Did you know that Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users? Brands and marketers have sensed the big opportunity and potential that Instagram provides, and are using the network in big numbers.

According to data revealed by Instagram, over 80% of accounts on Instagram follow the businesses they love. More than 200 million Instagrammers visit business profiles every day.

Small and big businesses alike have been using Instagram marketing tools to leverage Instagram effectively.

Disclosure: This content may contain a few affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I will get a commission (without any extra cost to you).

Why Use Instagram for Marketing?

Is your brand on Instagram yet?

Well, it's time you started. Over the years, the platform has grown to become a force to reckon within the business world. Companies can use it to increase visibility and expand their products reach.

Its visual nature provides numerous opportunities for your brand to showcase products. You can use regular photos, videos, Instagram Stories or IGTV to build your brand presence.

Users on Instagram are also more engaged than on other platforms. A study by Rival IQ found that Instagram has a median average engagement of 1.60% per post across all industries. Compare this to 0.09% of Facebook and 0.048% of Twitter.

average engagement rate instagram marketing toolsImage via Rival IQ

Instagram also drives sales and boosts your brand. It helps consumers discover new products, decide on a purchase, and research products or services to buy.

instagram helps instagram marketing toolsImage via Facebook

Convinced yet?

Get your brand an Instagram business account.

Now let's look at ways your brand can use Instagram for marketing:

How Can You Use Instagram as a Marketing Tool?

These tactics can help you leverage the platform as a powerful tool to achieve your goals:

Optimize Your Profile

Ensure your bio portrays your brand voice and says what your brand offers. It should also tell first-time visitors why they should care.

Use a great profile picture and ensure it adheres to guidelines. You should also provide contact information, categorize your brand correctly, and include calls-to-action.

Create an Instagram Strategy

Start by understanding who you want to see your posts.

Who is your target audience? Who currently buys from you?

If you are a new company, who did you make the product for?

You can also perform competitor analysis to find out who buys from them. Check out the kind of content your audience likes and how they interact with your competitors.

Second, define your goals.

What do you want to accomplish with an Instagram account?

Your goals should be measurable, specific, and related to your overall business objectives. They should also be relevant, attainable, and timely.

Third, set up metrics that will help you determine success. These include awareness, conversion, engagement, customer acquisitions, etc. The metrics will depend on your business and goals.

Fourth, find the best time to post . Once you've built a following, check your analytics to find out when your audience is most active. You should also post frequently and consistently without overwhelming your followers.

Have a Content Strategy

Use amazing photos and edit them to fit your unique style and Instagram guidelines . Your visual strategy should also consistently reflect the brand and messaging.

Try to make the elements in your visuals match so that when your audience sees them, they know it's your brand.

For example, @Tiffanyandco uses Tiffany Blue® when posting images, videos, and graphics. They include it in all their posts, making it easy for customers to identify them.

tiffanyandco instagram marketing toolsImage via Instagram

Leverage Instagram Stories to tell your brand story and promote your products or services. More than 500 million people use Stories daily, which gives you many opportunities to reach your target audience.

Use compelling calls-to-action that drive consumers to act. Your captions should also get people thinking, laughing, or connecting with your brand.

Another way to optimize your content is through hashtags and geolocation tags. They can help you boost awareness as hashtags are what most people use when searching for topics of interest. The location tags direct people to your physical business or your event.

Engage Your Audience

Follow back, comment, share, like, and reply to followers' feedback. Make your audience feel important by appreciating their interest.

You can also engage customers by asking them to share content with a specific hashtag. Feature their photos and posts on your feed and Stories to show your appreciation.

Measure

Measure performance with an analytic tool to see if your tactics have helped achieve your goals. Track everything from Stories, ads, individual posts, and your account to find what's working and what needs changing.

Now you know the benefits of having an Instagram account and how to use it for marketing.

But, what tools can you use for marketing on Instagram?

Which are the Best Instagram Marketing Tools for Effective Promotions?

Want to find out the best Instagram marketing tools?

