Ig Automation
Instagram Automation: What It Is and How to Do It Right
Is Instagram automation even possible anymore?
Depends on who you ask.
Sure, everyone is looking to grow their social presence ASAP. This is especially true on Instagram where getting authentic followers is a serious commitment.
And so marketers, brands and businesses alike turn to Instagram automation tools to speed up the process.
However, there’s a huge gulf between legit tools to grow your account versus bots that spam your followers.
That’s why we put together this guide on the best practices of Instagram automation and what makes sense for your brand.
What is Instagram automation, anyway?
Instagram automation represents the use of third-party software to manage your account, carry out tasks and/or interact with users without a human present.
Simply put, Instagram automation tools can be put into two buckets:
Services such that effectively “take control” of your front-facing interactions with users such as likes and comments
Tools that automate Instagram behind the scenes, taking care of tasks such as publishing, reporting and analytics
Let’s talk about the first category, well, first.
Chances are you’ve encountered an Instagram bot in the wild. If you’ve ever dealt with comment spam, mysterious views on your Stories or phantom followers that disappear out of nowhere, you can probably chalk it up to bot activity.
If putting your Instagram interactions on autopilot seems risky or spammy, you’re right.
Instagram has been on the warpath against “inauthentic activity” for years now. They’ve also taken measures to shut down Instagram automation tools and bots that violate their best practices (like when they shut down Instagress back in 2017).
Sad news to all of you who fell in love with Instagress: by request of Instagram we’ve closed our web-service that helped you so much.
— Instagress (@instagress) April 20, 2017
Keep in mind that while Instagram automation often gets a bad reputation, not all tools are spammy.
That leads us to the second category of social media automation tools which largely deal with your account’s backend.
From automating posts to publish when your followers are most active to uncovering hashtags to expand your reach, you can absolutely automate pieces of your Instagram account without worrying about spam or a strike from the platform itself.
What actions can be automated on Instagram?
Good question!
Below is a snapshot of what’s possible via Instagram automation (and what you should and shouldn’t do):
Likes
With care, Likes are arguably the safest front-facing interaction with followers to automate on Instagram.
Why? Because Instagram Likes are the platform’s universal form of acknowledgment.
Think about it. If you’re using a personal account, you might drop a Like on something without actually, you know, liking the content itself (think: a business closing, a serious announcement, etc). Brands oftentimes Like comments and questions from customers (whether they’re positive or not).
Automating Likes allows you to acknowledge more accounts and get your Instagram in front of more followers. That said, Likes represent low-effort interactions and probably aren’t going to result in much traction to your account on their own.
Comments
Conventional wisdom tells us that automating comments on Instagram is a bad idea.
Period. Full-stop. No questions asked.
From potentially inappropriate comments (think: an emoji train on a tragic post) to interacting with people who have no idea who you are, automated comments are the very definition of spam.
This is exactly why Instagram has processes in place to block suspicious activity such as auto-comments.
Why do people bother automating comments, then? In theory, more frequent interactions such as “Likes” and comments spell good news to the Instagram algorithm.
The reality, though? Automating such interactions is a surefire way to get reported and blocked.
Note: it is possible to queue up and automate replies to followers without spamming them. Case-in-point, saving suggested replies to common comments and concerns which you can store and publish without having to write them manually when someone interacts with your account.
Find Followers
Perhaps one of the most proactive uses of Instagram automation tools is discovering who to follow.
For example, some tools have the ability to analyze accounts and hashtags to uncover accounts relevant to your target audience. Without actually having to worry about interactions or dig through hashtags yourself, doing so can be a safe time-saver.
Follows (and unfollows)
The concept behind automating follows is simple: the more people you follow, the more followers you can earn yourself. Automation tools oftentimes have features that allow for automatic unfollows to help accounts retain a better follower-to-followed ratio.
In turn, the spread of these types of tools has actually led to Instagram’s follower restriction. Here’s the lowdown from Instagram themselves:
To help reduce spam, Instagram doesn’t allow anyone to follow more than 7, 500 people.
Anyone who tries to follow more than 7, 500 people will see an error message, regardless of how many followers they have. Anyone who’s currently following more than 7, 500 people did so before this change was made.
Direct Messages (DMs)
Automated DMs are similar to automated comments in terms of being spammy. If you’re ever dealt with unsolicited DMs that wind up buried in your “Message Requests, ” chances are they’re from bots or automated accounts.
