You will agree with me when I say managing multiple Instagram account is a pain in the neck – it is time-consuming, boring, and repetitive. Best case scenario, you will be inefficient at carrying out the required tasks on all the accounts. Worst case scenario, you will get a ban. What then do you do if you are an Instagram marketer with a lot of Instagram accounts that need to be updated frequently?
The simple answer is to embrace Instagram automation. With Instagram automation, your tasks of managing the multiple Instagram account under your watch become easy. If you plan to scale up, you also won’t be posed with many problems.
In this article, I will be a discussion all you need to know about Instagram automation. This includes what Instagram bots are and how they help with Instagram automation, their benefits, and disadvantage. You will also learn the common pitfalls while using the Instagram bot and the tips and tricks to avoid those pitfalls.
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What is Instagram Automation?
Instagram automation is the process of using automation tools known as Instagram bots to manage Instagram accounts. If you have managed up to 10 Instagram accounts with a huge followership before you will understand the need to automate your tasks through Instagram automation.
I have managed more than such accounts before and I tell you what, you will burn out quickly. You have to deal with crafting content, engaging your followers, as well as following and unfollowing some of your followers.
What Instagram automation came to do is to put an end to the problems associated with managing multiple accounts. However, just like any form of automation, you get hit with some problems related to web automation such as some of your comments not making sense among others. Later in the article, I will be discussing the disadvantages of automating your Instagram tasks. Before then, let take a look at what Instagram bots do.
- Ingramer : Web IG Bot – VPN/Proxy added – $67 / account
- Social Captain: Web IG Bot – VPN/Proxy added – $39 per month
- Gramista: Web IG Bot – VPN/Proxy added – $39.99 per month
- Instavast: Web IG Bot – No – Socks proxy Needed – $15 per month
- Jarvee: Software – No – HTTP proxies Needed – 29.95 /month (10 accounts)
- More Instagram bots.
What does Instagram Bot do?
An Instagram bot automate your tasks on Instagram. They are a piece of software written to carry out specific tasks on Instagram. These include the following accounts and unfollowing those you already follow based on some criteria and keyword usage.
An IG bot can also be used for auto liking pictures, videos, and comments. You can also use them to drop comments and reply to your followers’ comments on your page. You can also use them to upload videos and pictures on your Instagram account.
You do not need to understand too much of what is going on behind the scene. You just need to know that the bots have been programmed to carry out your task and it does that at a stipulated interval which you set them to. Because they manage multiple accounts, they will need proxies so as to avoid being detected because if Instagram discovers an action is carried out by a bot, it gets that account blocked.
Instagram has limits they place on actions you can carry out daily. Though they never made public their limits, some experts stated that you cannot follow more than 200 people daily and cannot drop more than 200 comments in a day.
Instagram bots put these into account and make sure they never exceed this. They also spread your task by hours to minimize getting on the Instagram radar. These they do with the help of Instagram automation best practices and the use of Instagram proxies.
Is Instagram Bot Legal?
Instagram bot are both legal and illegal to use. It all boils down to what you use them for and the APIs you access. Instagram has APIs it makes public for developers to use in incorporating some Instagram functionality into their apps.
If an Instagram bot uses such APIs, such bot is still in line with Instagram terms and conditions. However, most Instagram bots use private Instagram APIs that are considered private for Instagram use only. Such bots have crossed the line and are illegal according to Instagram terms and conditions.
Unfortunately, publicly available APIs cannot be used for what most Instagram marketers want. That leaves them with no option than to use private APIs, making most Instagram bot illegal. Unlike many other softwares, Instagram is considered anti-bot. Already, Instagram has begun cracking down on Instagram bot developers and forcing them to shut down their services, like massplanner.com.
On your own part as a user, if they discover you’re using Instagram automation to manage your account, they will not only ban your account, your IP address will be banned as well. This means even if you create another Instagram account it will get banned the moment you use it on the device that its IP address has been banned. However, what you stand to gain from Instagram automation is huge and as such, many people take the risk. If you ask me, it is worth it.
Benefits of Instagram Automation
Instagram bots are very useful to Instagram marketers for automating their tasks on Instagram. Below are some of the benefits you can enjoy when using a bot compared to manually managing your accounts.
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Time Saver
To humans, one of the most finite resources we have is time. Regardless of the task schedule for a day, each and every one of us only has 24 hours in a day. Manually operating your Instagram account is tedious and takes a long time and in the end, you still get burnt out. However, if you automate your tasks on Instagram, you have more free time to use them for other important activities.
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Consistency in Posting
You will agree with me that no matter how you plan your posting schedules, there are times you definitely will miss them. Because of this inconsistency, your followers are left in the dark about your schedule. However, if you use an Instagram bot, the posting schedule will never be missed. What’s required from you is to research the time when most of your followers are online so that you can schedule your posts to get better engagements.
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Scaling is Easier
how do you intend to manage your Instagram account when the number of followers you have increased exponentially or when you need to create more accounts. Believe you me, that you’re able to manage an Instagram account with 20k followers does not mean you can manage an account with 500k followers.
Worse still, if the number of accounts increases, that’s when the problems associated with scaling comes in. However, if you make use of Instagram bots, scaling becomes easier.
