Are you tired of spending hours managing your Instagram account? We were too. That’s why we tried out some popular Instagram automation tools to see how they could save us time and improve our engagement. In this article, we’ll share what we used, how they worked, and what we found.
Want to make your Instagram easier to manage? Keep reading to see which tools worked best for us and how they can help you too!
What is Instagram automation?
Instagram automation means using tools and software to do routine Instagram tasks automatically, saving you time.
For example, instead of posting Instagram content by hand, you can use a social media management tool to schedule posts in advance. This keeps your feed active without you always having to check it.
Common Uses of Instagram Automation
Automation tools take care of repetitive tasks, thereby making your work easier so you can focus on more important things. Additionally, they help streamline processes and save valuable time.
Here are the most common types of Instagram automation:
Scheduling tools: Let you plan and schedule your posts ahead of time, keeping your feed consistent.
Auto-reply bots: Automatically respond to common questions or DMs, giving quick replies to your audience.
Analytics tools: Collect and analyze data to help you make better decisions based on your performance.
What is NOT Instagram automation?
Let me be clear: Not all Instagram automation is allowed or good. Using bots to fake followers, likes, or comments is against Instagram’s rules and can get your account banned.
But there are good Instagram automation tools that help you. They handle basic tasks so you can focus on things that help your Instagram grow, like making content your audience likes and scheduling posts.
In this post, we’re talking about bad Instagram automation practices. The good tools we like are not included in this. We’ve listed some of our favorite social media automation tools at the end of this piece.
What happened when I tried Instagram automation
Now that we know what “Instagram automation” means, let’s get into the details.
I started by doing what you probably did — I Googled “Instagram automation.” I found Plixi, one of the top results. It seemed like a good place to start.
Experiment 1: Testing Plixi
1. Sign up
Signing up was quick and easy. I linked my Instagram account and entered my credit card info. I used an old account with only 51 followers, so it could only get better from there!
Plixi’s homepage claimed they use a “patent-pending” model. They search Instagram and use smart tech to find and interact with similar accounts, engaging with them and encouraging followers.
2. Growth Settings
After signing up, Plixi asked me to set my growth settings. The free version (for 24 hours, then $49/month) lets you choose “slow” for follower growth. I chose slow.
I added “accounts like mine” so Plixi could target their followers. This was tricky because my account, Scholar Collars, was a silly fashion line I started at the beginning of the pandemic.
So, what’s Scholar Collars? Essentially, I made collared dickies for those last-minute “oh-no-I’m-still-wearing-pajamas” Zoom meetings.
For example, you can keep one in your desk drawer and then put it on under your t-shirt or sweater for an instant professional look. On Zoom, people can only see your neck and shoulders, so it looks like you’re in business casual wear.
It wasn’t easy to find similar accounts, so I added @Zoom.
There were a few other options to set up my account for success, but they required a Pro account.
3. Start
I clicked the Start Growth button, and Plixi started finding me new followers. I got one within the first 2 minutes — a crypto app account.
Plixi also told me in my activity dashboard that they had “Reached 9 users based on @zoom” though I wasn’t sure what that meant. They hadn’t contacted nine users as far as I could tell.
4. Watch my followers grow
After 24 hours, I had eight more followers, going from 51 to 59. The next day my follower count grew to 100. Over a week, my follower count grew to 245. It wasn’t as cheap and easy as other ways to buy followers, but the accounts seemed real, and the growth was slow enough that Instagram didn’t flag my account.
However, I now had 245 followers but only seven likes on one of my photos. Additionally, there was no activity from my account. I thought Plixi would like and comment on my account too, but it did not.
The growth was okay, but what’s the point? For $50, I had no real engagement besides more followers. Moreover, since Plixi didn’t interact with other accounts, I wasn’t sure where the followers came from. It wasn’t from organic engagement.
Consequently, Plixi was a letdown. Nevertheless, like any good researcher, I tried a second experiment.
Experiment 2: Testing Instaswift
1. Find an Instagram comment bot
After using Plixi, I wanted to automate engagement. So, I Googled “Instagram comment bot and automatic Instagram likes.”
I found a bot that sends automatic DMs, but that felt too personal. Another one claimed to use real people, which isn’t ideal if you know our chatbots and don’ts.
Instaswift seemed better and offered a free trial for an Instagram-like bot. I decided to try it.
2. Try the Instagram bot for free
The free trial gave 10 to 15 likes on your last three pictures. However, when I tried it, I got an error message. Consequently, Instaswift wasn’t off to a good start.
3. Pay for it
A week of Instaswift with 3-4 comments costs $15. Even though the free trial was disappointing, I decided to try it. Perhaps paying customers get better service.
4. Post a photo
You need to post a new photo for the bot to start working. I posted a picture of my friend’s cat, Gus. It got 110 likes and four comments. The extra likes would have looked fake if I hadn’t done the follower campaign first. Now, it only looks fake if you look closely.
Experiment 3
1. Find a comment bot
For the third experiment, I tried PhantomBuster. It promised to automatically post comments from my account and offered a free 14-day trial. I was sold.
2. Sign up and get started
PhantomBuster uses cookies to log in to your account and comment on your behalf. Once I set that up, it asked for a spreadsheet with post URLs and comment examples.
Then, I sent PhantomBuster to ‘go’ and waited to see the results.
3. Check Your Results
The bot automatically commented on three posts. However, they were just the URLs and comments I had added to the spreadsheet. It would have been faster to comment on the posts myself.
If this wasn’t a free trial, I would be upset that PhantomBuster charged me for something I could easily do on my own.
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Conclusion
To wrap it up, Instagram automation tools can save time and make managing your account easier. The ones we used helped us schedule posts, gain followers, and keep things organized. Remember to pick the right tools and use them carefully to avoid problems with Instagram’s rules.
While automation is great, it’s important to remember to interact with your followers personally. Moreover, this approach helps keep your account genuine and successful.