Top 5 Apps to Curate a Perfect Instagram Feed

Your Instagram feed speaks for your brand. 

Did you know that the aesthetic of your feed might determine whether a visitor will become a follower or not?

You need to curate your Instagram feed and have a strategy with your content to stand out as a brand. You don’t need to hire a professional to curate your Instagram feed. Some apps can help you develop your feed’s aesthetic.

In this article, we will analyze the top 5 apps to curate a perfect Instagram feed.

But first…

What to Look for While Choosing an App to Curate your Instagram Feed

With a variety of apps to choose from, you will need to have adequate information about each app before you make a decision.

Here are a few pointers to look at when choosing an app.

• Ease of use. You will need a beginner-friendly app whose interface is simple for you to understand especially if you are not tech-savvy.
• Budget-friendly. Most of these apps have a free version that you can begin with before hopping to the premium version.
• Versatility. It would be wiser to pick an app that can do more than one thing. Consider an app that has more feature functionality. 
• Accessibility on devices. Consider picking apps that can be accessed on the web, on your desktop and on your mobile devices.

Types of Apps You Need to Curate your Instagram Feed

To curate your Instagram feed, you will need different apps for different functions. Some of the app’s functionalities to look out for are:

• Social media scheduling. If you already have a content strategy for your feed, it is advisable to schedule your posts to ensure you don’t miss out on important content.
• Content planning. You can’t have a content strategy and fail to plan on how to execute it. Here’s where a content planning app is needed.
• Visual planning. Instagram being a more visual app means that the apps required to curate it have to support more visual content.
• Photo editing. Before you schedule or post content, you need to edit it. 
• Captioning. Thinking about what caption to write for your post can be frustrating. You can use an app to generate captions for your posts and save yourself some time and pressure.
• Video creation and editing. Video marketing stats indicate that demand for video content is on the rise and as a brand, you need to have some video content in your feed. 
• Analytics review. You should always be in the know of how your brand is performing in terms of engagement and conversions to know where to improve on.

Always try to find an app that’s all-in-one.

Advantages of Using an App to Curate your Instagram Feed

• Saves you time. A social media scheduling app, for example, will help you plan out content for a certain period instead of struggling to create content for every day.
• Saves you money. To achieve a well-curated Instagram feed you would need to hire a graphic designer, a video editor, a photo editor, and other professionals. But with an app, you can save on that. With a few tutorials on the apps, you can easily curate your Instagram feed.
• Knowledge that you can offer as a service. Having to learn how to use an app can make you a professional at that art. For example, learning how to edit videos for your Instagram feed can make you a professional video editor, a service you can provide for other brands.

Prerequisite Information You Need To Know Before Using an App to Curate your Instagram Feed

• Pricing. You need to know how much it will cost you to purchase the premium version of the app. You also need to find out how long you can access the free version before you are required to upgrade.
• Functionality. Find out the features and functions an app has before purchasing and how much value it will provide for your brand.
• Versions. Some apps have both a free version and a premium version while others have no free version. If you’d like first to try out an app before committing yourself, choose the free version apps.
• Devices you’ll need. Some apps cannot be accessed on mobile phone devices. Some can be accessed but there are limitations. To use some apps you will need to have access to the desktop version.

Let’s take a look at some of the apps you can use to achieve the perfectly curated Instagram feed.

The Top 5 Apps to Curate Your Instagram Feed in 2021

The following apps have been selected because of their versatility, usability, and functionality. Most of these apps have a free version you can start with before upgrading to their premium version.

1. Later

Later is one popular social media scheduler. It focuses more on visuals just like Instagram. It also allows you to post on your other social media channels.

It is versatile in terms of its functionality. A popular quality of Later is its media library. It allows you to get content from various sources, drag and drop it in your feed. It also has an option where hashtags are suggested.

Their email newsletter is very informational to keep you up-to-date with any trends.