Let's take a look at 25 such tools that you can use to customize your online promotions.

1. Inflact

If you are looking for an all-in-one Instagram marketing tool kit, Inflact is a great option. You can use this tool to boost your follower count, engage with your audience, and curate engaging content for your feed.

Features:

  • Schedule posts
  • Store all audience data in the Direct Module
  • Competitor analysis
  • Send auto direct messages
  • Download content for offline viewing
  • AI-based hashtag generator

Pricing:

2-Week Subscription Period: $37 to $82 (per account)

1-Month Subscription Period: $57 to $128 (per account)

3-Month Subscription Period: $144 to $307 (per account)

ingramer
Image via Inflact

Pro Tip: Use the code “SHANEBARKER” for an additional 10% discount on Inflact.

2. Combin

Combin is a smart tool that can help you grow your Instagram account safely and organically. You can use this Instagram marketing tool to get genuine followers, likes, and comments.

Features:

  • Growth and performance statistics
  • Find Instagram influencers
  • Audience quality
  • Figure out who doesn't follow you back
  • Schedule posts on Instagram

Pricing:

Starter: Free

Personal: $ 15 / month

Business: $ 30 / month

combin instagram marketing toolsImage via Combin

Pro Tip: You can even schedule Instagram Stories using this tool to engage your followers even further.

3. Kicksta

If you want to grow your Instagram account organically, the tool you should leverage is Kicksta. This Instagram marketing tool makes the entire process of building a strong organic following on the platform an easy task.

And it does this all automatically.

But, how does it achieve this growth? Let's take a look at its features.

Features:

  • Engages with posts of your audience automatically
  • Finds followers of accounts you choose

Pricing:

14-day money-back guarantee

Standard: $ 49 / month

Premium: $ 99 / month

kicksta instagram marketing toolImage via Kicksta

Pro Tip: You can select profiles of influencers, competitors, and other thought leaders in your niche for good results.

4. Heepsy

If you want to launch an influencer campaign on Instagram, you need to partner with reliable influencers in your niche. However, without the right tool, this can become a difficult task due to the many fake accounts on the platform.

This is where Heepsy comes to the rescue.

Features:

  • Heepsy has a database of over 11 million influencers with over 5K followers on Instagram
  • Influencer search with multiple filters
  • Detailed information about the influencers, such as their engagement rate, audience demographics, and more

Pricing:

Free plan available.

Starter: $ 49 / month

Business: $ 169 / month

Gold: $ 269 + / month

heepsy
Image via Heepsy

Pro Tip: Don't forget to check the engagement rate of an influencer. It can help you gauge their effectiveness.

5. HashtagsForLikes

Hashtags can help you get noticed on Instagram. However, to truly leverage their power, you need to find the right hashtags for your posts.

So, how can you do that?

HashtagsForLikes can help you achieve this.

Features: 

  • Hashtag search using anchor keyword
  • Suggests relevant hashtags based on your username
  • Detailed analytics for each hashtag is available

Pricing:

14-day money-back guarantee

Weekly: $ 15 / week

Monthly: $ 38 / month

hashtagsforlikes instagram marketing toolImage via HashtagsForLikes

Pro Tip: Look for relevant hashtags when you do hashtag research. They might come in handy as well.

6. Crowdfire

This is a top tool for Instagram marketing out there and it provides you with metrics on engagement and reach, post-performance analytics, and historical analysis for your Instagram profile. Through this method, you can figure out what your followers like and what they don't.crowdfireapp instagram marketing toolsImage via Crowdfire

7. Buffer

Buffer is a very handy and popular social media tool that can help you with your Instagram marketing activities. It helps you schedule posts and analyze and amplify their reach and performance.

You can set reminders to post videos and images too. It has an intuitive dashboard that helps you manage your accounts. And it helps you to track engagement and interactions with ease.

buffer instagram marketing toolImage via Buffer

8. Foursixty

Foursixty is a useful ecommerce-oriented tool that makes Instagram feeds shoppable.