Disadvantages of Instagram Automation
Despite the above benefits, one can get from Instagram automation, they still have some disadvantages. These include the following.
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Lacks Contexts
If there’s one major pitfall and reason you shouldn’t automate your tasks using Instagram bots, it is because of its lack of context. Your bot ends up dropping happy comments on sad posts, they follow people they are not supposed to follow and all that. No doubt, Natural Language Processing has improved tremendously. However, Artificial Intelligence has still gotten to the point that it will match humans’ emotions and responses caused by their actions.
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Risk of account Ban
If you’re using an automated tool to manage your Instagram account, you need to tread with caution. You risk getting both your account and IP address banned from accessing Instagram. It is clearly stated in their term of service that they prohibit the use of automated means to access their services.
If you aren’t deterred by this and you still want to go ahead to use automated tools, make sure you avoid getting your device IP banned. You can do this by making use of proxies so that even though your account is banned, you still have the option of starting afresh with the same device.
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Engagement is Poor
Here’s the deal, engagement is really really low when it comes to using Instagram automation to comment or reply to comment. This is largely due to the lack of context of comments posted by Instagram bots. It is not uncommon to post 100 comments without any form of engagement. People are becoming smart and can tell if a comment was dropped by a person or a bot. If you are really looking for engaging followership and you plan to engage them, avoid using automation – it kills engagement.
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It is Easy to Make Mistakes
While automating your tasks on Instagram using Instagram bots is one of the efficient ways to save up time and grow your audience, it is important to know that it is easy to make mistakes while using the software.
And when it comes to using Instagram automation tools, little mistakes can get you a shadowban or even get you totally banned. The major reason why you can easily make mistakes is that automation is not easy to master and without mastery, you are bound to make innocent mistakes that will get you flagged as a bot.
- Read more: Instagram Automation Vs. Organic Growth.
Common Mistakes in Instagram Automation
While automating your tasks on Instagram, there are some mistakes you make that will give the Instagram system a hint that you’re using an Instagram bot to automate your tasks and being flagged as a bot will surely get your account banned. Avoid the mistakes described below.
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Automating DMs
Yes, you might be tempted to automate your direct messages. Even messages as simple as “Thanks for the follow I will follow back” and its variations can flag you as a bot. However, bot makers incorporate this into their apps.
I will advise you do not include sending direct messages as part of the tasks to automate. Do that manually and if you can’t, then there’s no need of sending your followers generic messages.
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Crossing Your Limits
Each task on Instagram has the limit you can do them in a day without getting banned. If you cross the limit, you will get banned. However, these limits are not made public. Experts advise that you shouldn’t follow more than 200 accounts in a day and never to post more than 180 comments in a day. It is also wise to spread your task within a day so that tasks aren’t done in a small period of time.
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Not Making Your Profile Real
How do you expect people to engage with your posts when your profile does not look real. While you can use automation tools to create accounts, it is best you do that manually.
This is so that you can give your profile a professional and human touch. Use good looking photos as account profile pictures. Update all required information and give your accounts a fitting bio.
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Not Using Real Phone Numbers/Email
Did you use a fake phone number or email to register your account? Then you might be on your way of losing your account. Instagram is gradually tightening its security and one of the ways it does that is that it sometimes sends verification messages to phone numbers to verify if you are their true owners.
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Tips and Tricks to Make Instagram Automation Successful
If you intend to be successful using Instagram bots for automation, you need to follow the below 2 tips in addition to avoiding the common mistakes above.
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Use Proxies
There are no two ways about it, if you plan to manage your multi-accounts through Instagram automation, you must use proxies read why here. It is important especially when you intend to use multiple accounts or as a preventive measure of preventing your IP address from being blocked.
Like I stated earlier, in addition to banning accounts, Instagram sometimes bans IP addresses as well. However, with the use of proxies, you are sure your device IP address won’t be banned from Instagram. Residential proxies are the best types of proxies for Instagram. Some residential proxies and Mobile proxies have been made specifically for Instagram automation.
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Mimic Human Behavior
If you behave like a bot, you will be treated as one. If you behave like a human, you will be treated as such. Do you think there’s any human on earth that can post 80 comments in an hour?
Show me one and I will prove to you that such a person is a spammer. And Instagram doesn’t like spamming. Set the bot in such a way that it mimics your actions as a human. Space out task within the hours of the day.
What are the Best Instagram Automation Bots?
Many Instagram automation bots are available in the market. While some are specific in their tasks, some carry out a good number of activities. What am I saying here? The best Instagram bot for you depends on your usage.
For example, if you’re looking for an automated tool to schedule your posts, then Buffer or Hootsuite is the best. If you’re looking for one to use to manage your tasks, then Jarvee is the one of best Instagram bot for that.
Related: What is the best Instagram growth service?
Conclusion
No doubt, Instagram automation is a reliever. It saves you time and makes managing different accounts as simple as possible. However, you have to be aware of the fact that it is against the terms and conditions of Instagram and as such, you risk been banned.
You can, however, reduce the chances of getting banned by making use of residential proxies for Instagram and mimicking human behavior.