Top 5 Follow Unfollow Instagram Tools – SociNator
Are you making it big on Instagram or you are just like the millions of common users with an average number of followers? No offence but if you want to step up and move forward on Instagram, you need to get out of that “average” zone. But the question is what separates an average user from an influencer in Instagram? Is there a secret sauce or something? No, there is no spell and of course no secret sauce but just a few strategies applied in the right way. Want to explore what these strategies are, here is a sneak peek-Post Relevant Content-”Content is the king” and if you want to stand out, you need to get this by heart. Stick to your niche and post Unfollow- This is the most common yet useful method of growing your followers’ list. Follow users on a regular basis and unfollow those who don’t follow you back. Simple, right? Engage- The whole point of social media is to engage with your network. Build a network and engage as much as that you’ve got a rough idea regarding to leave a mark on Instagram, it’s time to show reveal a big secret to you- The secret of “automation” might have noticed a few users who follow a lot, unfollow even more and engage at the maximum level and also they have an everyday change in Instagram followers to following ratio. Do you wonder how they manage to do all these stuff in such a short period of time? They automate these functionalities. They find a great automation tool, automate it all and just enjoy the good results. And now it’s time for you to enjoy the this article, I will be sharing about Top 5 Follow Unfollow Instagram Tools that can help you automate your follow unfollow functionality that too without getting amboardA tool that can help you to automate your follow unfollow functionality without any prior skills or knowledge or anyone’s help. All you need to do is create an account on Gramboard, share your Instagram credentials, activate the follow unfollow feature and sit amboard’s AI will automatically search users based on your preferred niche, follow one by one, wait for a few days and then unfollow the users who didn’t follow other features regarding the follow unfollow functionality-Whitelisting- Set a list of users whom you don’t wish to unfollow the Speed- Fast? Medium? Or Slow? It will follow people according to your set and Reports- You get a weekly/monthly report of all the activities performed by the tool. Analyze yourself whether the follow unfollow tactic worked or not. 2. GramtoWhen it comes Instagram automation, you can’t miss Gramto on the list. With Gramto, you can easily automate the follow unfollow functionality and check out the results by follow unfollow feature includes-Powerful Targeting- The tools allow you to set a preferred niche with the help of hashtags, location and Followers- Follow the people who recently followed Set the speed or just pause for some time, Gramto allows both the options. Unfollow Desired Users- Unfollow those who didn’t follow you a Whitelist- Create a custom list of users, whom you don’t want to follow. 3. ArchieWhy not using secure tool for automation? Archie is another popular social media automation tool. Archie has a list of more than 10, 000 clients including some big names like Uber, Shopify, is how it works-Input- First of all Archie will ask you to define your niche or industry based on certain ocessing- Allow it a little time and it will find the most active users based on your It starts by collaborating with the users who belong to your industry. In simple words, it starts following them. Whether you need to use it for personal use, professional or business, Archie has separate packages for all the three. 4. InstazoodInstazood is a new yet powerful tool when it comes to automating the follow unfollow process. Instazood allows you to put the follow unfollow functionality on full autopilot and does it all in the background without even bothering are the benefits of using Instazood-Highly Targeted Audience- You don’t need to command your bot to just follow the highly targeted users, it’s already meant to do that. All you need to do is specify certain 3 Days Trial- Never choose a tool unless you are damn sure about it. Instazood allows you a 3 days free trial to understand whether it suits you or Directly from the Browser- Unlike the other tools, you don’t need to install it but rather use it directly through your browser. 5. CombinAnother powerful Instagram automation tool. Whether you wish to follow the right users related to your niche or unfollow the traitor who didn’t follow you back, Combin is the perfect match for your a few minutes of creating an account on Combin, you can easily set up the follow unfollow process. At first, you’ll need to provide the details of your preferred niche and Combin’s advanced search will look out for the most suited profiles and then follow them. Moreover, it will also track your unfollowers on Instagram (online) and then unfollow them one by one if you’re following nclusion-When you rely upon a tool that could automate your Instagram functionalities, you also need to take care of your profile’ authenticity. If the follow unfollow Instagram tools fail to maintain it then there are chances that your account may even get banned. Be smart and choose the right one oosing the right tool in just one attempt is not possible. You need to try them all one by one and then select the one that would fit the best of in your Instagram marketing Your 5 Days Trial Today
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.
