I’ve used some productivity apps both for social media post planning and blogging, and the best one so far is Plann.
I have been following Plann for a while now. I came across their blog months ago when I searched for Instagram tips online. Visually, I thought their site is impressive. I didn’t mind clicking from one post to another because the design is eyeful. Also, Plann’s articles are written by people who really know what they’re talking about. So, after reading a few contents, I was hooked.
On Plann’s blog site, I learned useful tips about content creation, how to gain more followers, and other practical tips like “how to promote on Instagram without annoying people” or how Instagram pods affect your account engagement.
I followed Plann’s Instagram account to see how they apply what they share on their blog. Consequently, I saw how they strategically applied ideas about storytelling and more into their own Instagram feed:
Plann has instructional materials I found really helpful such as their 10 Minute Masterclass Video Series. These ten videos in 10 minutes are value-packed video series that helps you “refresh and refocus for Instagram growth”. The videos are relatable, easy to watch, and direct to the point.
After a few days of stalking their blog and IG account, I decided to try Plann Mobile App. I haven’t stopped using this app since to schedule my IG posts and curate my feed. It’s got all I need: intuitive tools to create seamless grids, strategic post planning, and image editor.
But in my mind, I thought it would be most convenient if I could access this app on my desktop as I am usually in front of my desktop…
So when Plann Desktop was finally launched this week, the productivity nerd in me felt the need to try it. I’ve been using it for 2 days now and have been generally impressed and grateful for its presence. I want to talk about the three things that Plann Desktop does extremely well and maybe help you decide whether it would be useful for you too.
Here are three best things about Plann
1. Convenience
As I have said, I am always using my desktop and a desktop Instagram scheduler is handy. Most of my photos come from my desktop anyway!
With Plann, I am a few clicks away from setting up my weeklong IG feed and I could conveniently type captions, manage hashtags, drag and drop images with my keyboard.
It is also convenient to learn how to grow and post effectively on Instagram with Plann. It explains the secret to Instagram:
Instagram is not an online portfolio, it’s a community building and story telling machine. By telling your brand story, you’ll create advocates and humanise your brand quickly and effectively.
Why Storytelling?
Storytelling (or ‘story-selling’ as we like to call it!) helps your audience fall in love with your brand faster. Telling a story creates authenticity, trust and invites an audience to engage with you – all without feeling like you’re selling. ~Plann
There are different ways to curate your Instagram posts. Plann discusses it well:
>Behind The Scenes
People buy from people! Showing your brand as human with real dreams, visions and aspirations and your motivations behind why you wake up everyday makes you much more relatable.
Examples include: sharing what you’re working on, your workspace, your morning routine, product development, what you do in your downtime or taking us behind the scenes at an event.
>Education
Teaching your audience something or sharing something you’ve learned is how to raise your profile, your credibility and authority in your space. Giving someone bite-sized, helpful pieces of information makes you memorable when they have those exact problems you have explained you can solve.
Examples include: a tutorial, sharing something you’ve recently found you don’t think others don’t know about, sharing results of something you’ve been testing, new apps you’ve found.
>Product
Add a shot of your product, just remember to tie it in with the lifestyle you’re selling.
>Testimonial
Share with the world the great things other people are saying about working with you!
Examples include: Use Plann to create a ‘quote’ image, or share an image of the person singing your song and include their lovely thoughts in the caption – and of course – how someone can get in touch with you if they’d also like
>Community
Posting images from other members of your community, sharing a win of someone else, or speaking specifically to a group of people (usually by showing vulnerability) are used to create a community vibe.
Examples include: sharing something you’re struggling with, something you’ve observed, asking for help, reposting someone from your community, sharing a win with your followers and talking vulnerably and truthfully.
>Inspiration
This is the most popular of all Instagram posts. Inspirational posts prompt an emotional response from audiences, providing them with the tools to ‘imagine’ if they had your product, service or taking a break with your delicious hot coffee.
Examples include: Decide on the ‘lifestyle’ of your brand. Are you Boho, Luxe or Cheap’n cheerful?
>Quote
Create quotes and wonderful words of wisdom to share with your audience.
(Source: Plann)
2. Features
Plann Features to love:
- Media Management
Plann is a clever drag-and-drop workspace. With it, you can create custom media collections and stay focused on top of your content plan.
- Post and Story Scheduling
This feature is very important to me as I intend to do “well-thought” planning. I admire Instagram accounts that are curated beautifully—those that evoke a sense of creativity and love from their output so thanks to Plann, I can seamlessly arrange (and re-arrange) my Instagram profile with a beautifully simple drag & drop scheduling workspace.
- Plan with team members
If you are a business with team, you can share the social media load with a team to help manage, schedule, caption and post to Instagram together.
- Advanced Analytics
You can master your key marketing metrics with Plann’s advanced Instagram analytics. With the information such as the ones you see from the photo above, you can discover your fastest path to success.
- HASHTAG Management
One of the best features of this software is the hashtag management. With this, you can create sets of hashtags and learn which tags can give you the best reach, have them ready at crucial posting times.
You can also click the hashtag help button to learn the following things:
1. Use 30 hashtags, yes, 30 hashtags.
2. Hashtags with high mentions (for example, over 1M+ uses) are very very difficult to be noticed in. Plann has made it easier to find hashtags to use by coding them in different colours to help you find the best fit for you:
- 1M+ MENTIONS – ORANGE
Using a hashtag with over 1M mentions will be hard to get noticed unless your engagement rate is spectacular to land you in the top 9 grid!
- 500,000+ MENTIONS – DEEP SEA BLUE
- A competitive space but with great content and great engagement you’ll get good traction here.
- 250,000+ MENTIONS – OLIVE GREEN
- With great content you’ll get targeted interaction in a hashtag of this size!
- -250,000 MENTIONS – SKY BLUE
- Use smaller tags (even below 50k!) for pointy, targeted niches that could see your content being seen over a few days – rather than a few hours!
Plann doesn’t only tell you the statistics, but also recommends using hashtags that have between 250k – 750k. The better your engagement when you post, the higher your chances of ranking in the ’Top 9’ for that hashtag.
- Image editor
With this feature, you can create a standout grid with stunning image filters, overlays, borders and text overlay tools all in one beautiful place.
- Custom Strategy Creation
Create your own posting strategy with themes to tell your story, or be guided by Plann to learn what keeps your audience coming back.
- Calendar View
With this feature, it is easy to review entire weeks, or months as a calendar– have a look at your organised/ scheduled posts and stay on track of a productive schedule.
3. Cost
When it comes to convenience and affordability, Plann is one of the best Instagram post organizers around. It’s currently priced at 0USD to 7USD per month for single accounts, which means you can use it for free. It also means it is a good deal if you’ve been worried about which Instagram app to try first.
Similarly, paying the 7USD monthly fee for an upgraded account doesn’t hurt especially when you consider the benefits that you’ll get out of it.
Download Plann Desktop
Download your desktop now, you can have a week trial for free:
[CLICK to Download Plann Desktop]
Parting Words
Plann is a powerful tool to help you grow your Instagram with convenient clicks and reads both on your mobile device and desktop. It has effective features that are dedicated to helping you increase followers, get your brand discovered, optimize your posts for engagement, and maximize your reach. Upgrading your Plann account is definitely not throwing USD7 to the wind.
