagram stories features, and Creator Studio.
There are many tools to grow Instagram, but SocialPilot stands out among the many available tools for Instagram growth due to its content scheduling and online visibility improving capabilities. It is also an affordable alternative to tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite that offers the same level of capabilities.
About the Author
Manvi Agarwal
Manvi is a Marketing & Communication Manager at SocialPilot. Social media & content marketing is Manvi's niche area in which she employs an interactive user-oriented strategy. Besides this, Manvi loves experiencing new things and trying new food!
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1. SocialPilot
SocialPilot is one of the best Instagram tools for content scheduling to improve your online visibility. Thousands of businesses, enterprises, and social media managers use SocialPilot to enhance their digital presence through automated social media publishing.
This Instagram growth tool covers the most popular social media platforms, Instagram being one of them. You can directly schedule posts, reels, stories, or videos to your Instagram accounts with SocialPilot.
It lets you add multiple social media accounts and pages, enabling you to manage it all from one place. Schedule unlimited posts, track their engagements, and improve leads with SocialPilot.
Features
Pros
Luis Ignacio C.
I had been using another company to facilitate all of my social media posts, however, the number of accounts I needed took me out of the search for the free products and jumped up pretty quickly to some prohibitive pricing. SocialPilot fit a perfect price point and got me connected to all of my social media accounts very quickly. I can make my posts and schedule them as I like. Thank you!
Hannah F.
What I like about SocialPilot is that it facilitates the scheduling of posts in bulk, and it does not seem automated at all. What I mean by this is that we are able to create posts and share them, and have our own brand to gain an audience. Its customization and UI are what I love most about this program since it’s very flexible and allows the creation of hundreds of posts without any issues.