These types of automated messages are usually impersonal and will likely be ignored by readers.
Story Views
Similar to “Likes, ” Story views are a low-effort interaction that doesn’t do much to disrupt other users. That said, having seemingly random accounts look at your Stories can feel a bit stalkerish.
Again, this concept that somehow tricking people into looking at your account will result in engagement is totally wrong.
Scheduling and publishing
To keep up with the need to publish consistently on Instagram, automation can take care of queuing up and scheduling content. Features such as cross-posting from other social networks and optimized timing are particularly useful and widespread.
Reporting
Reporting and analytics can also be automated on Instagram. Rather than manually log your data in a spreadsheet, social analytics tools (like Sprout Social! ) can do the heavy lifting of pulling your numbers and seeing how they stack up against other social networks.
What are the pros and cons of Instagram automation?
Now, let’s look into the cases for and against automating pieces of your Instagram account.
Pro: save time on smaller, tedious tasks
This is obviously the big one. Growing an Instagram presence organically definitely requires a combination of time and strategizing.
Heck, just coming up with a content strategy in and of itself is a huge commitment before you even have to worry about interactions such as comments and customer service.
Automation tools can pick up some of the slack. As highlighted above, such tools can’t do everything but they can certainly trim down time spent on tedious tasks.
Con: Instagram’s isn’t a fan of automation “hacks”
As noted earlier, Instagram has a history of bringing down the hammer on tools that they consider spammy.
The platform obviously wants its users to engage authentically and organically. Instagram has its limits and penalties for tactics of anything they see as potentially gaming their algorithm. Here’s an example of those limits in place as highlighted by Instazood:
Pro: grow your follower count faster
Automation undoubtedly helps you boost your follower count. Simply spending time on the platform and interacting with accounts in any way, shape or form will set you up for more engagement by default.
Of course, the caveat here is whether or not those followers are actually interested in your content or products. If you’re getting all of your followers via automation, the answer is probably a resounding “no. ”
Con: poor automation looks super spammy
Give your audience credit: people can spot a bot at a glance.
Automating likes and comments is a recipe for a potential social media crisis. Especially now, brand accounts should emphasize human interactions and avoid anything that looks spammy.
Much like buying Instagram Likes isn’t a good look for brands, neither is trying to push inauthentic engagement.
Pro: uncover important insights about your audience
There’s no doubt that automation tools help you learn more about your target audience. From breaking down what hashtags people use to suggesting accounts to follow, bots do encourage you to take a deeper dive into your audience’s preferences. That’s definitely a positive.
Con: potentially miss out on important customer interactions
The more you automate on Instagram, the fewer opportunities you have to actually interact with followers and customers. You can’t possibly provide personalized service with purely automated interactions.
That’s why it makes more sense to automate aspects of your Instagram account that actually encourage you to spend more time with your followers, not less.
What are some legitimate examples of Instagram automation?
To wrap things up, let’s talk about some legitimate ways to use Instagram automation and a few examples using tools including Sprout. The following tactics will ultimately help you grow your account without having to worry about spam.
Scheduling based on when people are most active
With so much content floating around Instagram, anything you can do to reach followers when they’re most engaged is a plus.
Sprout’s ViralPost not only allows you to crosspost and queue up Instagram content but also publish it based on when your followers are most active.
This is a shining example of how automation and AI can help social marketers become more effective and efficient. Rather than wrack your brain over “when, ” our platform removes the guesswork.
Hashtag analytics to uncover new followers
Digging through Instagram hashtags on your own can be a time-sink. On the flip side, tools like Sprout can automatically analyze your account and followers to uncover hashtags relevant to your business.
In turn, you can use these tags to boost your content or discover potential customers faster.
Sourcing user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) such as customer photos represent awesome marketing materials for brands. Reaching out to users manually and requesting permission to use that content yourself, however, can be a lengthy process.
Tools such as Crowdriff boast features that include automated UGC detection and rights acquisition. This enables brands to collect and curate UGC minus time-consuming outreach.
Suggested replies for comments and DMs
As noted earlier, suggest replies and comments are a smart, spam-free alternative to automated ones. Using Sprout’s asset library, you can save and source frequent replies at a moment’s notice without looking like a bot.
Have a question you get asked all the time? Need a few general customer support messages you can use time and time again? Sprout makes storing such messages a cinch.
