What are Instagram Proxies and How Companies Use Them

Featured article by Chris Roark, Independent Technology Author

With declining attention spans and adoption of social media marketing by an increasing number of businesses, getting noticed online is becoming harder. As in the case of Instagram, with its simple image posting setup and lack of other resources (as post links) getting outstanding results is becoming harder. According to SproutSocial, 71% of businesses use Instagram for marketing. As you can see the competition for attention is fierce.

This is why some marketing managers started automating their social media accounts with the help dedicated software. Through these automation tools, the best-performing managers understood that they can manage not one, but several social media accounts. And craft different messages without compromising one individual account. To do so, they use automation tools connected through Instagram proxies. This type of setup allows to a marketing manager to automate several accounts at the same time and control them through one single tool. We all know what is a social media automation tool.

But not many managers are aware that certain social media automation tools need proxies for Instagram to function correctly and generate superior returns. We asked Chris from BestProxyProviders to give us a detailed account of what these proxies are and how they are used for social media in general. And Instagram in particular.

What are Instagram proxies

First, let’s see what a proxy is. According to Wikipedia, a proxy is a server that acts as an intermediary for its user’s requests. In other words, using a proxy you can send requests and commands to websites. And as each request is handled by a proxy server, the website recognizes the proxy server and its IP as the user. This is a simple, yet powerful information to take it. Basically, each proxy server provides its user with an IP address that he can use.

In the beginning, proxy servers were used only for privacy and anonymity. But as the Internet developed, marketers started using proxies for research and marketing projects. This is how Instagram proxies came into existence. They are developed for and used by marketers to automate several social media accounts at the same time.

There are only a few proxy providers offering Instagram proxies because social networks are some of the most restrictive websites. And most regular private proxies are blocked on these networks. This is why, Instagram proxies, together with other social media packages, are virgin private proxies. This means, that these private proxies have clean IPs and were never used before. This is a crucial aspect and is the main reason why social media proxies, like Instagram ones, are some of the more expensive proxy packages available today. Their ability to connect a marketer’s accounts securely comes at a premium, which many are willing to pay.

Why you need proxies for Instagram

Marketing managers controlling only one Instagram proxy from one single PC or smartphone don’t need to worry about using private proxies or any dedicated IP address. However, there is another issue with managers that have several accounts under management.

Instagram and other social networks limit the number of accounts managed from one single IP address to 5. In other words, if a manager controls 10 Instagram accounts, he risks having some or all of his accounts blocked by the social network.

To put it simply, proxies for Instagram are used to connect an Instagram account permanently through a single dedicated IP address (of the proxy server), in this way, one manager can control several accounts. And vice-versa, one Instagram account can be managed by several managers or employees working remotely.

When Instagram proxies are used

Managers with a big portfolio of accounts have to use Instagram proxies and forward each account’s actions through the dedicated IP address of the proxy server. Limiting and isolating each account. In this way, each account is treated individually and the risk of having multiple accounts blocked is limited.

Not only managers with several accounts under management use Instagram proxies. Another common use case for Instagram proxies is for companies employing remote social media managers. In this case, if the manager works remotely from a different county, he risks blocking the company’s social media account because security checks will (unintentionally and wrongly) consider his connection as a suspicious and unsecured one. In this case, proxies for Instagram are used to tie the Instagram accounts to one dedicated IP address. In this way, both the company and the social media manager working abroad can forward their account through the proxy server.

Advantages of automation social media marketing

One great benefit generated by social media automation is time. I am not talking about idle time, but more about the extra time saved now, that was previously used for manually managing the social media account. Now, this extra time can be employed to develop other social media accounts.

Here are a few advantages of automating and developing several social media accounts:

– Reach a larger audience

– Better A/B tests and more precise results

– Focus on individual marketing verticals with targeted accounts

These are the main advantages of automating social media marketing and developing several accounts through Instagram proxies.

In other words, by automating social media and using automation software and proxies for Instagram, you can reach a larger audience with a better-focused marketing message. Similarly, you can address a message to the same audience, but through several accounts. This is a great way of capturing follower’s attention and boosting your brand’s engagement.

If we consider Pew Research Center’s findings that 32% of teenagers consider Instagram the most influential social network; we can see how automation and developing a clear message is a must.

How an e-commerce business uses Instagram proxies

Here’s a quick and simple example of how a regular, fashion website can use Instagram proxies to automate and manage several accounts to target different demographics.

In our example, the marketing manager of the fashion website creates, develops individual accounts for each product’s category. And automate these accounts by using private proxies for Instagram. Hence, he creates accounts for :

1. Men casual wear Account
2. Men footwear Account
2. Women cocktail dresses Account
3. Women casual wear Account
4. Women footwear Account
5. Men accessories Account
6. Women bags Account
7. Events fashion Account
8. Street Fashion Account

As you can see, even if there are one single website and one marketing manager, by dividing the website’s categories and creating one account for each category, the marketing message, promotions, custom hashtags and new inventory are better addressed and targeted.

There are a total of 9 accounts for which it’s best to use 9 Instagram proxies. In this way, each account is connected separately to the social network.

These accounts, with a focused and targeted message, will have a higher engagement than other, less focused accounts.

A few words on the dark side of automation

Unfortunately, sometimes automation is not used responsibly by some managers. Some marketing managers abuse the power of Instagram proxies to automate several accounts and spam the social network with irrelevant messages.

However, this shouldn’t be an issue for the conscious marketer looking to spread his company’s marketing message and increase its reach. For this, Instagram proxies, like other tools can be used responsibly.

To sum up

Instagram proxies are virgin private proxies used for connecting accounts to the social network. Not any marketing manager needs Instagram proxies. But they are a requirement for managers looking to develop and manage several accounts at the same time. For this type of automation, private proxies for Instagram are used to connect each individual account through its dedicated IP address. At the same time, some Instagram accounts are managed at the same time by several people located in different cities or countries. In this case, Instagram proxies are used to avoid blocking the account.

About the Author

Chris Roark: https://www.bestproxyproviders.com/author/bpp/

Addicted to anything tech-related. I write about innovation, automation, marketing and technology. I have a passion for discovering and experiencing new technologies.