Top Instagram Automation Tools & Alternatives

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There’s been no slowing down to the prowess that Instagram has achieved in terms of business and brand exposure, marketing, and conversion. For that reason, more businesses are focusing their energy on the Instagram platform and trying to gain as much exposure as possible to expand.

Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users, with 90% of those users following at least one business account. That means there is huge potential to grow your audience on Instagram, but there is also a huge amount of competition.

Instagram has so many features these days that having a solid Instagram presence is also a time-consuming endeavor. There are never ending things you can do in order to have a successful Instagram, which means that many Instagram users start to sink under the weight of all the platform has to offer for optimal success.

The good news is that many third party companies have realized this, and have created something called Instagram automation to make your life a lot easier.

Here we’re going to give you the scoop on all of the top Instagram automation tools that you should simply not be living without if you’re serious about your Instagram performance.

What is Instagram Automation?

Instagram automation is basically using pre-programmed systems in order to perform a variety of tasks related to Instagram. So now, we can effectively say, “there’s an Instagram automation tool for that.” Phew! Definitely makes our lives easier.

You may have heard about Instagram automation, but in a negative light. It’s true that there are some downsides to Instagram automation, and some times that you should avoid using it. That’s why we’ve created this guide— to help you understand the top tools for Instagram automation that are actually safe to use, and which ones you should avoid at all costs.

When to Avoid Instagram Automation

Don’t worry, there are plenty of great Instagram automation tools that can help you with your Instagram flow. One of the biggest mistakes that people make in terms of their Instagram growth is using an automation tool to grow Instagram followers.

Instagram is very strict about this and nowadays Instagram automation tools don’t work effectively for follower growth. It’s really important that you don’t set your sights on an Instagram growth service that uses automation, as it can damage your account and also get you flagged by Instagram.

Why is Automated Instagram Growth Bad?

One of the biggest reasons you shouldn’t use automated Instagram growth services, or bot-powered services, is that it’s against Instagram’s terms of use. Over the years, the platform has caught onto users trying to fortify their following through unsavory methods of buying fake followers or using bots to perpetuate engagements, including comments, DMs, and follow/unfollow.

Because this causes undesired experiences on Instagram and damages the user experience, they have really cracked down on this; most of the top Instagram automation services are effectively closed because they simply can’t operate due to the restrictions and limitations that Instagram has implemented.

Not only that, most Instagram growth services who still use automation promise amazing results, but actually deliver incredibly poor ones. This is because they can’t effectively run due to Instagram, with such low levels of engagements so that they stay under the radar.

Instagram follower growth is important, and we do have some other options that can help to support you in that area without using automation. We’ll get to that soon. 

Let’s just review some of the things that you can use an Instagram tool for.

Safe Instagram Automation Practices

Before we list the Instagram automation tools you can’t miss, here are the optimal tasks that you can use an Instagram automation tool for:

  • Instagram post scheduling and content planning: it’s absolutely safe to use an Instagram scheduler to optimize your content posting and visually view your content aesthetics 
  • Instagram analytics: it can be tough to keep track of all of the data you need to have maximized Instagram
  • Instagram content creation templates: if you need some help creating your content, you can use a template service that will already have a bunch of premade customizable templates, which won’t hurt you at all.

Those are the basic areas in which using Instagram automation can actually benefit your account. Let’s take a look at the top Instagram automation tools for these tasks as well as your best alternative for follower growth.

Instagram Automation Tools You Can’t Ignore

As we said earlier, Instagram is a beast in terms of workload, as there are so many elements that need to be managed and executed in terms of having a successful platform. The good news is that these automation tools are going to completely revolutionize the way you work on Instagram. Get ready!

Top Tool for Instagram Growth: Growthoid

I know we said that Instagram automation is out for follower growth, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t valuable services out there that can help you. Everyone knows follower growth is a vital piece of the Instagram puzzle, and the creators of Growthoid had you in mind when they created this standout service.

Growthoid doesn’t use any bots or automation— they do everything manually. Manual follower growth is definitely the best way to build your audience because they’re basically doing everything you would do to build your account through engagements, but they’re helping you by saving the countless hours you’d be spending with interaction.

Growthoid is awesome because they offer you an account manager; after you sign up, they reach out to you really quickly to get things set up and get you in contact with your account manager, which we love.

The next great thing about Growthoid is that your account manager isn’t going to engage with just any old Instagram account. They actually follow your targets so that you are gaining real, targeted followers connected to your niche and content. It’s really much better than automation because your account manager is a real person and they can actually get accounts that will care about your content.

