7 Must-Have Tools for Instagram Influencers to Become More Influential
Back in 2010, when Kevin Systrom launched a photo sharing app called Instagram, no one could have predicted this platform would reshape word-of-mouth marketing. As one of the fastest-growing platforms, it has reached 2 billion monthly active users and an average user spends 53 minutes a day in-app.
Today, Instagram has over 500,000 active influencers, making it the most popular social media channel for influencer campaigns.
From nano-influencers with a small following to celebrity opinion leaders with a multi-million army of fans, Instagram influencers come in all sizes, shapes, and niches. And it's no secret that these opinion leaders seek out all possible ways to grow their influence on social media.
Why Do Instagram Influencers Want to Become More Influential?
As an influencer, no matter how many followers you have, you want to increase your social media influence, right? There are several reasons why Instagram influencers want to become more influential.
- Grow a social media audience: Once you become more influential on Instagram, your followers are more likely to spread the word about your profile among their friends and therefore you can get more loyal followers who show interest in you. The more followers you have, the more collaboration options you can get and therefore the more income you can expect, too.
- Make more money on Instagram: Being influential on social media means having higher engagement rates. Since brands want to collaborate with influencers whose following pay close attention to their recommendations, influential users have more chances to make more money on Instagram.
- Stand out in a crowd: With a growing number of users who want to become an Instagram influencer, it's important to find new creative ways to stand out in a crowd. When you have an influence on your social media followers, you can hook their attention, leaving behind other competitors who target the same audience on the platform.
With a wide array of apps that help to create content and manage your social media presence, there are 7 must-have tools for Instagram influencers to become more influential.
Who else wants to become more influential? Lay a bet on must-have tools!
1. Hy.page
Purpose: add multiple Instagram bio links
Price: free & paid plans (from $19/mo)
For Instagram influencers, the platform has become a visit card that tells followers about the opinion leader's niche, hobbies, business, collaborations, and so on. Instagram bio is the first thing your followers see when visiting your account, so it's no wonder that influencers want to make the most out of a clickable link.
With Hy.Page, creators get a chance to create an eye-catching landing page that includes all links you want to promote–other social media platforms, your website, digital products, or any other URL.
Check out how one Instagram influencer uses Hy.Page link in bio tool to create his unique landing page that redirects to other domains from Instagram:
When visitors take a look at the bio section, they can see the URL that contains the influencer's name which makes it custom and hints at what people can expect to get after clicking on it. And when interested followers tap on a link, they get redirected to the separate landing page where the influencer shares all useful information in the form of links: other social media profiles, his website, quick access to the business page, etc.
2. Videoleap
Purpose: create and edit Instagram videos
Price: free and in-app purchases
With the rise of Instagram videos, when practically every influencer creates Stories, Reels, and IGTV videos, the demand for video creation tools has grown, too. Luckily, you can rely on Videoleap by Lightricks (iOS/Android), a video editing and sharing platform with movie editing tools, video special effects, and sound editing.
The best part for influencers is the possibility to connect with other creators and use their trendy video templates or share your creativity with the community through an inspiration-filled social feed. Here's an example of an Instagram Reel made with Videoleap.
3. Spark AR Studio
Purpose: make Instagram Story filters
Price: free
Having a limited lifespan of 24 hours, Instagram Stories create a sense of urgency and take the world by storm. What is more, AR filters increase engagement and it's no wonder that influencers want to create their filters that help to show off their creativity and attract more Instagram followers.
Now all users can take a look at ready-to-use templates, customize them, and create their effects for posts, Reels, or Stories with Spark AR Hub. Since practically every user experiments with AR filters, unique effects give an influencer the possibility to reach a wider audience of potential followers and increase influence.
The best thing about creating AR filters for influencers is the ability to spread the word about your personality without shoutouts. How? Each AR filter contains information about its creator and it also helps interested users tap on the name and check out other filters made by the same person or the creator's profile. That's all about more influence.
4. Shoutcart
Purpose: find brand collaborations
Price: free and paid plans (from $49/mo)
One of the most effective monetization tactics for influencers of all sizes and niches is paid brand collaborations. All opinion leaders want to get more brand collaborations to endorse someone's products and therefore get paid.
Having a solid following, brands are more likely to offer collaboration. But small influencers should stay active to find brands for collaborations. With Shoutcart, influencers have an opportunity to get in touch with brands and sell their services or shoutouts. Take a look at the influencer endorsement one opinion leader got with Shoutcart:
If you're quite popular in the niche, it doesn't take much time or effort to get collaboration offers from brands of all sizes and niches. But sometimes you need to use a tool like Shoutcart to get in touch with interested brands who have never heard about your Instagram blog before.
5. Previagram
Purpose: plan a cohesive Instagram feed
Price: free
Instagram has a focus on visual content like photos and videos, so it's no wonder that the majority of its users are visual learners who receive information better through images. These people pay close attention to visual content, so Instagram influencers should invest effort and time into creating eye-catching feeds, just like in the example below.
When an influencer makes stunning visuals and turns them into a cohesive feed, it helps to grab the attention of their followers and grow their interest. Thus, Previagram can be handy. This tool allows users to upload visuals, preview your feed, and plan it.
6. Fameswap
Purpose: sell your established Instagram account
Price: free & premium plans ($50/mo)
Once you've created an established following of loyal fans, it's more likely that you have enough experience to attract more followers for other accounts. That's why some Instagram influencers are interested in selling their profiles to other small businesses or personal brands that want to have an engaged following.
Fameswap is a marketplace for influencers to share information about their established accounts and find interested people who want to buy them. It allows users to add information about the niche, following size, and engagement rate to get in touch with relevant buyers.
7. eclincher
Purpose: manage social media profiles with ease
Price: from $65/mo
The more social media followers you have, the harder it gets to manage your profile as you can get more direct messages, tags, and comments from your fans or brands that hope for your attention. It's no wonder that brands use social media management platforms, but Instagram influencers can also make the most out of platforms like eclincher.
From in-depth analytics to smart inbox and approval workflows, eclincher helps to manage your profile with ease. Not only can you understand what content works best for your audience, but you can also make communication with your fans and collaborators faster and easier. The best part? The tool offers a 14-day free trial!
In a Word
As the preferred social media channel for influencer campaigns, Instagram has high competition among opinion leaders who want to interact with fans on the platform. Being an Instagram influencer means dealing with a great number of tasks, but there are several must-have tools for Instagram influencers to make this process easier and become more influential.