Showing posts with label Instagram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Instagram. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2020

5 Free Must-Have Apps for Instagram

Instagram has always been my favorite social media platform. The moment I joined Instagram I forgot about Facebook. That's because it allows me, an amateur photographer, to post the photos I take daily in my 24-hour stories without having to clog up my and my followers' feeds... 

As Instagram got more and more famous worldwide, it became more and more difficult for business accounts to get noticed even among their hard-earned followers and receive engagement...
In short, I'm in a love-hate relationship with Instagram but I keep working hard until I get that Swipe up feature only available to users with over 10K followers:)




If you are new to Instagram and are looking for easy and useful apps to make your work more professional and aesthetic, I want to present you 5 Free Must-Have Instagram Apps I love using on a daily basis.
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 1. Canva













Canva is a Graphic Design, Video, Invite & Logo Maker.

All my Instagram posts are edited in Canva before being posted. Canva will make you feel like a pro graphic designer. You can design almost everything in Canva, from Instagram highlights to logos, birthday invitations, and school posters, collages, videos, the list is endless.

Now that I'm taking a Photoshop course, I keep saying to myself: "Why would I want to waste my efforts and time when I can do that with Canva in a few minutes".

I love Canva so much that I paid for its Pro version for a few months to create my Instagram logo (the only app I have ever invested money on).

2. Pixaloop












Pixaloop is a Photo Animator & Editor.

It lets you bring your photos to life in just a few steps: floating clouds, cascading waterfalls, animated flickers of flames, coffee steams, and lots of video effects and GIF-like flows for your Instagram stories especially.

You can also add fun overlays to bring mood, emotion, and movement to your still photos.

Pixaloop is super easy to use,  I've been using the free version and I find it very fun to use.

3. Story Maker












Story Maker is an Instagram Story Editor.

It has lots of templates and features for beautiful Instagram stories. I love that I can make Instagram Story collages with colorful borders and that I have a big variety of fonts to customize my photos or videos with texts.

This app is very user friendly with minimal ads however I wish it kept on adding and updating its templates as the themes are rather limited.


4. Repost













Regram Posts is an Instragram Repost app.

I use the Repost app most of all for my Teaching Instagram Account where I participate in different teaching loops. It's very easy to use, you just need to copy the link of the post you're planning to repost by clicking on the 3 dots in the upper right corner, open the app and past the link. Then the app automatically saves the post and the caption, you go back to Instagram and past it. That's it.

I do advise you to repost photos and video with watermarks thus giving credit to the original creators and respecting their rights.

5. Insights
Insights for Instagram is an app that lets you see your Mutual Followers: those who follow you back
Fans: those who you don't follow
Unrequited Followers: those who don't follow you back
Recent Unfollowers: those who have unfollowed you after following for some time

I must confess that it took me quite a long time to understand this Instagram follow-unfollow game. 
Why would people follow and unfollow you when you follow them back, I still don't get. Hence this app helps me to find my recent unfollowers and the bots. When you get rid of bots (people with 0 posts or no profile pictures, or with fake photos) you let Instagram show more of your content to your genuine followers. For it's not about the numbers, not about a bunch of uninterested and unengaging followers but a good community of engaging followers many of whom I  check on daily and can call friends.

I hope you found this post helpful and these apps will help you uplevel your game especially if you are new on Instagram and are still learning its algorithm. 


Find me on Instagram at My blog, coffee and camera! if you are really interested in my content. I am always interested in mutual support and engagement.

Read also 7 Instagram Post Ideas


Posted by at 1:46 AM 4 comments
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Sunday, March 15, 2020

7 Instagram Post Ideas (part 1)

I am an amateur photographer thus you can guess that Instagram is my favorite social media platform. One of the best ways to grow your Instagram community is by posting consistently (never forget about the stories).

 Instagram is the only place where I have succeeded in being consistent and I try my best to post at least once daily. 

 However, it's not always easy to get posting ideas for an introvert like me who doesn't usually go out much but I almost always manage to keep up with my commitment and stay active on Instagram.
7 Instagram Post Ideas

 I am not a pro but I would like to share with my tips on how to create consistent, interesting and insightful content on Instagram all the time.

 So, here are 7 Instagram Post Ideas for beginners or those who run out of ideas and get a writer's block.

1. Inspirational Quote

Choose a quote that can relate to you, to your current mood and can let you talk to your audience and share with your experience. 

 Never underestimate the importance of captions. I used to think that Instagram is a visual space so no one cares to read your captions. But I was wrong. People are curious to know the story behind each picture and this leads to more engagement and connection.

 2.  Flatlay photo

Flatlay photos are one of the gems of Instagram. Share with your favorite beauty, self-care, makeup products, your favorite collections, tools. 

 Tell your audience where you got them, their price, why you love them and tag the brands hoping to get a collaboration offer from them:)

 3.  Selfie

Instagram is the only place where you will be excused for posting selfies. Use selfie posts for introducing yourself to your new followers, share some little-known facts from your life that might interest them, let them guess which facts are true and which are wrong. 

 Use the beautiful filters not to spend tons of time getting ready for a selfie:)

 4. Weekly /Monthly Post

Have repetitive posts that you post regularly. I have a post at the beginning of each month saying "Hello...". In these posts, I usually talk about my monthly goals, achievements, hopes, and plans.

I also post whenever I reach a milestone to thank my followers and share with some Instagram tips or hacks or even host a giveaway.
You can have Coffee Mondays, Wordless Wednesdays, Follow Fridays, Social Saturdays. It depends on your niche(s).

 5. Throwback

As your followers grow day by day it's a good idea to throw an old post back that you think should deserve another exposure. 
These may be seasonal posts that might interest your audience at the right moment. 
Revive your old posts with new graphics to pin on Pinterest, add some backlinks and then share with your audience.

 6. Food

My Instagram insights show that one of my popular posts are food-related. Instagram just loves food. 

 Did you try, cook or taste something new and beautiful? Don't touch it until you have taken a shot. 

 Share with your favorite breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

 Have an easy recipe? Post about it.  

 When eating out, try to order something original, something you have never tasted, review the restaurant and the food and share your experience with your followers.

 7. And finally, Signature Photo

What is your Instagram account known for? What does your bio say about you? Mine is definitely coffee, then photography and introversion. So at least once per week, I make it my duty to post a styled coffee photo, usually accompanied by a quote.


Instagram can be a hard platform to grow, there will be days you will feel like giving up unless you keep in mind the 3 P's for Success: Passion, Patience, Perseverance.
Do it with passion, don't expect overnight success, make mistakes but still keep improving.

 Help or Inspire!


If you liked my post, feel free to like, comment or share it.

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