The good news is that because of this targeted account growth, you’ll also see a boost in engagement, which is vital for the success of the platform. Instagram works off of algorithms that favor engagement, which means that accounts with more engagement and content that gets more likes, comments, and shares will perform better on the platform.

Growthoid gives you the targeted follower growth you need so that you can focus on your content and other important elements of your Instagram platform. Growthoid will generate interest and bring more viewers to your account via engagements, so it’s really important that you still have a content strategy in place and offer top-notch content.

The big misconception is that you hire a growth service, and you automatically gain followers. This is not the nature of organic growth; an Instagram marketing agency will help you gain more reach and get more eyes on your content, but it’s up to you to give them something to stay for.

You don’t need an Instagram automation tool to grow your following anymore; Growthoid is Instagram automation 2.0. They have the best support of any growth service out there, and also offer two affordable pricing tiers so that it can fit into any budget.

Top Instagram Automation Tool for Post Scheduling: Later

Later is an excellent Instagram automation tool for visually scheduling your posts, automating postings, as well as viewing some tailored analytics that can help your posts perform better.

It’s no easy task to create a streamlined visual for your Instagram account, which is why Later’s scheduling platform is so useful. It’s really user-friendly and can give you the opportunity to see your posts all in one place before you post them, which helps to create the best visual for all of your content before going live.

In addition, Later will be able to automate postings for single photo posts and videos; you can also schedule in advance your carousel posts as well as your Instagram stories. Because Instagram has some limitations on how third party apps interact with the platform, they can’t post them for you, but you’ll get a notification and everything is ready to go when it’s time to make it live.

With Later, you’ll be able to pre-program your hashtags and captions, as well as schedule your first comment hashtags, which is a great feature if you like to use the first comment to add additional hashtags.

Later has 4 different price points, which means you can definitely find something that works for you in terms of budgeting.

Runner-Up: Sprout Social

Sprout Social is also a well-known Instagram automation tool for scheduling posts and visualizing content. Later has more options and is a bit more user-friendly, but sprout social offers many of the same features in an accessible way, which makes them a good alternative to Later.

Top Instagram Automation Tool for Analytics: Union Metrics 

Instagram offers its own analytics tool for professional accounts, which is called Instagram insights. There’s no doubt that the feature is useful, but sometimes you’ll want to have all of that data stored and streamlined for easy viewing and sharing.

Union metrics provides you with incredibly designed graphs that can help you to visualize your Instagram performance and make informed decisions about your content strategy. Having a clear picture of how your content is performing is absolutely vital in continuing to develop your Instagram marketing strategy, and knowing which posts perform best among other things is the information you need in order to take your platform to the next level.

They offer three different price points to choose from, so it’s pretty accessible in terms of price and features.

Runner-Up: Iconosquare

If you find Union Metrics to be too expensive, Iconosquare is a really well-known analytics service with a really nice user-friendly platform that makes it easy to navigate your information and metrics. They have a variety of price points as well, so depending on your business needs, Iconosquare could be your choice Instagram automation tool for analytics.

Top Instagram Automation Tool for Content Templates: Canva

While Canva isn’t going to create any content for you, they have pre-created Instagram content templates that can absolutely make your life easier.

Especially for Instagram stories, it can be difficult to create a consistent aesthetic that looks professional and well designed. Canva is the graphic design Instagram automation tool that you didn’t know you needed!

The great thing about canva is that they offer so many varieties and so many design options, and you can customize them as much as you need, which will help to make them unique to your brand and your visual. They also offer templates for Instagram story highlight album covers, which is really important in making sure your profile page has a professional look.

Canva is a really affordable tool; they are a free service, but you can get access to their pro version for a small yearly fee. While it’s not Instagram automation in the traditional sense, they give you a huge leg up on your content design, which can help you push your content to the next level and stand out among competitors. 

Wrap-Up: Top Instagram Automation Tools

Over the years, there’s no question that the way Instagram automation works has changed. While bots and automated engagements used to be extremely popular, Instagram has made it effectively impossible to use them without issue or consequence.

What’s more, most users don’t like to see automated comments on posts, nor do they like to receive automated messages, comments, or engagements. It only lowers your credibility.

The good news is that there are still some elements of Instagram automation that have stuck, such as automating your Instagram analytics, scheduling posts, and using pre-designed templates.

In terms of follower growth, a manual service like Growthoid can be the solution to all of your Instagram follower needs, giving you the time you need to focus on more important things such as creating content and setting up a strong Instagram strategy.

Instagram automation isn’t dead, it just looks a little different in 2020! 



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