By integrating this tool with your Instagram accounts, marketers can create galleries that look like their Instagram feeds. Shoppers can click on the image and be taken directly to the product page.

Foursixty also helps you curate user-generated content to increase engagement.

fourtysixty instagram marketing toolImage via Foursixty

9. Grum

GRUM is a simple social media tool that can help you schedule posts including both photos and videos.

This tool enables you to publish photos on multiple accounts at the same time. You can manage an unlimited number of accounts. Switching between multiple accounts is simple. And the tool also lets you tag users.

Want to know the best part? GRUM has an easy-to-use interface. This tool makes it easier to post pictures and videos directly from your desktop.

grumco

Image via GRUM

10. Hootsuite

Hootsuite, a social media tool, has made marketing on Instagram a breeze.

You can post pictures and videos to Instagram securely, directly from Hootsuite. Its easy scheduling feature helps you save time and drives engagement.

Hootsuite helps you use multiple Instagram business accounts to plan and execute your marketing campaigns. You can track competitors, customers, industry hashtags with ease.

hootsuite instagram marketing toolsImage via Hootsuite

11. Hopper

Hopper helps you schedule and publish your posts automatically. It takes hours of effort out of the equation. And this social media tool simplifies the use of Instagram, especially for business accounts.

You can plan and upload posts on multiple Instagram accounts, tag other accounts, and add mentions. Their first comment feature helps you start a conversation or hide your caption hashtags.

hopper instagram marketing toolsImage via Hopper

12. Iconosquare

Iconosquare helps you leverage industry-leading analytics and Instagram marketing tools to grow your business. It works very effectively with Instagram accounts.

This tool tells you which posts will get the maximum engagement, and when. You can schedule your posts in advance. It provides a detailed break down of your followers that will help you get to know them better. And it has powerful analytics.

iconsquare instagram marketing toolsImage via Iconosquare

13. Later

Later is a very useful tool for Instagram users. Marketers love its scheduling and media storage features.

If your social media marketing team needs to build a complex Instagram content calendar, use Later. You can also use it to find and repost user-generated content. It has a bulk media uploader that can be tagged and labeled. And you can create a different content library for each account.

later instagram marketing toolImage via Later

 

14. Curalate Like2Buy

Curalate Like2Buy offers a very useful solution to ecommerce brands and helps them reach their Instagram users.

When you integrate Curalate Like2Buy with your Instagram account, it enables users to shop from your feed, read your stories, and take other actions. You can localize the galleries for subsets of users.

What’s more, you ask? It helps users get exactly what they want from your Instagram feed by turning your feed into a personalized shoppable storefront.

curalate-like2buy

Image via Curalate Like2Buy

15. Linktree

Usually, you can only add one link in your Instagram bio. But this Instagram tool can help you do more with that one link.

Linktree generates a custom link for your profile. When users click on it, they can find an intermediate landing page that has multiple links with different CTAs. This can help you drive more traffic.

You no longer need to be stressed about which link you should put in your bio.

linktree instagram marketing toolImage via Linktree

16. Mulpix

Mulpix is an Instagram marketing tool, which makes it pretty easy to look for information on the platform.

You can search for captions, mentions, and multiple hashtags. And you can include search terms and keywords for precise results.

Mulpix even arranges your photos on the basis of location. This tool can help you get the most out of Instagram.
mulpix instagram marketing toolImage via Mulpix

17. Owlmetrics

Owlmetrics has a robust Instagram analytics feature. This Instagram marketing tool helps marketers collect and analyze data which helps them make better decisions.

This tool is capable of analyzing the performance of your account based on your posts. It provides easy-to-use calendar heat maps to determine the best times to post.

Want to know more? It helps you understand your followers as well. You can identify the kind of posts that drive the most engagement.

owlmetrics instagram marketing toolsImage via Owlmetrics

18. PLANN

PLANN is an all-in-one Instagram marketing tool that enables you to plan, schedule, and analyze your Instagram content. This visual planner and scheduler can help you manage your Instagram account like a pro.

