I love free stuff. So today we’re going to talk about some free apps that have great reviews from marketing professionals and will really help you grow your Instagram platform.

Instagram is a great platform if you’re trying to reach an audience under the age of 30. In particular, Instagram Stories get a ton of interaction. But your pictures have to be good, your information has to be solid and you have to be consistent, so the following are all apps that will really help you do that.

Planoly

This is one of my favorite apps that we use all the time. Planoly allows you to schedule all your posts and stories for Instagram. We work for multiple people, so this app allows us to line up a client’s posts and stories so they can go in and take a look at everything beforehand. Scheduled posts will drop automatically, and you’ll receive reminders for stories. Once I was at a traffic light, pushed two buttons and posted a story through Planoly in a couple seconds. That’s just super helpful.

The best thing about this app to me is that you can see your whole grid at once. If you’re in any kind of visual field – a realtor, a wedding planner, a food retailer – your pictures have to go together to create a flow. Planoly allows you to really see how everything looks before you post, which is great.

Regrammer

This is a reposting app, which is great for sharing user-generated content on your page. Regrammer lets the original poster know that you’re sharing it and tags them in your post to make sure they get credit. I love it.

This is especially helpful if you want to share customers’ results, reviews or testamonials from your services, or even if you want someone to share your content. Regrammer is ranked one of the best reposting apps available.

Canva

This is one you have probably heard of before. For those who aren’t familiar with the app, Canva has Instagram-sized templates for both posts and stories.

Especially for stories, you don’t want to post the same thing over and over, but these templates allow you to switch out fonts or graphics or background colors while maintaining that branded look. Then, of course, it allows you to add your logo, which is always good to do.

Layout

Layout does exactly what you would expect based on its name. This app allows you to create multi-picture layouts and collages with up to nine images.

So you could go into Canva and make your graphics look exactly the way you want them, or create text for a sign and then put it into your layout with your images. It’s also a great way to do multiples or before and after posts.

InShot

InShot is a user-friendly video editing app. It allows you to add music, text, effects, voice over and emojis to your videos. You can also use InShot to add stickers or filters to your photos really quickly.

So if I have a photo to show to a customer or I need to point something out, I can take a quick screenshot, add a sticker or arrow, and point out exactly what I need – fast and free. I can usually do it quickly enough you wouldn’t even notice I’m using an app on my phone.

Hyperlapse

I love Hyperlapse video. I’ve literally watched paint dry because it was sped up on Hyperlapse. If you do the same thing for longer than a few seconds it gets boring, but if you use Hyperlapse to speed up just about anything, it instantly becomes fascinating.

If you want to show a behind-the-scenes video, Hyperlapse will allow you to take a time-lapse video that condenses five or so minutes into 30 seconds. More people will watch a 30-second, time-lapse video than a standard, 5-minute video.

Hype Type

Hype Type allows you to create animated text that you can then put over videos or photos. I had someone recently ask how we get flashing arrows and effects on our stories. There are some stickers already on the Instagram app, but Hype Type gives you a little more freedom to type in what you want and gives it that more animated movement.

On Instagram it sometimes comes down to the shiny object syndrome – if it’s moving or it’s bright or it makes noise, people will look at it more and they’ll look at it longer. You want to make sure you’re getting their attention.

Hashtag Expert

This app allows you to do some research on hashtags. It suggests hashtags based on your topic and gives you a chance to see what works and doesn’t work.

If you aren’t using hashtags on Instagram, you are truly missing the boat. Your engagement will increase tremendously if you just use the right hashtags. You do want to make sure you’re researching all your hashtags first, because they’re not all user-friendly or something you’d want your kid to see. Double check them to make sure they don’t have some other meaning.