Pros:

• It has a well-organized user interface, making it very easy to use.
• That you can easily add your other social media accounts with ease is a plus.
•  It has a preview option that lets you have a better idea of how your posts would look like 

Cons:

• Though it’s the best for visual social sites such as Instagram and Pinterest, it is a little less practical when it comes to textual social sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
•  Sometimes resizing and adjusting image sizes to fit the specifications that Later requires can be frustrating since there is no editing option in the media library.

2. Planoly

To achieve a well-curated Instagram feed, you will need a feed planning app. Planoly executes this role diligently. 

Having features like a content calender, hashtag groups, discover feature among others makes it a pretty user-friendly app.

If you have a strategy for your brand, this could be the app you need. It will help you plan out your grid, analyze your Instagram engagement and schedule your posts. All this in one app.

It allows you to post from your phone and your desktop site. 

To top it all, Planoly has an official partnership with Instagram.

Pros:

• You can upload an image or write a caption from your desktop since you can access it on the web.
• The hashtag grouping feature helps with following up on your strategy.
• Detailed analytics feature

Cons:

• On the free version, you can’t edit images.
• In general, the free version is too limiting. You have to upgrade sooner to get the best version of the app.

3. Preview

A simple to use visual-planner is what you need for a well-curated Instagram feed. Preview does that for you. You can use the Preview app to schedule posts, and as the name suggests, preview how your feed will turn out.

Unlike other apps, with Preview’s free version, you have unlimited posts. (majority of the others cap at 30 posts per month) 

Preview app is another hashtag management app for Instagram.

Pros:

• The simplistic and clear interface and the interactive features.
• The unlimited uploads for the free version.
• You can preview your work before posting.

Cons:

• After your post goes live, you will need to manually delete it from the grid.
• You also have to post manually, even though you’re notified on when to post, it would be nice if the posting was automatic.

4. Plann

Plann is an Instagram scheduling, analytics, and visual planning app. It has a simple to understand drag and drop characteristic. It provides analytics on data such as conversion rates, engagement, and growth of followers.

Its integration with Canva is a plus, especially for creative minds. You can create a new design from Canva in the Plann app.

Something unique about this app is that it has a competitor statistics tool that allows you to check on what others are doing and improve on your strategy.

Pros:

• You can enhance or edit your photos directly in the app.
• You have access to the premium version for 5 free days before deciding to commit.
• With one tap you can upload photos from your Dropbox or Google Drive.

Cons:

• There is no automatic posting. You have to manually post on Instagram.
• From your mobile phone app, you cannot access the media library.

4. Canva

You don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to come up with great designs for your Instagram. With Canva, you can edit your photos, get easy access to stock photos and create infographics. 

It has an array of templates to choose from with size specifications for social media. Available filters can help you choose a consistent theme/vibe for your Instagram feed.

As a brand, you will need Canva for curating branded images to post on your feed. Canva allows you to do so.

Pros:

• It is so simple to use. This is a preferred choice for non-designers.
• Saves you money that you’d have used to hire a graphic designer.
• The premade features save you the hassle.
• You can resize your images for Instagram right there on the app in the premium version.

Cons:

• Having premade templates means you can’t customize your graphics from scratch. You use the premade graphics.

Summary

Versatility and functionality are key while choosing an app. One that will give you more service all in one place. The different features for each app will appeal to different people in different ways.

From this review, the most versatile app for curating your Instagram feed would be Planoly.

It’s an all-in-one app in that, it is a social media scheduler, a content and visual planner and also has an analytics feature. It not only allows you to schedule for Instagram but also your other social media accounts.

Having a versatile app for curating your Instagram feed allows you to focus fully on one app and be a pro at it as opposed to having an array of apps doing different tasks and you being an amateur at all of them. 

It also saves you time. You can now achieve more in less time since you’re now a pro at using the tool.

Being in a partnership with Instagram and Pinterest shows it’s a brand to be trusted.

But we all have different preferences so ensure you check out each app first before making a decision.