Looking to automate your Instagram? Good idea – we work in the aesthetics industry and our clients expect to see us posting beautiful images that reflect how wonderful we help make them look and feel.
Here’s a list of our favourite Instagram tools in each category.
Posting and Scheduling
Posting and designing your Instagram grid is much easier if you can do everything in one place. So, we’ve eliminated any apps or software that don’t have auto-posting. We’ve also focused on multi-platform apps that can take care of Facebook and Twitter at the same time.
Later
Later is easy to use, with drag and drop functionality and brilliant analytics. The desktop and mobile apps are very similar which makes life easier and if you buy a ‘Premium’ plan for $19 per month, you get hashtag suggestions and better analytics. The Later blog is also exceptional and is regarded as the place to go for Instagram expertise.
Planoly
Planoly has done a great job of attracting influencers, celebrities and social media personalities to their platform. This is reflected in the quality of the product also – it’s absolutely stunning. The functionality os simple to use and clearly the platform has been designed for users that want to spend some time making something special. Loads of filters and analytics and an intuitive UX make it a delight.
Stock Images
You’re not a machine! With everything going on in your life it’s unreasonable to have expectations of perfect, relevant photographs filling your grid.
Luckily, some wonderful people…evidently with time to spare have solved this problem.
We’ve got 2 favourite places to go for stock images, the first is free and the second is paid.
Pixabay
This was a close call -and truthfully we scour loads of free sites when looking for stock images – but Pixabay wins the free category for one reason only – it’s easy to search specific images. Where other sites have broad categories, Pixabay has invested in making it’s library searches relevant and specific. Also, you can download images in various sizes, streamlining the editing process.
Close second – Unsplash
Megapixl
For paid, Megapixl won another close call, with Shutterstock and Adobe Stock coming in a close second. We love Megapixl because it’s easy to search, offers a massive library and links to other libraries, and it’s cheaper than the major players.
Image editing
We’re all in the editing business, aren’t we? Image editing is a natural extension of editing in real life, so we take these tools very seriously. However, this is Instagram for clinics, not graphic designers, so these tools are easy to use, don’t require specific types of images and have stickers, text overlays and that kind of thing.
Pixlr
You need to try Pixlr to understand how easy it is to use. But it’s also a genuinely good editor which is often compared to Photoshop in terms of basic functionality (Photoshop is obviously far more advanced, but this is simple use). Cropping, retouching and everything else you need is right there and as you get more advanced, the platform has more intricate options.
Canva
Canva is very similar to Pixlr in terms of ease of use and we love that all our images can be stored in one place. There are also heaps of filters and limitless options to manipulate the image. This is an ideal tool if you’re not too fussy on editing and just need an overlay or something simple, and it’s also a good spot to get your other marketing tasks completed.
