Alexis Kestler
Driving brand awareness and sales through Instagram marketing is more crucial than ever. But simply having a profile isn‘t enough. To truly maximize reach and ROI, the top brands invest in specialized Instagram growth services.
These agencies are the wizard behind the curtain – fine-tuning targeting, streamlining messaging, providing graphic design, identifying influencers, and handling day-to-day optimization so you can focus solely on big-picture strategy.
But with so many Instagram marketing companies promising the world, it‘s tough to identify the ones that deliver real, lasting value at fair prices.
Well, today is your lucky day! I‘ve compiled the definitive guide to 40 of the best Instagram marketing services to consider across key categories:
Influencer Marketing to drive brand awareness and loyalty
Organic Growth Services for more followers and visibility
DM Outreach Services to boost leads and sales
I‘m thrilled to share the inside scoop from my decade-plus as a leading social media marketing expert. Let‘s dive in!
Why Instagram Marketing Services Matter
Over 1 billion people actively use Instagram every month. For context, that‘s over 3x more than Twitter‘s user base!
And Instagram offers some of the highest engagement rates across all social platforms:
| Platform | Avg. Engagement Rate |
|---|---|
| 0.09% | |
| 1.1% | |
| 0.048% |
With such a massive, invested audience ready to discover brands and products, it‘s no wonder over 200 million businesses have Instagram profiles.
But sadly, most brands see mediocre results, at best. Just having an account isn‘t enough anymore.
To truly make Instagram marketing work in 2023 and beyond, partnering with a specialized growth service is crucial.
These agencies take care of the heavy lifting – identifying influencers, planning killer content, optimizing hashtags, handling follower outreach – enabling you to focus solely on your core business.
And I would know. Over the past decade, I‘ve helped Fortune 500 brands and agile startups alike unlock their Instagram potential. I‘ve also thoroughly evaluated countless services to find the ones that offer maximum value.
Now, I can‘t wait to introduce you to my top recommendations across three categories…
1. Top Influencer Marketing Services
Influencer marketing on Instagram can be supercharged by working with the right service. Not only do they help identify and recruit relevant creators, they streamline communications, provide campaign tracking, and ensure content aligns to your brand guidelines.
#1 Ainfluencer
I can‘t say enough good things about Ainfluencer. Offering a sleek, intuitive dashboard and influencer marketplace, it makes each campaign step effortless – from establishing goals to measuring ROI.
I‘m especially blown away by Ainfluencer‘s Spotlight feature. Powered by proprietary AI, it filters through over 15 million creators to instantly pinpoint the most relevant options matching your niche, esthetics, content types and more.
This ensures you avoid wasting time vetting lackluster macro-influencers without an audience overlap. Most competitors can‘t compete with Ainfluencer‘s level of smart targeting and customization.
Key Benefits & Features:
- Brand Growth: 300%+ increase in traffic and revenue for partners
- Spotlight Technology: Identifies best-fit influencers
- Risk-Free Payouts: Funds released post-campaign
- Robust Analytics: Track 10+ engagement and sales KPIs
- In-App Chat: Built-in messaging and negotiations
Over 5,000 brands including Mattel, Universal Music, and Adidas rely on Ainfluencer to boost awareness and loyalty through influencer partnerships.
I wholeheartedly endorse Ainfluencer to any brand ready to maximize their influencer program potential.
#2 Grin
Grin takes an intelligent, highly-targeted approach by integrating directly with your ecommerce platform.
Pulling insights on existing customer interests and behaviors, Grin can automatically pinpoint micro and macro-influencers already organically talking about your products.
This level of laser-focused demographic alignment ensures collaborations directly speak to your best buyer avatars. Expect exceptionally high ERs and conversion uplift.
Grin also enables easy CRM integration, campaign templating to ensure brand consistency, and multi-platform support beyond Instagram.
Key Benefits & Features:
- 355M+ Influencers: Huge partner pool
- Plug & Play Setup: API connections to leading ecommerce platforms
- Multi-Network Support: Broad channel flexibility
- Templatized Campaigns: Maintains brand consistency
With intuitive workflows, transparency, and automation powering cross-channel efforts, Grin is a leading choice. I suggest Grin for digitally-native DTC ecommerce brands marketing via influencers.
#3 Julius
Julius has an immense network of over 124,000 verified partners across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and more.