And with that, we wrap up our guide!
Are you using Instagram automation the right way?
There’s plenty to automate on Instagram, granted you let a human take the reins.
If you’re looking to speed up your Instagram growth via automation, your head is in the right place. After all, marketers should always look to add tools to their toolbox in order to engage with more customers.
Speaking of which, make sure you check out Sprout’s latest social media toolkit for tips, tactics and tools to embrace a data-driven social presence.
15 Instagram Automation Tools to Help Boost Your Engagement
Instagram automation tools are abundant. But how do you know if the Instagram automation tools you’re using are legit? The point of these tools is to help you improve the efficiency of your Instagram marketing efforts but if you’re not careful, you’ll run afoul of Instagram’s increasingly stringent anti-automation rules.
Fortunately, there are Instagram automation tools out there that can help you streamline your Instagram marketing without angering the Instagram gods. In this article, we’re going to introduce you to 15 of our favorite Instagram automation tools. Before we get to the tools, though, let’s take a moment to talk about what Instagram automation actually is.
What Is Instagram Automation?
Instagram automation is the process of using third-party software and apps to manage your Instagram account. This could mean scheduling posts, liking, commenting, reporting, and more. Instagram automation is typically done via the use of bots.
If reading the word “bot” makes you immediately think of “spam, ” you’re not far off.
Instagram has been fighting against inauthentic activity from bots for a few years. This has involved shutting down several Instagram automation tools and bots that go against Instagram’s best practices. However, it’s important to understand that not all Instagram automation tools are spammy. In fact, the automation tools used for scheduling posts, finding the right hashtags, and such are excellent ways to automate your Instagram marketing efforts.
15 Best Instagram Automation Tools
There are several options for Instagram automation tools. It’s true that many of them have the same or similar features but a closer look at each tool will reveal nuances that let you know which tools are right for you.
1. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a full-service social media management software. You can use it to pre-load Instagram posts, scheduling them to publish when you want them to. Agorapulse also supports scheduling posts for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and provides detailed reports for your social media activity.
Key Features:
Centralized communication hub so you can reply to the comments on your organic and paid posts
Community management options let you hide and delete comments manually or automatically
Optimized reply features with saved replies and “assign to” features
Bulk upload posts from your desktop or RSS feeds
Publish content immediately or schedule it for later
Schedule carousel and Story posts
Username tagging and hashtag management
Pricing (billed annually)
Medium: $79/month
Large: $159/month
X-Large: $239/month
Enterprise: $399/month
2. SocialPilot
SocialPilot is one of the best Instagram automation tools available. You can use it to manage your Instagram accounts as well as other social media platforms. SocialPilot can help you manage more than 100 social profiles, analyze and report on your performance, find and share content, and even upload up to 500 posts using the Bulk Scheduling feature.
Create customized posts for multiple social media accounts
Analyze and report your social media content’s performance
Organize your social content with a visual calendar
Get content suggestions using the content curation feature
Upload 500 posts with bulk scheduling
Collaboration features to manage your team
Access your social media conversations from a single social inbox
Manage approval workflows seamlessly
Canva integration
Professional: $25/month
Small Team: $41. 66/month
Agency: $83. 33/month
Enterprise: Contact for a quote
3. Kicksta
Kicksta is an Instagram automation tool focused on growth. It uses AI technology to create authentic engagement. Kicksta doesn’t guarantee a specific follower count because it doesn’t work with bots. Instead, Kicksta’s targeting options help you engage with real accounts to build followers organically. Using your dashboard, you can create a list of accounts including brands, influencers, and competitors with audiences you want to target. Then, you create high-quality Instagram content to bring those people in.
Targets niche hashtags and accounts
Live chat support
Target users based on several factors
Supports multiple accounts
Doesn’t post or comment on your behalf
Great analytics
Pricing
Standard Plan: $49/month
Premium Plan: $99/month
4. Ingramer
Ingramer is an Instagram automation tool that makes it easy to send bulk direct messages, automatically follow or unfollow people, like posts, find just the right Instagram hashtags, schedule posts, and comment on your target audience’s posts. It offers targeting filters so you can find and engage with the right users, building a loyal fanbase.
User-friendly dashboard that can be customized to suit your niche and industry
Smart unfollow to keep your account clean
Schedule your content for the best time to post on Instagram
Perform 1250+ auto likes and auto follows per day
A single direct chat for all accounts
Since this tool deals with auto-following, it’s important to be vigilant with your engagement. Remember, Instagram automation tools should help you, not get you banned.
