So you want to up your Instagram game in 2023? As an avid Instagrammer myself, I totally get it. The competition is fierce and the algorithms are always changing, so you need tools to help you stand out.
I’ve tried a lot of different apps and services over the years, and there are a few I just can’t live without. These tools make creating awesome content, engaging with your followers, and growing your account so much easier.
Let’s Dive in!
1. Scheduling Made Simple With Planoly
If you’re looking for an easy way to schedule Instagram posts, Planoly is a must-have tool. This handy app lets you visually plan and schedule your Instagram feed in advance.
With Planoly, you can upload photos directly from your computer or phone and drag and drop them into your feed preview to see how your profile will look before anything goes live. This gives you complete control over the look and flow of your Instagram aesthetic.
Planoly also provides helpful insights like the best times to post, hashtag suggestions, and analytics to improve your engagement.
For example, If you have seasonal products or promotions, Planoly is ideal for planning a coordinated campaign in advance.
You can schedule posts, stories, IGTV videos, and reels all in one place. Planoly even allows you to automatically schedule evergreen content to keep your profile active when you’re too busy to post.
2. Designing Eye-Catching Visuals With Canva
When it comes to creating eye-catching visuals for Instagram, Canva is one tool I can’t live without. Canva is a free graphic design website and mobile app that makes it easy to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, and more.
Canva offers thousands of beautiful free templates that can be customized for any occasion. Using Canva’s drag-and-drop feature, you can easily replace images, change fonts, adjust colors, and add your own text and elements.
Canva provides step-by-step video tutorials to show how simple it is to design stunning visuals from scratch.
For Instagram posts, Canva has templates sized perfectly for Instagram’s image and video dimensions. I frequently use Canva to create Instagram stories, posts, and IGTV episode thumbnails. Some of my favorite features in Canva for Instagram include:
- thousands of free Instagram post templates including quotes, product shots, lifestyle photos and more.
- the ability to upload your own photos or choose from Canva’s library of over 1 million images
- hundreds of fonts, filters, overlays, frames, and other design elements to make your posts stand out
- the option to save your designs to reuse or build upon them later
- the ability to collaborate with others by sharing your designs
Canva is ideal for solopreneurs, small businesses, influencers, and anyone else wanting to up their Instagram game. The versatility and ease of use make Canva one of the best free tools for creating social media graphics.
3. Gaining Insights With Iconosquare Analytics
One of my must-have tools for managing my Instagram account is Iconosquare. This powerful analytics platform provides insights into how my posts are performing so I can optimize my content strategy.
Track Your Key Metrics
With Iconosquare, you can see key metrics for each of your Instagram posts like:
- Reach: The number of unique accounts that saw your post. This helps you gauge how many people you’re exposing your brand to.
- Engagement: The total number of likes, comments, saves, and shares for each post. Monitoring engagement shows you what kinds of content your audience finds most interesting.
- Audience: Details about your followers like location, age, gender, interests, and more. These insights help you better understand your target audience so you can tailor your posts to their needs and interests.
Stay on Top of Your Performance
With regular monitoring in Iconosquare, you’ll get a clear picture of what’s working, what’s not, and how you can improve. Pay attention to metrics like which posts receive the most engagement, what kinds of content your audience prefers, which hashtags are most effective, and how your followers are growing over time.
Make adjustments as needed to boost your key metrics and achieve your Instagram goals.
For managing multiple social accounts, it’s a must-have tool that gives you a competitive edge.
I highly recommend giving their free trial a try to see how it can benefit your Instagram strategy.
4. Finding Hashtags That Work With Display Purposes
Once you have your Instagram post ready to go, it’s time to add hashtags. Hashtags help people discover your content and are a key part of the Instagram experience. However, finding the right hashtags that actually drive engagement can be challenging.
That’s where Display Purposes comes in.
Display Purposes is a free tool that generates popular hashtags based on your Instagram post. All you have to do is enter a hashtag, keyword, or phrase related to your post, and Display Purposes provides a list of 30 related hashtags to use.
For example, if you enter #sunset, it may suggest hashtags like:
- sky_captures
- sunrise_sunset_photogroup
- instasunsets
- sunset_madness
The best part is these hashtags are customized for your specific post based on things like your location, caption, and image. Display Purposes does the work of finding hashtags that are relevant and actually used by people interested in that topic or location.
To use Display Purposes, just go to displaypurposes.com and enter a hashtag, keyword, or short phrase to get started.
You can then select from the suggested hashtags and copy/paste up to 30 of them into your Instagram post. Some tips for the best results:
- Choose a mix of very popular hashtags (like #sunset) and more specific niche ones (like #sunset_madness). The popular ones will increase visibility, while the niche ones target your ideal audience.
- Don’t just use the same 30 hashtags for every post. Tailor them to each specific photo for the best engagement. Display Purposes makes this easy to do.
- You can also save your favorite hashtags to easily re-use them and save time. Display Purposes allows you to create hashtag sets to use over and over.
If you want to increase engagement and get more likes and followers on Instagram, using targeted hashtags is key.
5. Slazzer for Image Editing
Slazzer is one of my favorite tools for quickly editing photos for Instagram. As an influencer, I’m always posting product photos, outfit shots, and lifestyle images, so being able to remove background from images instantly is a must.
It’s Fully Automatic
Slazzer uses AI to detect the outline of the main subject in your photo and instantly removes everything else around it. You don’t have to do any manual selection or retouching. Just upload your photo and Slazzer does the rest. This makes it perfect when you have a lot of images to edit at once.
High-Quality Results
Slazzer’s AI was trained on millions of images, so it is extremely accurate at detecting edges and preserving fine details. The end result looks like the background was professionally removed by a graphic designer. Your followers will never know the difference!
Flexible Plans
Slazzer offers different pricing plans whether you’re an individual, small business or enterprise customer. They have affordable monthly subscriptions as well as pay-as-you-go options if you only need to edit a few photos. There are also student and nonprofit discounts available.
Download Your Edits
Once Slazzer has removed the background from your photo, you can download the transparent background PNG file to use however you like. Add a new background color or pattern, place the subject onto a different background, or use it on your website. The possibilities are endless!
Slazzer has been a game changer for my Instagram workflow. If you’re looking for an easy way to make your product and lifestyle shots stand out, I highly recommend giving Slazzer a try.
Conclusion
So there you have it, my top 5 Instagram tools to up your Insta game in 2023. Give these tools a spin and watch as your account starts gaining more likes, comments, and follows. Remember, consistency is key – keep posting high-quality content, engage with your audience, and use these tools to spread the word about your awesome profile.
Happy Posting!