Unlike some competitors relying on sheer size over quality, Julius influencers must pass an extensive vetting and auditing process first. This ensures creators have legitimately invested followers that actually engage, not inflated vanity metrics.
Julius really excels at campaign transparency. Its intuitive dashboard offers real-time tracking of engagement rates, clicks, conversions and more. I appreciate how they focus on full-funnel metrics vs vanity views or follows alone.
This clear visibility coupled with their hands-on Creator Relations team makes every campaign iteration moreimpactful.
Key Benefits & Features:
- Dashboard Analytics: Real-time campaign tracking
- Moderated Influencers: Ensures quality creators
- Creative Services: Dedicated content production
I suggest Julius for brands who value transparency, expecting mid-to-upper funnel conversions from IG influencer initiatives.
#4 AspireIQ
Complimenting campaign efforts, AspireIQ provides immense value simply as an always-on influencer discovery tool.
Leveraging machine learning, AspireIQ assesses over 250 million public profiles to instantly suggest on-brand creators. You can filter by followers, engagement metrics, keyword relevancy and more to populate tailored lists.
I love playing around with AspireIQ‘s Instant Match feature – think Tinder for influencers – to uncover hidden gems.
The platform really excels for brands eager to identify genuine nano and micro-influencers that organically love their offerings – not inflated celebrities.
Key Benefits & Features:
- 250M+ Profiles Analyzed: Discover fresh faces
- Instant Match: Quickly find new partners
- Free Profile Access: Affordable for all
Even without running full-scale campaigns, AspireIQ is an invaluable tool for sourcing authentic advocates and unlocking the long tail. Well worth the free trial!
#5 IZEA
A longtime leader, IZEA delivers with influencer partnerships across social, streaming and blogs.
I especially appreciate their Managed Service offering. IZEA‘s experts handle influencer relationships end-to-end – from talent sourcing and outreach to content strategy, approvals, publishing and reporting.
This full-service access ensures busy marketing teams avoid campaign bottlenecks. Expect white-glove partnership facilitation and powder-keg content built for max conversions.
Key Benefits & Features:
- 15M+ Analyzed Influencers: Broad talent pool
- Managed Campaigns: Full-service option
- Multi-Platform: Expands beyond Instagram
- Audience Guarantee: Ensures minimum reach
Given their immense network, tenured industry expertise and flexibility, IZEA is a top contender for enterprise brands.
Notable Mentions
While my top five influencer-focused Instagram marketing services take gold, these remaining recommendations deserve shoutouts:
- Traackr: Robust CRM to manage relationships
- Upfluence: Budget-friendly for SMBs
- NeoReach: Made for major brands
- Captiv8: Impressive campaign analytics
- CreatorIQ: Identifies hidden gem influencers via AI
2. Best Organic Instagram Growth Services
While influencers can move the needle, investing in dedicated organic growth services takes account visibility to the next level. Specialized agencies focus solely on expanding authentic reach and engagement through strategic following, liking, commenting and more.
#1 Kicksta
Kicksta dominates the Instagram growth space – and for good reason. Custom-tailored following and engagement strategies ensure you attract genuinely interested new followers daily.
Leveraging proprietary AI, Kicksta identifies ideal user profiles based on existing followers and competitors so outreach feels organic, not overly-promotional. They target slowly and steadily, growing accounts the right way.
I‘m floored by their hyper-detailed targeting capabilities filtering by interests, behaviors, geography, gender and more. Such precision results in best-in-class conversion rates and 80% higher ERs for partners on average.
Key Benefits & Features:
-
AI Targeting Engine: Filters 500M+ profiles
-
Slow & Steady: Maintains integrity
-
80% Higher ERs: Achieves unrivaled bottom-line impact
-
Dedicated Reps: Provide optimization guidance
-
Case Study: Grown from 0 to 160K+ real, engaged followers in months!
For unmatched account growth with performance to prove it, I fully stand behind proven winner Kicksta.
#2 Later
A beloved Instagram scheduling platform, Later also offers organic growth capabilities like strategic following/unfollowing, analytics-based targeting, niche hashtag surfacing and more.
Later really completes the full marketing package – enabling both Evergreen content production and audience expansion.
I especially appreciate Later‘s Linkin.bio integration that pushes site visitors to opt-in for email and SMS. This tightens the loop between IG growth to owned channels for sustained impact.
