Let’s face it: with 1.3 billion active users and fierce competition, standing out on Instagram isn’t a walk in the park. Whether you’re building your personal brand, growing a business, or chasing that coveted influencer status, you need all the help you can get. And guess what? The right tools can make all the difference.
This guide breaks down nine essential tools every Instagram content creator should have in their arsenal. From designing eye-catching posts to tracking performance metrics, we’ve got you covered.
Types of Content Creator Tools
Not all tools are created equal, but they’re all designed to make your life easier. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different types we’ll explore:
- Design & Editing Tools: Perfect your visuals.
- Planning & Scheduling Tools: Plan like a pro and stay consistent.
- Hashtag Tools: Find hashtags that actually work.
- Analytics Tools: Measure your success and tweak your strategy.
Instagram Design and Editing Tools
1. Canva
If you’re not using Canva yet, what are you waiting for? It’s like having a graphic designer in your back pocket. With thousands of pre-made templates, you can create posts, Stories, and everything in between—even if you have zero design skills.
Just drag, drop, and customize to your heart’s content. You can even filter templates by style or color to match your vibe. Oh, and the Instagram Stories tab? A lifesaver. Canva makes it ridiculously easy to create scroll-stopping designs.
2. VSCO
VSCO is a total game-changer for editing your photos. It has over 200 stunning presets, and you can tweak everything—exposure, saturation, contrast—to get the perfect look.
Even better, VSCO allows you to mimic how a film camera would have reacted in specific conditions.
3. Unfold
Want your Instagram Stories to stand out? You need Unfold. It’s packed with gorgeous templates that make your Stories look polished and unique. Plus, it’s super customizable—you can add your fonts, colors, and even stickers to make it so you.
Instagram Content Planning, Scheduling and Publishing Tools
A plan should enable you to deliver high-quality content to your target audience consistently. The following tools will enable you implement your plan effectively.
4. UNUM
If you’re all about that perfectly curated grid (you know, the kind that makes people say “wow”), UNUM is your best friend. It lets you preview your profile before posting so you can plan how everything looks together.
But it’s not just about aesthetics—UNUM also helps you schedule posts, write captions, and even track some analytics. And the free version? It’s surprisingly robust, giving you plenty of features to get started. For example, you can add filters to your images to maintain feed uniformity and consistency in your page aesthetics.
The plan includes analytics, insights, post-scheduling, and Instagram marketing ideas. Moreover, you get 18 grids to plan your posts and 500 photo and video uploads per month.
5. Later
If consistency is your goal (and trust me, it should be), Later will save your life. The drag-and-drop scheduler makes planning posts super simple.
One feature I love? Later tells you the best times to post based on your audience’s activity. And it even sends you reminders when someone comments or mentions you. Keeping up with engagement has never been easier.
Instagram Hashtags Generator Tools
6. MetaHashtags
Hashtags can be a game-changer—if you use the right ones. That’s where MetaHashtags comes in. It helps you find hashtags that are trending in your niche, analyze their performance, and even avoid banned ones.
Think of it like a hashtag coach, helping you choose tags that actually get results.
7. All Hashtags
All Hashtags is a cost-effective tool for generating hashtags for your Instagram posts. It is a suitable alternative if you are on a tight budget but still want to create competitive hashtags for your Instagram posts or stories.
All Hashtag package contains the following tools to allow you to generate quality hashtags that align with your content.
- Hashtag generator
- Hashtag creation tool
- Hashtag analytics tool
Use the hashtag generator to generate relevant and top-performing hashtags for your Instagram posts. The hashtag creator allows you to convert suggested texts into relevant hashtags.
The All Hashtag package also contains a hashtag analytics tool to predict the performance of certain hashtags — while the hashtag counting tool ensures you don’t exceed Instagram’s hashtag limit per post.
Instagram Analytic Tools
Instagram has its own built-in analytics tool called Meta Business Suite, and honestly, it’s pretty solid. It’s free, easy to use, and gives you all the basics:
- Engagement rate
- Follower growth rate
- Audience demographics
- Best times to post
- Website referral traffic
- Post engagement rate
- Impressions
- Reach
- Post comment rate
- Completion rate
Just open the insights tab, and you’ll see everything you need to tweak your strategy.
8. Meta Business Suite
Meta has its internal analytic tool that offers relevant Instagram insights. You can use it on your Instagram desktop version.
Simply open the Meta Business Suite and click on insights. Select insights for Instagram to get details on all the relevant metrics you want.
9. Iconosquare
If you’re ready to get serious about analytics, Iconosquare is worth a look. It digs deep into your performance, showing you what’s working and where you can improve.
One thing I love? It also monitors your competitors. Want to know what they’re doing better than you? Iconosquare has the answers.
Let’s Make Your Instagram Unstoppable
So, there you have it—nine tools that can take your Instagram game to the next level. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to fine-tune your strategy, these tools are like having a secret weapon in your back pocket.
And hey, you don’t have to do this alone. At Blumy Content Solutions, we specialize in helping creators like you grow with confidence. Whether it’s refining your content, crafting the perfect captions, or finding your unique voice, we’re here to help.
Let’s chat! Book a consultation, and let’s create something amazing together.