Ingramer’s pricing is a bit confusing. There are four modules to choose from (Promo, Direct, Scheduled Posting, and Hashtag Generator), and the price increases with each module you add. If you opt for all modules, here’s the pricing breakdown:
2 Weeks: $82/account
1 Month: $128/account
3 Month: $307/account
5. Upleap
Upleap is another Instagram automation tool that will help you grow your followers organically. It uses several algorithms to narrow the target audience using filters like hashtag, theme, location, and more. When you sign up with Upleap, you will be assigned a personal account manager that oversees your account and helps you customize Upleap to your unique needs.
Dedicated account manager
Easy setup
Only engages with real accounts based on your target audience
Automatically views Instagram Stories of people you don’t already follow
Account manager engages with posts that bring in results
Lite: $29/month
Standard: $49/month
Premium: $59/month
6. Jarvee
Jarvee is an Instagram automation tool that helps you follow, repost, like, follow back, unfollow, delete posts, respond to comments and direct messages, and conduct user and hashtag research. You can use it for other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and YouTube. Jarvee is a Windows-based tool and has a steep learning curve, so you’ll need to take advantage of its training tutorials.
Schedule posts on several social media platforms
Find and repost high-quality posts in your niche or industry
Search for Instagram users in your niche and automatically follow them
Search for high-quality Instagram images and automatically like them
Dynamic Hashtags feature to search for related hashtags in your niche
Automatically comment using Spin Syntax to customize your messages so they’re authentic
Starter: $29. 95/month
Regular: $49. 95/month
Professional: $69. 95/month
7. Instavast
Instavast is an Instagram automation tool that automates things like commenting, liking, and messaging. It offers several methods of targeting specific users so you can focus on your target audience. Instavast includes an analytics feature and filtering options that will help you understand and improve Instagram follower growth while developing meaningful relationships. In addition, Instavast has a nice image editor making it a good advertising tool.
Set goals and define your target audience using niche filtering, language detection, fake account filtering, and more
Uses AI to interact with active followers of a target account
Dashboard is available in 16 languages
Choose the automated functions you want
Create a custom list of users you don’t want to interact with
Pricing (1 account)
Instavast pricing varies depending on the tools you choose:
Instagram Bot: $15/month
Auto DM: $10/month
Comment Tracker: $10/month
Post Scheduler: $10/month
8. Instazood
Instazood can be used to automatically like, comment, follow/unfollow, and schedule posts. It also lets you view Instagram Stories and send direct messages to your target audience. Instazood reduces its operating speed to ensure that it doesn’t trigger Instagram’s “inauthentic behavior” parameters. With Instazood you have control over your Instagram marketing strategy and can customize features to suit your needs.
Auto-follow, auto-like, auto-comment, and auto-unfollow
Account targeting
Hashtag research
Location targeting
Instazood is another of the Instagram automation tools that offers several different products with their own pricing.
Instagram Bot: $11. 99/month
Auto Direct Message: $11. 99/month
Schedule Posts: $7. 99/month
Comment Tracker: $7. 99/month
Search Tools: $7. 99/month
Manual Promotion: $11. 99/month
9. Instamber
Instamber is an Instagram automation tool pretty similar to Instazood. It lets you automation interactions with your target audience, schedule posts, manage comments, and send bulk direct messages. You’ll also get access to a marketing assistant knowledgeable in your niche so they can target the right people. Instamber provides detailed reports so you can see exactly how well the tool is working for you. Plus, you can customize the features to meet your needs.
Intelligent targeting system to find the right audience
Automated engagement
Target users based on hashtags, location, similar pages, language, and more
Auto-follow, auto-like, auto-comment, and auto-view Instagram Stories
Instamber offers several different tools with their own pricing:
Instagram Bot: $10/month
Direct Message: $10/month
Comment Manager: $10/month
Post Manager: $10/month
Hot Clients: $10/month
Instagram Likes: $7/month
Instagram Views: $0. 22/100 views
10. Hashtagsforlikes
Hashtagsforlikes helps Instagram influencers, businesses, and entrepreneurs grow their Instagram following using hashtags to target the right audience organically. You start by searching Instagram competitors, influencers, and hashtags you want to target using the built-in analytics features from Hashtagsforlikes. From there you can track and measure results based on the hashtags you’re using to see what’s working and even curate content to create test groups and save hashtag sets.