Key Benefits & Features:
- Unified Platform: Scheduling + Growth
- Channel Continuity: IG to email/SMS
- Link Tracking: Measures IG traffic value
- Saved Captions: Maintains continuity
For general social marketers eager to expand Instagram visibility, Later balances automation with strategic support quite nicely.
#3 Combin
Newer to market, Combin has aggressively onboarded talent and tech to compete as a growth leader.
Combin‘s AI combs through Instagram daily to identify high potential targets – users actively engaging with related hashtags and profiles aligned to your niche. Outreach priorities those likely to follow back and engaged.
Conversion-focused by design, Combin also provides commentary on ideal UGC content opportunities and scheduling advice to make the most of new followers.
They offer very balanced organic growth starting at just $49/mo – affordable for most SMB budgets.
Key Benefits & Features:
- AI-Powered Targeting: Filters 500M+ profiles
- UGC & Scheduling Tips: Maximize conversions
- Beginner-Friendly: Simple 5-min daily use
- Cost-Effective Plans: Great for SMBs
I suggest Combin for brands eager to expand reach efficiently without a huge effort lift or costs. Their automation makes growth simple.
Notable Mentions
While Kicksta, Later and Combin lead my organic growth recommendations, these bonus services deliver value:
- Upleap: Hands-on dedicated account manager
- Growthsilo: Slow drip targeting focused on retention
- NinjaOutreach: Full-funnel approach from discovery to sales
- Ingramer: Cost-effective automation for SMBs
3. Top Instagram DM Marketing Services
Rounding out critical Instagram marketing capabilities, DM outreach services enable brands to engage followers and prospects at scale via direct messaging with conversions in mind.
#1 Chatmatic
A clear category leader, Chatmatic makes opening one-to-one conversations effortless at volume.
Their AI streamlines identifying ideal targets, initiating discussions, scheduling follow-ups, and tracking replies. All based on proven templates and workflows that convert.
I especially appreciate Chatmatic‘s advanced segmentation capabilities. You can get ultra-targeted tailored hundreds of unique personalized journeys based on interests, behaviors, recency and more.
This level of customization ensures messaging resonates better, leading to more demo sign-ups, link clicks, profile visits and sales.
Key Benefits & Features:
- Ultra-Targeting Segments: Personalizes 1000s of Journeys
- Built-in Analytics: Tracks Opt-Ins to Sales
- Auto-Piloted: AI Handles Discussions
- Integrations: Extends Beyond Instagram
If you‘re eager to scale personalized conversations and maximize DM conversions, Chatmatic simply can‘t be beat.
#2 Kicksta
Expanding beyond its bread-and-butter organic growth capabilities, Kicksta offers effective DM automation to close the loop with new followers.
Kicksta streamlines sending quick welcome messages or offers to all new followers daily, inviting them to click-through to your site, email opt-in or make a purchase.
They template messages to maintain consistency but use variables like first name personalization to boost open and response rates dramatically. The ability to track CTRs and conversions per message guide optimization.
Key Benefits & Features:
- Message Personalization: Boosts engagement
- Follower Export: Keeps CRM up-to-date
- Metrics Focused: Site traffic to sales tracking
Kicksta eliminates the manual toil of one-to-one outreach. I suggest it for ecommerce brands fulfilling orders where tight follower communication and guidance drive repeat purchases.
#3 Phlanx
Phlanx takes a unique approach, analyzing audience content consumption to create hyper-detailed persona clusters. Campaigns target personas most likely to engage and convert.
Powered by AI, Phlanx is constantly assessing follower interests – from celebrities followed to niche hobbies and purchase intent signals. These psychographic insights ensure messaging strikes an emotional chord.
Expect 3-5x industry benchmarks for open rates and campaign ROI thanks to data-fueled personalization at scale.
Key Benefits & Features:
- AI-Powered Persona Creation: Ultra-Custom Segments
- Emotionally-Attuned: Psychographic Targeting
- 3-5x Industry Avg Campaign Performance: Proven Results
For enterprise ecommerce brands invested in personalized journeys, I highly recommend Phlanx‘s persona-aware automation.
Start Growing on Instagram Today
I hope this guide to the best Instagram marketing services across key categories – influencer, organic growth and messaging – enlightens your 2023 planning.
As you evaluated potential partners, remember to align selection criteria to your specific brand goals. With the right agency relationship focused on the appropriate objectives, expect phenomenal ROI.
Here‘s to unmatched Instagram success! Let me know if any other questions come up. Happy to help however I can as you get ramped up.
