If you’re an entrepreneur, business owner, writer or an overall creative I’m sure you are starting to realize that social media has become one of the number one places to go for marketing purposes, especially Instagram. Depending on the content, number of followers and your overall consistency, it can even become a money maker for some. One day my goal will include receiving earnings for my content but right now my goal has been to build an audience that enjoys the content I create and aren’t just looking for a follow back.

As a new author, business owner and blogger, I was stuck on how I could grow my audience. I went from page to page hoping to get an idea for my own but I didn’t want my page to look like everyone else’s, it still had to be a representation of ME. For months I posted and deleted everything off my page until I finally came across a layout I was proud to look at. Being a social media manager for a few months also motivated me to get my shit together. Why was I able to grow an audience for someone else’s social media pages and not mine? Why was I putting so much work into another’s content and not mine. Little did I know, all it was going to take was a few extra tools (apps) to get the ball rolling.

With that said, here are 5 apps I think you should download immediately if you’re looking to be seen:

CANVA

Canva is my absolute favorite app and is perfect for content creation. You can create content across all social media platforms including, IG, FB, Pinterest and more. It’ll even allow you to create your own flyers, book covers and those media kits to pass out at events. It’s literally a one stop shop and best of all it’s FREE. Of course it you want more of the advanced features you’ll have to pay, but take it from when I say it’s worth it. Here’s the author bio I created with it:

LINKTREE

You know how Instagram only let’s you put one link in your bio? Thanks to Linktree you’re able to use one link that sends you to every website you own. I have about 5 links in my tree. I was tired of having to switch my links around whenever I wanted to promote a book, blog post or clothing.

UNSPLASH

Finally a place with completely free photos you can use for those blog post, stories and more. Usually you have to pay for professional photos or you’re stuck dealing with watermarks. Not with Unsplash! Not only are you able to use these beautiful, high-res photos but you can also contribute your own work. There’s also the option to give the photographer credit. It’s not required but I’m sure the artist would appreciate it. Here’s an example:

UNFOLD

Another favorite of mine is Unfold. I use this app to create Stories on IG and Facebook. Most of the layouts are free but if you’r looking for more options you can purchase packs of templates for as low as .099c

DISPLAY PURPOSES

This app I love because it helps you with those hashtags. Sometimes I have no clue what to tag under my post that relates to the content. Sure I have my go to #hashtags but sometimes it’s good to switch it up. It’ll get you’re work out there to a wider audience interested in what you are promoting, whether that be apparel, books or motivational quotes. Type in one or more hashtags into the search and the most relevant will appear. You can limit the amount of tags you’d like to use. Here’s what it looks like:

What tools do you enjoy using to create content/promote yourself?