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An Instagram sender lets your sequences follow, like, comment on and message people on Instagram, and brings their replies into the same Inbox as your other channels. The account owner signs in on a secure sign-in page, so GrowthxAI never sees or stores their password.
Only Owners and Managers can connect senders.

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Before you start

  • GrowthxAI Outreach is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.
  • Automating an Instagram account can breach Instagram’s terms. The account owner carries the risk of a warning or restriction. A disabled Instagram account can’t be recovered.
  • Instagram is the strictest channel we run. Volume is low on purpose: no more than 10 actions an hour and 100 a day, even on a mature account. See Channel Limits & Restrictions.
  • Only connect accounts whose owners have agreed.

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How to connect

  1. Go to Senders and click Connect sender.
  2. Under What would you like to connect?, choose Instagram, tick the box confirming you have the account owner’s permission, and click Continue.
  3. Fill in the account details:
    • Display name: how the account appears in lists and the Inbox, for example @acme.studio. The real handle is filled in once the account is connected.
    • Owner email: the person who owns the account. We email them here if the account ever needs to be signed in again.
    • Timezone: outreach is sent during the owner’s working hours in this timezone.
    • Client (optional): the client this account works for. Leave it as No client to share the account across the workspace.
  4. Read the How Instagram ramps up note, then click Continue.
  5. Click Connect Instagram. You’ll be taken to a secure sign-in page. Sign in with the Instagram username and password, and complete any code Instagram asks for. Then return to GrowthxAI to finish connecting.
The sender appears straight away as Connecting. It turns Connected once the sign-in is complete. The handle, follower count and inbox history follow within a few minutes.
The sign-in link expires after 15 minutes. If it expires, go back and create a new one.

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Connecting someone else’s account?

Don’t open the link yourself. Click Copy sign-in link and send it to the account owner so they can sign in themselves. See How to Securely Connect Someone Else’s LinkedIn Account for the same approach in more detail.

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What happens after connecting

A new Instagram sender starts at warm-up level 0: Levels rise as the sender’s health stays high, and every level keeps to 10 actions an hour. The daily total grows from 15 at level 0 to 100 at level 5. The full table is in Channel Limits & Restrictions. The sender works during its working hours, one to four minutes between actions, at random times. You can change the hours on its Schedule tab.

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Using an Instagram sender in a sequence

Instagram outreach works best as a ladder, not a cold message:
  1. Follow the person.
  2. Like a recent post or two.
  3. Wait for a follow-back.
  4. Send a message. If they don’t follow back, comment on a post first, then message.
The Instagram engagement ladder template in the sequence builder sets this up for you. See Sequence Templates. Add the Instagram sender to the sequence’s Pool so the steps have an account to run from. The Instagram steps are described in Sequence Nodes. Instagram is low-volume and high-touch. An account keeps roughly 40 leads in flight at a time, so don’t expect LinkedIn volumes. Replies you send yourself from the Inbox don’t count toward any limit.

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What you’ll see on the sender

  • Senders list: for an Instagram sender, today’s New conversations and Follows (used / cap), plus how many actions are left this hour.
  • Overview tab: the account’s Handle (a link to the profile), Followers, warm-up level and health.
  • Budgets tab: a Total actions today row for the whole day, a This hour card, and the warm-up caps for each level. You can set a lower manual cap on any action. You can’t go above the platform ceiling.
  • Profile and Session tabs don’t appear. They are for LinkedIn senders only.

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”Instagram sent a warning”

If Instagram shows its “we suspect automated behavior” warning, the sender page shows a banner with Instagram’s exact wording. GrowthxAI treats it as a signal:
  1. The sender is paused for 48 hours and drops one warm-up level.
  2. A manager can click Resume anyway on the banner and confirm. Do this only if you accept the risk, and check with the account owner or client first.
A 48-hour pause costs a couple of days. Ignoring a warning can cost the account.

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Reconnecting

If Instagram ends the session, the sender shows Re-login needed and its actions are held. Open the sender, go to the Overview tab and click Send re-login link, or Sign in now if you’re the owner. The re-login link lasts 1 hour. See Sender Statuses and Errors. Instagram doesn’t need a recorded consent before a message. Consent is shown on the lead where it’s known, but it doesn’t block anything. The engagement ladder and the hourly limit are what keep the account safe.

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Troubleshooting

1. “Hosted login did not complete”
  • The sign-in was cancelled or the link expired.
✅ Solution: Open the sender and generate a fresh link. If you’re not a Manager, ask one to send it. 2. The sender is stuck on Connecting
  • The sign-in wasn’t finished, or Instagram is waiting on a code.
✅ Solution: Generate a new link and complete the sign-in, including any code Instagram sends, within 15 minutes. 3. Steps are waiting even though the sender is Connected
  • The hourly limit is used up, the sender is on a 48-hour pause, or it’s still at level 0 and the step is a message or comment.
✅ Solution: Open the sender and click Why isn’t this sending? on the Overview tab. It gives the exact reason in plain words. 4. “Trial workspaces can connect up to 3 senders”
  • Trials are limited to 3 active senders.
✅ Solution: Add billing under Settings → Billing to connect more. See Pricing Plans.