Built-in analytics to identify statistically compatible tags for the best exposure
Predetermined hashtag sets to start building your own customized hashtag sets
Techniques are compliant with Instagram’s best practices
Dedicated customer success manager
Smart algorithm detects the best Instagram hashtags
Pricing (billed monthly)
Regular: $59/month
Pro: $89/month
11.
is an Instagram automation tool that lets users manage and schedule content and grow their network. You can use to plan content, schedule posts, monitor hashtags, and respond to comments for multiple Instagram accounts.
Schedule Instagram posts including photo, video, and Instagram Stories
See detailed statistics about your Instagram account content and automation tools
Personal (one account): $29. 95/month
Team (up to five accounts): $49. 95/month
Agency (up to 15 accounts): $99. 95/month
12. Gramto
Gramto is an Instagram automation tool best known for Instagram post scheduling, but it has several features to streamline your Instagram marketing. Users can set Gramto to follow and unfollow other accounts based on certain criteria like hashtags, locations, or specific people. Gramto also includes comment, like, and direct message automation and, with the auto repost feature, Gramto users can share content from other users, even when you’re not online.
Post instantly to multiple Instagram accounts
Import images and videos from your Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or device to share to Instagram automatically
Automatically follow/unfollow, direct message, repost, comment, like, and view Instagram Stories
Basic: $5/month
Standard: $10/month
Premium: $20/month
13. InstaHero
InstaHero is an Instagram automation tool that focuses on increasing your Instagram followers, likes, and views without the use of fake accounts or bots. The InstaHero community includes more than 120, 000 Instagram users with interests across several niches and industries.
Community of Instagram users to provide genuine engagement on your Instagram account
Active engagements on content
Permanent followers
InstaHero pricing is based on the type of interaction you’re looking for:
Followers: $3. 25/140 followers
Likes: $2. 99/100 likes
Views: $0. 99/300 views
Custom Comments: $3. 99/5 comments
14. Social Gone Viral
Social Gone Viral helps you get real followers, likes, and comments so you can expand your reach. Setup is simple and you can be up and going in just a minute or so. The Social Gone Viral team then automatically engages on your behalf to grow your Instagram followers.
Automated interactions with your target audience
Privacy-focused
24/7 support
Starter: $50/month
Growth: $100/month
Advance: $500/year
15. Tailwind
Tailwind is essentially an Instagram assistant you can use to plan your Instagram feed, optimize your posts, schedule your content, and use the right hashtags. Tailwind will pick the right time to post on Instagram using its SmartSchedule feature so you can get better engagement from your content. You can also save high-performing hashtag lists, tag relevant users and locations, and even format your captions from a single platform.
Free landing page so you don’t have to worry about remembering to update your “link in bio”
Add a link to your Instagram posts with a click
Get reports and analytics showing Instagram metrics like followers, likes, and comments
Find your top-performing posts
Plan and schedule multiple image posts
Add hashtags in the first comment
Tailwind’s Instagram Plus pricing is $9. 99 per account per month.
Wrapping Up
Managing your influencer business is already time-consuming enough. Using one or more of the Instagram automation tools on this list will help you stay on top of your Instagram marketing while developing authentic relationships with your followers, attracting more followers, and expanding your reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Instagram allow automation of posts?
According to Instagram’s terms and conditions, automation is not allowed. Instagram will force time delays on users for certain amounts of likes, follows, or unfollows to stop bots and automation. However, there are ways to automate your Instagram content and the tools available have become increasingly smart in mimicking human behavior. Automation tools can cope with time delays and they can also randomize their actions, like humans might. Instagram automation tools can normally only post, follow, unfollow, like, direct message, and comment on posts.
What can you automate on Instagram?
Although Instagram automation is not allowed, you can use Instagram automation tools to boost your engagement and automate a number of tools. You can automate likes, comments, follows, unfollows, direct messages, story views, scheduling, and reporting. Liking posts is the safest task to automate because many people will like content on the platform without necessarily liking it.
Has Instagram killed bots and automation in 2020?
Instagram has made automation against the rules in its terms and conditions. However, despite the outcry from marketers that bots are indeed dead, there are a number of ways to use bots and automate Instagram tasks. Many people have found success using Instagram automation tools and bots to boost their engagement. However, automation tools and bots have become much trickier to use. Make sure to use caution to avoid getting blocked by Instagram.