Their simple drag-and-drop feature helps you visually plan how your Instagram feed will look. You can use it to schedule your posts.

You can design, edit, and analyze the performance of your posts. It helps you learn what’s working for you so that you can optimize your content better. You can also use it to keep a tab on your competitors’ posts, themes, color palettes, and hashtags.

plann

Image via PLANN

19. Repost

It is a very easy-to-use re-posting Instagram marketing tool. Brands often create their own content, but there are some campaigns for which you need a tool to help you repost.

For example, if you want to use user-generated content, you can use this tool to repost the content on your feed.

It automates the tedious process of reposting on Instagram so that you can focus on marketing and sharing the posts with the right users.

repost instagram marketing toolImage via Repost

20. Sked Social

Sked Social is a popular Instagram marketing tool that marketers use to schedule posts on Instagram. It saves a lot of time. Users can easily upload photos and videos from the web, edit and add filters, and more.

You can manage multiple Instagram accounts. And you can have multiple users to help you schedule and post your content.

This feature helps marketers as different team members can work on content scheduling and approvals at the same time before posting.
sked social instagram marketing toolsImage via Sked Social

21. Showcase

Showcase is an important Instagram marketing tool for ecommerce brands. It helps you turn your posts and other user-generated content into shoppable galleries.

Featured products link directly to their respective product pages. It works as a great tool for your online business as consumers can shop directly from the posts.

showcase instagram marketing toolsImage via Showcase

22. Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s Instagram marketing tool enables you to schedule posts, manage comments, monitor hashtags, and run reports.

Data-driven marketers on Instagram love this tool. It provides you with plenty of data and all the insights you need to create, connect, and convert.

Still not sure? Let’s look at some more of its features.

You can optimize your Instagram campaigns with the help of analytics. Measure the impact of your content, analyze which media and messages yield the maximum engagement, and use that information to improve your feed.

You can also keep tabs on followers and brand healthsprout social instagram marketing tools

Image via Sprout Social

23. Snoopreport

Snoopreport is a useful Instagram marketing tool that can help you identify, segregate, and manage your followers.

You can also leverage Snoopreport to track successful competitor accounts and figure out what works well for them. This can help you approach your Instagram marketing strategy with a different perspective.

snoopreport instagram marketing toolsImage via Socialinsight

24. Socialinsight

Socialinsight is a useful Instagram marketing tool. It helps you keep track of, identify, segregate, and manage your followers.

It gives you insights about engagements, interactions, and conversions. Monitoring your accounts is easy. And you can schedule posts from your computer.

It has the best of editing tools. And it even helps you find advocates and influencers. socialinsight instagram marketing tool

Image via Socialinsight 

25. SocialRank

As the name suggests, this Instagram marketing tool analyzes your followers and enables you to take a closer look at them.

It helps you search profiles with the keywords you select. For example, you can search for all the “Chefs” amongst your followers, and export their details onto a PDF.

You can compare different accounts with the help of the market intelligence provided by SocialRank. You can find influencers with the right audiences for your campaigns.socialrank instagram marketing tool

Image via SocialRank

Bonus Tool #1: Soldsie

Soldsie is an Instagram marketing tool that can help you drive more traffic, clicks, conversions, and revenue from Instagram.

It is a useful ecommerce platform that works on the concept of comments selling. Users are able to comment on the images of the products shown to buy them.

They can then pay with PayPal or WePay. Soldsie helps marketers get referrals on images which are then used for conversions.

soldsie instagram marketing tool

Image via Soldsie

FAQs

Q1. What is the best Instagram marketing tool?

A. Although all of the Instagram marketing tools listed in this post are good, you can take your pick based on your requirements. You can start with a tried-and-tested tool like Combin or Kicksta or choose to experiment with some of the newer tools in this list.

Q2. What are the best free social media marketing tools for Instagram?

A. The 25 Instagram marketing tools listed in this post are some of the best in the market. Check out the features and plans for each and then decide which one will suit your requirements the best.

