A social media automation platform by the name of Instagress was shut down by Instagram after it was determined by the legal team that it violated the terms of service. Instagress had been immensely popular amongst businesses because it relied on automation for engaging people on the photo-sharing platform through follows, comments and likes. With time, this automated outreach could prove to be quite beneficial because it grew followers by increasing account awareness. Luckily, all those marketers and businesses who have felt the pinch at Instagress’s closure will be relieved to know that there are some alternatives available. A number of them have gone to great lengths to ensure they don’t violate the terms of service.
If you are also interested in growing an Instagram following inexpensively and quickly, you should consider some of the best Instagress alternatives outlined here:
SocialDrift
This particular alternative uses an advanced machine-learning algorithm that conforms to the terms of service of Instagram. With SocialDrift, businesses and social media marketers are able to target the users with just a couple of clicks. In order to start, you have to provide the platform with information about your target audience to ensure SocialDrift will only engage those who fall within these parameters. It will then automatically comment, like or follow the accounts of potential clients, as per your preference. The Instagram users will check your account in return and end up following you, which is the whole point.
Relaxed Social
While there is not much information provided about how this tool approaches Instagram outreach, its website discloses that Relaxed Social doesn’t rely on technology. Instead, human account managers perform the task. The price is $99 for a month, but you can avail discounts if you are willing to pay for several months in advance. The customer reviews of the service are quite positive and some have stated that Relaxed Social can come in handy for generating thousands of legitimate and new Instagram followers within the first month alone.
ViralUpgrade
Rather than using algorithms for automating Instagram interaction, human account managers are used by ViralUpgrade for doing the heavy lifting on your behalf. Information needs to be provided about your target market and this will help ViralUpgrade in locating relevant Instagram users. Regular reports are provided by the service regarding account growth and Instagram outreach activity, which makes it easy for you to judge if it is offering meaningful results or not.
Instaheap
This particular automation tool is used by a number of businesses and it uses an algorithm for engaging users via likes, comments and follows. You can enjoy a free 3-day trial with Instaheap and if you are satisfied with the results, you can upgrade to a $9 per week or $29 per month package as per your convenience. It is one of the most affordable platform. In order to ensure that Instaheap only targets people who are in your target audience, the tool gives you the option of blacklisting specific accounts and adding negative keywords to target preferences. There are different variables that can be used for targeting, which include location and gender amongst others.
Kickstagram
One of the most renowned alternatives for Instagress, Kickstagram utilizes human outreach for connecting with Instagram users with the help of follows, likes and comments. This tool has received positive reviews from small businesses as well as Instagram influencers. As far as prices are concerned, they start from $149 a month, but purchasing outreach for multiple months in advance will make you eligible for discounts.
Combin
This is an excellent alternative for those who don’t want to leave the task of engaging Instagram users up to an unknown account manager or algorithm. Why? This is because Combin is essentially a powerful search tool that can be used on Instagram and it makes it supremely easy for businesses to identify target users. When the target audience has been identified, Combin users can then comment, like or follow the accounts from within the tool. However, the most notable feature of the platform is that in engages the Instagram users in such a way that ensures its compliance with the terms of service. For instance, there is a limit on the number of actions a user can take in a specific time period on Instagram in order to prevent spam. Outreach is timed by Combin to ensure it is able to stay within the Instagram activity filter.
Yes, Instagress is no longer an option when you are thinking about automating social media outreach, but the alternatives that have been discussed above will provide your business with the ability of engaging the members of your target audience in a meaningful and unique way. When social media marketers incorporate one of these tools, they will be able to make considerable inroads on Instagram in a short time period.