I Tried Instagram Automation (So You Don’t Have To)
How do you imagine your life with Instagram automation?
Your phone’s blowing up with likes and follows, and you’re leaning back into your chaise longue, your hands behind your head, smiling the smug smile of the person whose social marketing efforts are scaling effortlessly. You sip your cucumber water. The infinity pool sparkles.
Well, hello from a blizzard in rural Finland, where I have spent a week tied to my keyboard trying to achieve that dream. And let me tell you, making an Instagram bot work—let alone work well—is not hands-off, reliable, or fun.
Depending on your standards, I’m not even sure it’s possible. Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600, 000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
What is Instagram automation?
Instagram automation, the kind we’re talking about here, are bots that like posts, follow accounts, and comment on your behalf.
You define your target audience, and your trained pet bot crawls through accounts that might be interested in you, interacting with them in a pre-defined, hopefully natural-seeming way. In an ideal world, the bot does what you’d do yourself to earn Instagram engagement, if you only had the time.
If automatic Instagram likes sounds a little too good to be true, that’s because it is. It’s a black-hat social media trick, like engagement pods, which we tried out in 2018. Or buying Instagram followers—which results in an inflated follower count, zero engagement, and a long list of obviously fake followers.
But with automation, some self-described “growth hackers” argue that if it’s done right, and you pinpoint the “correct automation targets, ” automation is the most efficient way to build up a “real” audience of fans.
However, there are problems with Instagram automation:
People don’t like bots, and they can tell when a like, follow or comment is fake; and therefore
Instagram actively works against practices that degrade the user experience; and therefore
Automation services must try to evade detection, or else run the risk of getting shut down.
For instance, in 2017, Instagram shut down a bunch of automation services like the former go-to tool, Instagress. Ever since, it’s been a bit of a crapshoot as to where to even find a functioning Instagram comment bot.
While I was trying to choose which tool to use, I read up on the “safest most reliable” services, according to a few different experts. The problem is, even the people who swear by automation admit that many bot providers malfunction or just don’t provide results. Meanwhile, the providers themselves aren’t that convincing. For instance, InstaRocket’s FAQ:
How do I know if you’re legit?
You are free to try out our Trial for 3 days. Trial and Subscription are exactly the same.
Regardless, you have to pay for each tool you try. And don’t expect a bot to be upfront with you if it’s not working. As I found out, this can lead to a lot of wasted time, and money.
What is NOT Instagram automation?
To be clear, there are legitimate Instagram automation tools and software that take the grunt work out of your marketing efforts without crossing the line into behaviour that could get your account suspended:
Scheduling Instagram posts ahead of time so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute
Customized Instagram analytics reports delivered automatically with the data that matters to you
Social listening and hashtag monitoring tools that surface the conversations your brand wants to be a part of (or just keep on top of)
What happened when I tried Instagram automation
Ok, now that we’re clear on definitions, let’s take a look at the long, convoluted process of trying to get results from Instagram automation in 2020. (Please direct my Pulitzers and Nobels straight to the sauna. )
My accounts started with some uninspiring benchmarks.
@akaprincessrosebud (the Instagram creator account where I re-post my neighbour’s dog photos) started with:
26 interactions and 12 accounts reached in the previous week
787 followers
37 following
@princessrosebud2thesequel (my non-business burner account, where I post even more photos of my neighbour’s dog) started with:
5 likes on my most recent post
758 followers
2 following
Sidebar: My follower ratios for both of these accounts is so skewed because I bought 1000 “organic” followers back in October for a different experiment—interesting to note how that number has diminished over the last few months.
So, let’s trace the different steps I took to automate both of these accounts.
Step 1: Sign up for an Instagram automation bot and spend 3 days wondering if it works
First, I tried InstaRocket, which supposedly automates likes, comments, posts, direct messages, follows, and unfollows.
I signed up for a free 3-day trial, and entered my ideal audience parameters, so that Instarocket will find, like, and comment on accounts who like or post photos with certain hashtags, live in certain countries, or who follow big influencers or brand accounts that I think target a similar audience.
