The Best Apps to Market Your Business on Instagram

What current apps are the best to run an online business on Instagram?

​by Ashley Han 

Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are growing to become popular for online business owners. To be successful in marketing towards the right audience, many online business owners use certain apps to edit photos and create the right brand or vibe they want their business to be seen as. Here are three best apps that will help you to create the right brand for your audience! 

1. Lightroom (free)
   Lightroom is an app that is stemmed from the Adobe programs that can be used through a desktop or a mobile app. The app itself will be free of charge, but when purchasing different presets, or some may call it filters it may cost you money. I purchased all of my presets Etsy to match a certain brand for the online clothing boutique I intern for. Since their theme is golden honey with hints of pink, I learned to find a preset that will lean towards those color palettes. My favorite preset at the moment is the wonderland. Each preset comes with an easy to download the instruction manual and you can instantly edit your photos to how you want your color palette or brand to be. CSULB offers the whole Adobe creative cloud package deal on a student discount, so I suggest you take on the offer as soon as possible! 
   
2. Canva (free or $12.95 for Pro)
   If you’ve ever wondered how many businesses make their flyers, business cards, logos, or even infographics, it’s probably through the app Canva. Just like Lightroom, Canva could from a desktop or mobile app. It is free to use, but with a Canva Pro upgrade, you can access more templates and different editing keys than regular Canva. I use Canva for just about anything from presentations to creating a header for my business’ Facebook page it is the best app to get creative on for strategic marketing communications. This app is easy to use because it will go through all of the editing options when you first sign up. It also gives you a lot of options to choose the right color palette for your brand. The best thing about Canva is that you can create a team, which means a folder that you and your creative team can access to design and share your work.
   
   3. PicsArt (free or $8.00 for Gold)
   My favorite app to edit my photos on is PicsArt. PicsArt can be used through a mobile app and online desktop and the Gold membership is $8 a month! Scrolling through my social media feed, I learned that many businesses edit their photos on PicsArt to get creative and stand out from the other businesses. There is an editing option called replay, which lets you replay an edit that someone else has done onto your photo. I love the interaction between you and someone random who has the same taste in editing as you! The logo above is a photo of my internship at Kaje Boutique edited by the application of Picsart.