11 Must-Have Applications To Improve Your Instagram Workflow
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Managing an Instagram account can be time consuming if you do not have a workflow setup. I still remember when I got started spending hours thinking about a caption, what hashtags to use and when to post to get the best results. This was before business accounts were created. Of course, your workflow may be different depending on the kind of goals you wish to achieve with your account. In this article I will share with you my workflow and the apps I use and recommend in order to create and publish your content on a daily basis.
Shooting photos
I shoot all my photos in RAW format. This is a format that allows to capture as much information possible from any photos I take and gives me more room to edit my photos later without damaging them. I mainly use 2 applications which are Lightroom CC and Moment app.
Lightroom CC has a camera feature that allows you to capture your photos in RAW format.
All you need to do is tap on the camera icon and select the format DNG. It is a patented, open, lossless raw image format developed by Adobe and used for digital photography
And the other application is Moment App. It is the best application in my opinion to shoot photos using the manual mode like on a DSLR camera. And they give you the option to shoot your photos in the RAW format too.
Editing and Sorting photos
In order to sort my photos I use the application Photos on iOS. I’d spend the time after every shoot to keep the photos I Iike and delete the one I don’t. Then I’d upload the photos in Lightroom CC and apply one of my Lightroom Presets to edit my photos faster. If you’d like to learn how to edit your photos in one click using Lightroom Presets, click here to read the article I wrote about it.
Once all my photos are edited in Lightroom, I export them in my photos gallery and create an album to put them all together.
Planning my feed and posting
I’d then use an application like Later or Preview to upload my photos and have a preview of what my photos would look like in my feed. It is as easy as a drag and drop until you are happy with the results.
The other benefits of those apps is that you can schedule your content in advance. And if you own an Instagram business account you can select the option to auto-publish your posts at your desired time, which is great when you are traveling and do not have access to Internet.
If you are interested in using those apps, you can use them for free if you are planning up to 30 posts per month. If you are planning to publish more posts, then you will need to pay for a subscription.
Finding Hashtags
There are many ways to find hashtags. But to be short, there are 2 options I use the most:
I either do it manually within the app and find similar hashtags to the one I look for like I describe it in my Ultimate Instagram Hashtag Guide.
Or I use an online tool like Flick to find the most relevant hashtags for my posts. This online tool finds you quality hashtags in a matter of minutes and uncover which hashtags are performing best on your posts. This will help you drive more impressions, profile views and follows from untapped audiences. This online tool will save you time when it comes to putting your content in front of the right people on Instagram. You can get a 7-day free trial by clicking here if you would like to test it yourself.
Up to you to find what works the best for you. But remember that when it comes to using hashtags, it is all a matter of trial and errors until you find the successful formula.
Creating Instagram stories
Now it is a necessity to be creating at least one story when publishing a feed post. I share with you all the benefits of using Instagram stories for your business in this article. And if you have no creative skills, fear not, there are some apps that can help you do the job.
I personally use the following applications for my Instagram stories:
Canva or Unfold to design a specific look to my Instagram stories pages. These apps offer templates in which you just need to upload your photos and add some text before publishing.
Mojo is a great app offering a large set of animated templates for every niche: Travel, Fashion, Photography, Online shop, etc.. Their template will increase your stories production value. And all you need to do is insert your photo or video to one of their templates.
Before/After on iOS if you are a photographer is a great app to show the results of your edit. The tip using this app is to add your before and after photos. Then record your screen and slide your finger across the phone screen to move the slider to show the edit effect. This is an application I started to use recently and I love how simple it is and that it is FREE!
The purpose of these apps is to make your Instagram workflow as simple as possible.
I have worked with Instagram since 2015 and my goal is to reduce the amount of time I spend on the platform other than engaging with people I follow or answering DMs and comments.
Automating the posting part helps me to keep my focus on what I enjoy doing the most which is to go out, take photos and edit them.
From a business perspective, having a content calendar and scheduling your content in advance not only will save you time but will also help you gain more exposure and visits to your account.
The more regularly you post, the more your posts will be shown to your engaged followers. The more engagement you get on your post, the more chances you get to be ranked among the top 9 photos of a hashtag. And therefore, have more people discover you and start following you if they enjoy your content.
SIMPLE!
I hope that you found this workflow helpful and that you will be able to take some ideas to apply for your own Instagram workflow.
If you find all of this confusing and would like to have a step by step guide, I invite you to my 7-day Insta4success bootcamp where I show you how you can set your Instagram account for success and automate your workflow.
As always, if you liked this post, do not hesitate to like it, it actually makes a difference. And if you know anyone that could benefit from reading this article, do not hesitate to share it with them.