And then I made up some cool comments that Instarocket will automatically post for me, to earn attention for my account:
Nothing happened in the first day after I set it up. It was listed as “pending. ”
After two days, I had two choices: email support, or buy a monthly subscription. So I emailed the Instarocket support team to see if my account would be up and running before my 3-day promotion ends. I never got a response.
Step 2: Try to find a second automation bot (one that does work)
While I waited for a response, I thought maybe I’d try a higher-end Instagram automation service.
First, I tried Instamber— the “#1 most reliable and effective Instagram automation bot, ” according to more than one recent list. But the sign-up page gave me a 404 error. Yikes.
Step 3: Ok, try for Bot #3
I was ready to jump up my budget significantly, and shell out the €79 wants for its software, which boasts that it uses “facial recognition AI” (um, okay) and is “100% undetectable by Instagram” (I doubt this is true).
Perhaps foolishly, I was even willing to download its desktop software, in the name of our exciting experiment. Alas, when it became clear that I would need to “download Python” (isn’t Python a language? ) just to install it, I decided to search for another route.
Step 4: Ok, go back to Bot #2 and run a campaign
Instamber’s sign-up page was loading at this point. So I decided to try another 3-day trial. This time I signed up using my burner account, @princessrosebud2thesequel.
Instamber is not as nice-looking or clear as InstaRocket. On the plus side, their support team does email you back (more on that later. ) Mostly the dashboard was comprised of buttons urging me to pay more money.
First, I ran a 24-hour “promotion” targeting fans of @andrewknapp’s page. He has a huge audience based almost entirely on photos of his border collie Momo’s gorgeous face.
Source: @andrewknapp
After 24 hours, Instamber’s bot had followed 69 accounts, liked 138 posts, watched 958 Stories and left 42 comments on my behalf.
The result? I’ve gained 8 new followers. Instamber tells me that’s a 0. 7% conversion rate, though the math is a little… opaque.
The new accounts the bot followed means my feed is now jammed full of cute dog photos, and I am not complaining. However, I can’t help but wonder what kind of cringey interactions my account is having.
I’m worried it’ll be as bad as the last time we ran this experiment, when Hootsuite writer Evan LePage used the now-defunct Instagress to get 250 followers in 3 days. He reported:
“I [automatically] commented “your pics > my pics” on a selfie of a boy who was clearly in middle school. In fact, his account was composed of only four pictures, three of them selfies. I felt uncomfortable. The teenage boy told me I was being modest. ”
When I check, it turns out that Instamber is mostly just leaving over-the-top emojis on people’s normal posts:
These don’t seem like believable comments to me, but they worked for my 8 new followers.
Step 5: Go back and check on Bot #1
Meanwhile, my InstaRocket account, after two of my three free days, is still “pending, ” with absolutely no activity to show. Except, actually, I have lost 8 followers.
So I bite the bullet, and pay the $7. 95 USD for the personal plan for one month. But now I must wait for admin to approve my order. (Still no response from customer service. )
Step 6: Try out a second campaign, with less spammy techniques
I’m very curious: is there a legitimate way to automate your Instagram interactions for growth? Using automation bots will never be lawful good, but maybe there’s a way to use them that hits at least chaotic neutral.
Some growth hackers believe it’s possible. So, I’m going to try one last experiment while doing my best to avoid being spammy and ruining the experience for myself and everyone who interacts with my dog-bot.
This means refining what I allow Instamber to do.
Under Settings > Actions I unclick boxes until my bot is only allowed to view Stories and like posts. I do not allow it to follow, or comment.
According to these settings, my Instagram bot will like between 1 and 3 of a user’s posts, and possibly watch their Stories.
That gives them four different opportunities to see my account, and it’s a softer touch because I’m not doing anything intrusive or obviously inauthentic, like leaving cringey emojis or following them out of the blue.
So, what happens after 24 hours of non-spammy automated liking?
Alas, I don’t know. Instamber asked me to pay for an additional month, so I paid the $15 USD. Then they asked me to download some desktop software. I did that. But my Macbook refused the sketchy software, and so I emailed support, who told me, repeatedly, that I need to “install bluestacks as the android emulator and run social bridge and Instagram via that. ”
Reader, I did not do that.
Step 7: Analyze the results
While I can’t confirm on Instamber, these are the overall results of my experiment.