Here’s a list of our top five tools:

  • Inflact
  • Combin
  • Kicksta
  • Heepsy
  • HashTagsForLikes

Q3. What are the top 5 Instagram marketing tools?

Here are the top five Instagram marketing tools:

  • Inflact
  • Combin
  • Kicksta
  • Heepsy
  • HashtagsForLikes

Q4. Why is Instagram a good marketing tool?

A. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms and provides tons of features for marketers. You can create different types of content from Stories to IGTV videos. You also have the option to tag products in your posts and Stories to make it easier for people to buy directly from there. You can even create an Instagram Shop to market your products.

Overall, Instagram is a good marketing platform because it provides so many options to promote your products or brand.

Q5. How to use Instagram as a marketing tool?

A. To make the best use of Instagram for marketing, you should first strive to build a large follower base. Create engaging content, experiment with all content formats on Instagram, analyze your performance using Instagram analytics, and improve your strategy.

Q6. Is Instagram a good marketing platform?

A. Yes, Instagram is one of the best marketing platforms, especially for B2C product companies. The reason for this is that, because of its visual nature, Instagram is a good platform for showcasing and selling products. Many retailers have created sophisticated Instagram Shops and also use Shoppable posts and Stories to their advantage.

Q7. Why should I use Instagram marketing tools?

A. Instagram marketing tools can help you run successful campaigns on the platform. Campaigns that deliver tangible results. These tools can help you analyze your performance better and improve your Instagram marketing strategy.

Some of these tools can help you find relevant hashtags for your posts while others can help you schedule your content. You should use a mix of these Instagram marketing tools for your campaigns to get the best results.

Q8. How do you target your market on Instagram?

A. You can look at your account analytics to see which type of content your audience likes best. You can also get audience analytics data to understand your audience better.

Once you know your audience, you need to create targeted and engaging content that they will like. You can also choose the content formats that your audience engages with most.

Q9. For what type of business is Instagram a better marketing tool?

A. Instagram is a brilliant tool for all types of businesses but is especially good for product companies. This is due to the fact that Instagram is a visual platform that makes it easier for businesses to showcase their products.

Q10. Which are the best, automated tools for marketing on Instagram?

A. Buffer is a brilliant automated scheduling tool that you can use to post your content at scheduled dates and times. Kicksta is another useful tool that automatically engages with your prospective audience’s posts and helps you gain more followers.

Other than these, many tools on this list of Instagram marketing tools provide some automation features. So, check out each tool and see which one meets your requirements.

Ready to Try These Instagram Marketing Tools?

Many brands are leveraging Instagram to connect with their audiences as this platform offers immense possibilities.

If you want to boost your brand's presence, these Instagram marketing tools can help you leverage the platform efficiently. You can use them to plan, schedule, and analyze your Instagram content. And some of these tools can also help you drive conversions.

Do you use any other tools to promote your brand on Instagram? Please feel free to mention them in the comments section below.

41 Comments

  1. Shweta Goel says:

    Very Helpful Tools.
    I STRONGLY recommend the article to EVERYONE interested in running a successful online business! If you want real marketing that works and effective implementation.

    1. Shane Barker says:

      Hey Shweta, thank you so much, that’s very nice of you to say. I’m glad my article on Instagram marketing tools was helpful to you. Please let me know what more would you like to read about?

  2. Riley Kathleen says:

    I loved the way you’ve listed tools that helps us in rescheduling and designing. Very useful.

    1. Shane Barker says:

      Hi Riley, thank you so much. I’m glad you liked my post about Instagram marketing tools.

  3. Riley Kathleen says:

    Thanks for sharing this amazing post with us, I really like it very much.

    1. Shane Barker says:

      Hi Riley, thank you so much. I’m glad that you enjoyed reading my post about Instagram Marketing Tools. Keep visiting for more tips and tricks.

  4. Very nice article. it is very helpful.

    1. Shane Barker says:

      Hi Tucker, thank you so much! I’m so excited to know that my post about Instagram Marketing was helpful for you.

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