Our Favorite Instagram Management Tools For You

Back in the early days of Instagram, brands needed to manage their accounts through their smartphones - that is, brand managers needed to be tied to their smartphones in order to add filters __END_BLOG__(which were once very limited), include a great caption and insert hashtags. Brands, businesses and individuals alike were truly only figuring it out, and everyone was really in the same position. It was a brand new network!

Since then, Instagram management tools are everywhere. This network has become one of the most popular and powerful social media management platforms and, with growing popularity, there are a plethora of Instagram tools that will help make your lives easier, while strategically creating the best account for your business.

Here are our favorite Instagram management tools that you can use for your accounts now.

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that works for a wide variety of platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and more. It helps you schedule your content in advance, which means that you don’t always need to be tied to your phones in order to post.

Specifically with Instagram on Hootsuite, this tool enables users to schedule and publish Instagram posts directly from the network to Hootsuite. You can also manage Instagram as a team, if you have multiple users in one account. You can plan and launch campaigns across multiple Instagram accounts.

2. Combin

Combin is a tool for managing Instagram, though it offers different functions than Hootsuite. Combin manages your Instagram account using a few different methods, including mass following and unfollowing, communication with potential followers, scheduled according to Instagram limits, sorting and previewing who you should follow. At this time it doesn’t allow you to schedule Instagram posts or access direct messages and comments, though this is on the roadmap.

3. Later

Later is a relatively new start-up on the scene, based out of North America. Later allows users to plan weeks of Instagram posts so you can see your visual content calendar, plan your feed and schedule automatically to Instagram. This Instagram Management Tool is a certified Instagram partner and uses the Instagram Graph API for all publishing, which means you are in good hands.

The beauty of Later is that it started as an organizer tool, especially for brands who are focused on creating a beautifully curated feed. You can find content quickly, switch between accounts and import media from your desktop, Google Drive, Dropbox or - of course - your phone.

4. Foursixty

Flipping to an Instagram management tool that helps drive revenue from your accounts, Foursixty is a UGC, shoppable machine for Instagram. With this tool, you can turn your Instagram content and UGC into shoppable galleries for your online store, emails, blog and other campaigns. It’s trusted by thousands of brands and agencies.

Foursixty offers a platform, so it’s up to the user to determine how to use it. There are partners who you could align with to help execute your UGC strategy, so be sure to keep this in mind as you turn Instagram into a revenue generator for your business.

5. Repost

Repost is a very simple app that allows you to repost photos and videos from other accounts onto your own. This can give you ready-made, easy content to distribute to your followers, without needing to dream up the perfect caption. Simply repost your photos or videos and voila, your feed is populated.

6. Crowdfire

Crowdfire has been on the market for quite some time, though Instagram capabilities are relatively new. This tool allows you to discover and schedule your content, while managing your content all from one place, much like Hootsuite. You can also discover relevant content based on your interest or followers’ interest, publish content, pre-schedule all of your content, get images based on your favorite topics and so much more.

7. Soldsie

We’ve reference revenue and ROI throughout this article, and Soldsie is all about this. Instagram captions and photos are not linkable to your website or other third party sites (at this time) though you can link through your profile URL. Soldsie utilizes this real estate and showcases content that encourages fans to click through this link on your profile. There are options for both stores and publishers, so all Instagram business accounts can benefit from this feature. It’s a powerful tool, especially for businesses who are selling products or services through their Instagram accounts.

With the most appropriate Instagram tools for your business, and with the proper use, of course, Instagram is building to become the number one social media tool for businesses. Not only do Instagram management tools offer so many different features and functionalities, they can equip you to manage multiple accounts at once. When you find the best one that fits you and your needs, your business strategy will surely flourish.