What professional tools can help manage Instagram?
You can use a big variety of professional tools to help manage Instagram, from Instagram’s business tools to social scheduling platforms to Instagram automation tools. In Instagram’s business tools section, you can work with your profile and add contact information, see your insights and analytics, promote content, and use Instagram shopping. If you use a social scheduling platform, you can also automate posts and access a wider variety of analytics. Instagram automation tools can also help increase engagement as well.
What Instagram bot works best?
Instavast is an Instagram automation tool that uses bots to comment, like, and message. One bot costs $15 a month. Instazood, another tool, can be used to automatically like, comment, follow/unfollow, and schedule posts. One bot is $11. 99 a month. Instamber is an Instagram automation tool that lets you automate interactions with your target audience, schedule posts, manage comments, and send bulk direct messages. One bot costs $10 a month.
Should You Use Instagram Bots? Here’s Everything You Need to …
Should you be using Instagram bots to grow your audience? This question is being asked more than ever, as building an engaged following on Instagram just isn’t as easy as it used to be. In an attempt to stay ahead of the curve, a lot users are turning to Instagram bots or Instagram automation tools to help them grow their audience — but is this really the best decision for your account? If you’re curious about Instagram bots (like Instagram auto follow bots or Instagram auto like bots), but aren’t quite sure what they’re all about or what the risks of using them are, then keep reading! W**hat are Instagram Bots? **Instagram bots are designed to help you perform such actions as liking, commenting, and following other accounts on Instagram through automation. These are actions most Instagram users do on a daily basis, but they can take up a big chunk of your time. With the help of Instagram bots, you can plug in parameters, like specific hashtags or accounts to target, and the bot does all the work for you. Some of the most popular bots for Instagram or automation services are Mass Planner, FollowLiker, and Instagress (which was recently shut down! Keep reading to find out why…) Using Instagram Bots Can Pose a Serious Risk to Your Account! Instagram bots are a bit like eating an entire chocolate cake. It might sound like the perfect decision at the time, but deep down inside, you know that it’s so bad for you! This is exactly what you have to worry about when it comes to Instagram bots. They seem like the perfect solution for a busy entrepreneur who has little to no time to spend building their following on Instagram, but here’s the risk: any sort of automation on Instagram strictly violates the platform’s terms of use and using Instagram bots can get your account banned or shadowbanned! Most Instagram bots access Instagram’s API (the connection that allows a service such as Later to communicate with the Instagram app) without permission. As stated in Instagram’s Terms of Use, this is a strict violation:You must not access Instagram’s private API by means other than those permitted by Instagram. Use of Instagram’s API is subject to a separate set of cording to Instagram’s API Terms, Instagram bots violate the following terms:Don’t store or cache Instagram login ’t use the Instagram API to simply display User Content, import or backup content, or manage Instagram relationships, without our prior your comments are uniquely tailored for each person. Don’t post unauthorized commercial communication or spam on ’t enable a business to take more than one action on Instagram at a something unique to the community. Don’t use the Instagram APIs to replicate or attempt to replace the functionality or essential user experiences of or any of Instagram’s, having said all that, it is pretty common for users to see the positive effects that Instagram bots have on their accounts without looking at the least until recently, that mentioned earlier in this post, one of the big names in Instagram automation, Instagress, was recently shut down. And while Instagress has been relatively quiet about the closure — other than leaving a message on their site saying, “by request of Instagram we were forced to close our web-service” — we assume the reason is because they violated Instagram’s terms of use. Around the same time, a lot of people started to experience what we’re now calling a “shadowban” (click here to read my blog post about that! ). Users started to notice that their images weren’t showing up within their used hashtags, and that led to a massive decline in engagement. While there are multiple reasons why this could happen to your account, the main one is from using Instagram bots and violating Instagram’s terms of, as an entrepreneur myself who knows the importance of efficiency, in this particular case, I would NOT recommend the use of Instagram bots to help grow your, W**hat Can You Do Instead? **Wondering how you can grow your Instagram account without the use of bots or automation? That’s a good thing! You’ve hit a roadblock, but instead of giving up, you’re looking for a way around it. With that attitude, you’re certain to succeed on Instagram, no matter how much it changes or how many hoops they try to make us jump stagram Bots