Instagram marketing has come a long way from the early days of Instagram when users just took a photo in the app and added a filter. Now, there are entire apps dedicated to just photo editing! To help you sort through all the apps you need to make your business look amazing on social media, here are the best apps for marketing your business on Instagram!
Learn more about how to market your business on Instagram
Best Photo Editing Apps for Instagram
First things first: in order to be successful on Instagram, you need to be posting great photos. These photo editing apps will help you add filters, adjust brightness, and even edit out any blemishes in the background.
VSCO Cam: Did you know that #vsco is the most popular branded hashtag on Instagram? And for good reason! This powerful, free photo editing app for iOS and Android is perfect for Instagram, and in addition to the free filters, there’s a ton of photo packs and filters available for purchase too. This is the app you’ll want to use for moody photos, nature photos, selfies, and pretty much everything in-between. Download here for iOS or download here for Android.
Snapseed: This free photo editing app from Google is great for touching up specific parts of your photo. Available on iOS and Android, the filters aren’t as good as VSCO, but the editing features are more powerful. For example, “selective adjust” lets you brighten or darken only certain parts of your photo, and the brush tool lets you use your finger to increase or decrease exposure, saturation, or temperature (perfect for those beach photos where you want only the water to be a little more blue). Download here for iOS and download here for Android.
A Color Story: if you want to create bright and colorful photos, this app is for you. Available for free on iOS, this app from the founders of A Beautiful Mess was created specifically for color. If you want bright whites, this is definitely the best app to use. There are free filters, but the photo packs available for purchase are worth it too! Download here.
Before/After edited by @JeffMindell using Chroma in A Color Story.
Line Camera: available on iOS and Android, this is the ultimate app for taking selfies! Selfies may not be applicable to every business, but for creatives and bloggers, great selfies are key to helping your personal brand. Line Camera’s front facing camera doesn’t “flip” the image around like the iPhone camera, so what you see on your phone is what you get (and in my opinion it does a better job of taking clear photos). Definitely use the camera in this one! This app is also responsible for a lot of celebrity photoshop fails, so use the facial editing and body slimming features carefully! Download here for iOS and download here for Android.
Foodie by Line Camera: if your business is food-related (or you just love taking food photos), this new app for iOS and Android helps you take the perfect food photo. When you’re taking a photo over your plate, the white bar will turn yellow to indicate that your camera is level and straight. Plus, they have filters that are specific to different types of food and drinks. Download here for iOS and download here for Android.
Layout by Instagram: if you want to post a collage to Instagram, this free app for iOS and Android lets you combine multiple photos into a single photo that you can post to Instagram. You can pick up to 9 photos, and easily tag your friends on Instagram too! Download here for iOS and download here for Android.
Best Graphic Design Apps for Instagram
Adding text to photos on Instagram can help you communicate your message quickly, without having to hope your followers read your caption. These apps are all easy-to-use, create great images, and are super helpful when it comes to Instagram for business.
Over: This is the best app for creating shareable social media images, and it’s available on iOS and Android. I am obsessed with it! The app is free, but it’s worth buying their “big bundle” to get a ton of powerful features, like cropping the photo for the optimal dimensions for Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. One of the best features is being able to add opacity to a photo, so you can add a bit of a dark layer to make your white text really pop. Download here on iOS.
Quick: Another app from the Over team, Quick is a free iOS app that lets you just add text to your photos. This is perfect if you want to add a quote or a slogan to your photo before posting it to Instagram. They have a lot of great default fonts, and they claim that Quick is “the fastest app for adding text to photos.” Download here on IOS and Android.
Canva for iPad: Canva takes it’s popular graphic design web app and brings it to this iPad app to let you create images on-the-go. This app is great for your business if you’re wanting to create social media graphics, post a flyer for an upcoming event on your Instagram, or need to harness their collection of stock photography. Download here.
Best Apps for Instagram Management
Take your Instagram marketing to the next level with these apps that help you schedule Instagram posts, track your success, and shop your feed.
Iconosquare: When it comes to Instagram analytics, Iconosquare is a free web app beloved by marketers. You can set up your analytics dashboard and track follower growth and engagement rates, plus you can even see when your most popular times to post are. Check out the web app here.
gramme: Want to save time with your Instagram marketing? gramme is a web app that works with iOS and Android to help you schedule posts on multiple Instagram accounts, collaborate with team members, and preview your Instagram feed. Since auto-posting goes against Instagram’s terms of service (and can get your account banned!), gramme sends your phone a push notification when it’s time to post. Check out the web app here, and download here on iOS or download here on Android.
LiketoKnow:It: this web app is made for bloggers who want to earn commission from their followers shopping their Instagram looks. Bloggers post a URL in their Instagram caption, and for their followers that are signed up, they receive an email with links to shop their look once they’ve “liked” the photo. Right now, it’s only open to bloggers on the RewardStyle network, apply here.
Best Apps for Making Instagram Videos:
Want to make a short Instagram video for your feed? Here are some apps to help you edit on your phone, wherever you are!
Hyperlapse by Instagram: this free iOS app lets you easily create time-lapse videos on your phone that can be posted to Instagram. Time-lapse videos are a series of still shots taken over a certain time period and are then stitched together and sped up like a video (you choose the speed). The app also has built-in image stabilization, which means that you don’t have to worry about keeping your hands perfectly still. Download here.
iMovie: if you want more advanced controls for creating a short video for Instagram, the iMovie app is a mobile version of the Mac app that’s now available on iPhone and iPad. You can add filters and enhance your video by adding effects like slow motion, fast forward, and split-screen. Download here.
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