Instamber
24-hour likes + comments + follow promotion ($1 USD)
8 new followers
24 likes
14 Story views
67 new accounts that my account followed
48-hour non-spammy likes-only promotion ($15 USD)
2 new followers
5 likes for my most recent photo
InstaRocket
No promotion happened, because despite extending my payment for another month, my account is still pending. And still no word from the support team. But I:
Lost 6 followers
Got 10 likes from what looks to be a fellow dog-bot
Received 2 savage burns (from a burn bot? )
On the one hand, I’m surprised that my experiment was so shockingly ineffective.
On the other hand, Instagram has been at war with automation services for years. It makes sense that a company that pulled in $9 billion in ad revenue in 2019 has the resources to make bots effectively useless. Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600, 000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
Get the free guide right now!
Lessons from Instagram automation
There’s no such thing as a legitimate, risk-free Instagram automation service
The websites will tell you they are safe, reliable and effective. The websites are lying.
Even if the bots work (doubtful), the service could get shut down at any moment. Even worse, your account could be limited or banned for violating Instagram’s platform policy.
For instance, the second I linked my account to Instamber, I was notified of a “suspicious login attempt. ” (Good job Instagram, because if I was in North Van I’d be eating Honey’s Donuts with Meghan and Harry. )
At no point did I feel confident, secure, or relaxed. I was uneasy about handing my credit card details over. I was uneasy about downloading desktop software. The services are arbitrarily priced, and many look like outright scams. Do they work? Many don’t, but there’s no knowing until you pay. At the end of the week, I just felt mildly ashamed for tarnishing my neighbour’s dog’s online reputation.
If you’re responsible for a professional account for a legitimate brand, I’m going to go ahead and say that you really do not want to risk a push notification that says “we’re removing inauthentic activity” or “your account information is compromised. ”
And even more importantly, you do not want to risk alienating your fans, customers, and audience with weird behaviour.
And on that note, a personal aside to the indie band that followed and unfollowed me three times over the course of the last six months: The first time I was flattered. The second time I unfollowed you on Spotify. The third time I looked up who runs your social media so that I can avoid working with them in the future.
The tech is clunky, and support isn’t supportive
Instamber wanted me to download desktop software, an android emulator, and its own app. Oh, plus Instagram itself, though “best practice” was to sign out and leave the app alone while my campaign ran, to prevent any more geographic discrepancies. I think there was something about a VPN in there, too.
It’s not that these extra steps—see Point #1, Instagram is watching—are impossible for a motivated social media manager, it’s that they’re a hassle. You have more important things to be doing.
Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, every time I emailed Instarocket’s customer service, they forwarded it straight into a sarlacc pit.
“Undetectable by Instagram” and “not spammy” actually means “so slow you may as well do it yourself”
The days of skyrocketing vanity metrics are over. Instagram doesn’t even display likes anymore, so in many ways the pressure is off for many brands to merely look popular.
Plus, now that Instagram monitors and limits pings to its API, no automation service can realistically provide the kind of volume I was imagining back at the beginning of this blog post.
For instance, back in 2017, the first time we ran this experiment, Evan LePage went from 338 to 1050 followers on his personal account using Instagress.
This time around I got 8 new followers, many of whom seem fairly fake themselves, a handful of Story views, and about 30 likes total. Weeks later, I also have a creeping suspicion that my accounts are now permanent bot-magnets, even if my credit card isn’t getting charged.
What would have happened if I’d spent this week devoting myself to genuine engagement, great content, and executing this list of tips for getting more Instagram likes? I’m going to go out on a limb and say I’d not only have more followers, I’d be relaxing with a cucumber water by the infinity pool, after a job well done.
Save time and your brand’s face by automating your Instagram activity the right way. With Hootsuite you can schedule Instagram posts in advance, engage with followers, and edit your images all from one, easy-to-use dashboard.
Get Started
Frequently Asked Questions about instagram follow unfollow automation
How do you auto follow unfollow on Instagram?
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.Apr 22, 2021
Does the follow unfollow method work on Instagram?
The follow-unfollow method is probably the most common “hack” to grow on Instagram. The idea is quite simple: you follow lots of accounts in your niche, and you unfollow them a few days later. This method has been used for years on Instagram to grow accounts quickly on the platform. And the truth is, this method works.Jun 18, 2020