Alternative #1: Suck It Up And Do The Work YourselfNow I know this isn’t the most time-efficient method, but it truly is the most authentic and will bring you the closest to your audience. Look at it this way: if your target market is stay-at-home moms, you should be searching for hashtags that are relevant to your community, like #sahm. You might see something that compels you enough to leave a comment, or perhaps even follow an account. From there, you’ll continue to see these stay-at-home mom accounts pop-up in your feed, and you can get to know the people behind the accounts on a deeper level. You’ve liked their images, you’ve read their captions, you might have even clicked the link in her bio and read their blog posts. While this might be considered “time consuming” (not to be confused with time-wasting), it gives you an opportunity to really get to know your audience (and potential customers) in a way that you just couldn’t through to save time on Instagram? Check out these 13 Free Instagram Marketing Tools! Instagram Bots Alternative #2: Hire a Virtual Assistant (VA)There are plenty of VA’s out there that charge various amounts for their services. You can find high quality VA’s in entrepreneurial Facebook groups (like mine! ), or on websites like Upwork and Freelancer. Of course, you’re going to have to do a little shopping around to make sure you find the right candidate for you. But once you find someone who understands your vision and goals, you can confidently allow them to take the reigns on your day-to-day engaging. This way, the accounts your VA interacts with will sense a true connection and an authentic, genuine person behind your account. I promise you, this plays a major role in whether or not that person purchases from you, visits your website, or signs up for your email you use Instagram bots to automatically leave a “this is such a great photo! ” comment on someone’s image, and it happens to be a memorial video for his or her dog that just passed, they’re going to know that you’re using automation, which will probably leave a sour taste in their mouth. They’re also going to be offended by your lack of empathy and self-awareness, and probably aren’t going to follow, like, comment, or buy whatever you’re offering. Automation like this can really damage your brand on Instagram! Instagram Bots Alternative #3: Remember That Speed Isn’t EverythingIf you can’t afford a VA and you don’t have the time to like and comment all day long, then don’t. It’s ok! If you focus your efforts on creating high-quality content, writing engaging captions, and researching and using targeted hashtags, you’ll be well on your way to running a successful account on that in mind, if you can, spend 15 minutes once or twice a day to hop on IG and engage with your community. Even this small amount of time can make a big difference in how quickly your account grows. Want to make more time for engaging and spend less time actually posting to Instagram? Plan your posts in advance and schedule Instagram posts with Later — it’s free! Free Instagram SchedulerRegardless of your stance on Instagram bots, what it really comes down to is authenticity. By being authentically you on Instagram, you’ll have no problem attracting the type of people who are going to love what you produce, who will click the link in your bio, and who might even buy your products. Whatever your goal is, it’s achievable with real, manual ’t get caught up in the rat race of who can get to 100k followers the fastest. Instead, focus on getting 10 new quality followers and you honestly can’t go you need help nailing down your authentic Instagram strategy (starting with your bio, to your content, your hashtags and more) then please sign up for my FREE 7 day ecourse! Inside you’ll learn:How to properly set up your bio to increase followers & clicks on your linkHow to choose hashtags that massively increase your engagementHow to strategically create content that attracts high-quality followersHow to promote your products & services without being sales-yHow to effortlessly set yourself up as the authority figure in your niche, andWhy pretty pictures won’t make you money (and what will! )Want to stay up-to-date with the latest in news, trends, and features for Instagram? Join 300, 000 other marketers and subscribe to the Later newsletter! Subscribe To Newsletter
Frequently Asked Questions about ig automation
What is IG automation?
Instagram automation is the process of using third-party software and apps to manage your Instagram account. This could mean scheduling posts, liking, commenting, reporting, and more. Instagram automation is typically done via the use of bots.Apr 22, 2021
Is Instagram automation illegal?
They seem like the perfect solution for a busy entrepreneur who has little to no time to spend building their following on Instagram, but here’s the risk: any sort of automation on Instagram strictly violates the platform’s terms of use and using Instagram bots can get your account banned or shadowbanned!May 4, 2017
How do you automate on Instagram?
The best Instagram automation tools are:SocialPilot – Social media marketing automation tool.Instagrammer – Instagram bot that helps with bulk DMs.Kicksta – Instagram growth tool.Instazood – Tool for automatic likes, comments, target audience followers.Upleap – Tool to help you grow your account automatically.More items…
