Scaling IG DM outreach to 3k/month (niche B2B) - deliverability + workflow/automation questions

[vnml123]

Hey BHW, new here and asking for some help!
I run a brand selling into university societies, so it’s a pretty niche but highly engaged audience.

Up until now I’ve been doing Instagram outreach manually and it’s worked well:

• ~5% reply rate
• ~2% conversion rate
• ~£2.5k revenue per converted lead

The issue is consistency. When things get busy, outreach drops off completely - so I’m trying to systemise/scale it.

Current plan (high level):

• Clean + prioritised data
• Multiple aged IG accounts (I have ~40 but will start with just a few)
• 30-40 DMs/day/account to avoid bans
• Basic sequence:
  • Day 1: Follow account and like a few photos
  • Day 2: short curiosity hook DM
  • Day 6: social proof follow-up DM
  • Day 9: Comment to say I DMed them
  • Day 13: soft close
• Target: ~3k DMs/month

I’m looking to test tools like https://www.colddms.com/ / https://www.usewave.co/ / https://igdm.me/ but running into a few concerns:

Questions:

- Deliverability: How are people making sure DMs don’t land in hidden requests? Is warming accounts (follow → like → DM) still necessary, and if so how are you doing this at scale when most tools don’t support it properly? (not a feature in ColdDMs or Wave)
- Account health: With multiple accounts, what are realistic safe limits now? Is 20–30 DMs/day still conservative enough in 2026? Assume separate browsers with proxies is all thats needed here?
- Scaling signal: Right now I’m thinking: → double down once reply rate stays >5% with no bans Does that sound like the right trigger? These tools are expensive at $100 per account per month
- Unique Messages: Again, these tools don't seem to support custom messages. I want to connect Claude Haiku to write slightly differentiated messages each time to help account health.
- Vibecoding: I'm also playing around with making my own solution here with claude code/cowork that would really fit my exact needs. Anyone else tried the same?

Not selling anything here - just trying to build a system that doesn’t fall apart when I’m busy! (Disclaimer - did use ChatGPT to help me format my braindump nicely)
Would appreciate any insights from people running IG outreach at scale, especially in niche B2B.

TLDR: What should I use for automating my cold instagram outreach

 

[vnml123]

Since posting I've been doing some reading around the forum...
- Instafly seems useful (unfortunately I'm mac so a bit longer to setup & requires a vps which idk if that would affect when opening tabs in browser)
- Perfect.studio looks good for when scaling up - don't think I need that crazy level of volume yet
- Geelark maybe is an option and I can buy automation scripts in there? Looks a bit confusing to setup
- Havoc.app is good for manually doing the outreach and is the container for holding multiple profiles ?

Any tips / advice here is much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Social Swarm]

The tools you're looking at are overpriced for what they do. $100/account/month is insane when you can get the same results with better control

Your warm-up sequence is solid but you're missing the account foundation. Those 40 accounts - where'd they come from? If they're fresh or bought without proper aging, you'll burn through them fast. Account quality matters more than the automation tool

For deliverability into main inbox instead of requests: the account needs to look real. Real profile, posts, followers, following. If you're DMing from blank accounts, you're already in request folder territory. The follow → like → DM sequence helps but it's not magic if the account looks sus

20-30 DMs/day is conservative, yeah. But it depends on account trust. An aged account with real activity could push to 40. A fresh account might get clapped at 10. Test in small batches first

For automation at your scale, you're overthinking it. You don't need Perfect Studio's infrastructure for 3k DMs/month. Look into Onimator or SuSocial - they handle the warm-up actions and DM sequences properly. Both work on Mac

The unique message thing - most tools let you spin messages with variables. You don't need Claude for basic personalization. Just use {firstname}, {company}, spin syntax. If you really want AI messages, build a simple webhook that generates them and feeds into whatever tool you pick

Your vibe about building custom is valid but unnecessary at this scale. You'll spend weeks building what already exists. Focus on the revenue side first, optimize the tech later when you're doing 10k+ DMs/month

Proxies matter more than the tool. Get mobile proxies, not datacenter. Rotate between logins. One account per proxy ideally

Reply rate trigger makes sense but also watch for: account bans, DMs going to requests (ask a few leads), engagement on warm-up actions dropping. Those are earlier signals than reply rate

Skip the browser automation route entirely btw. Too many moving parts. Mobile emulation is more stable and looks more authentic to Instagram

Another angle worth considering: apify actors, skrapior .com or igleads .ai to get email and then contact them through cold email. Multiply touch points. DM + email hits different than just DMs. Plus email automation is way more mature and cheaper than IG automation

 

[vnml123]

The tools you're looking at are overpriced for what they do. $100/account/month is insane when you can get the same results with better control

Your warm-up sequence is solid but you're missing the account foundation. Those 40 accounts - where'd they come from? If they're fresh or bought without proper aging, you'll burn through them fast. Account quality matters more than the automation tool

For deliverability into main inbox instead of requests: the account needs to look real. Real profile, posts, followers, following. If you're DMing from blank accounts, you're already in request folder territory. The follow → like → DM sequence helps but it's not magic if the account looks sus

20-30 DMs/day is conservative, yeah. But it depends on account trust. An aged account with real activity could push to 40. A fresh account might get clapped at 10. Test in small batches first

For automation at your scale, you're overthinking it. You don't need Perfect Studio's infrastructure for 3k DMs/month. Look into Onimator or SuSocial - they handle the warm-up actions and DM sequences properly. Both work on Mac

The unique message thing - most tools let you spin messages with variables. You don't need Claude for basic personalization. Just use {firstname}, {company}, spin syntax. If you really want AI messages, build a simple webhook that generates them and feeds into whatever tool you pick

Your vibe about building custom is valid but unnecessary at this scale. You'll spend weeks building what already exists. Focus on the revenue side first, optimize the tech later when you're doing 10k+ DMs/month

Proxies matter more than the tool. Get mobile proxies, not datacenter. Rotate between logins. One account per proxy ideally

Reply rate trigger makes sense but also watch for: account bans, DMs going to requests (ask a few leads), engagement on warm-up actions dropping. Those are earlier signals than reply rate

Skip the browser automation route entirely btw. Too many moving parts. Mobile emulation is more stable and looks more authentic to Instagram

Another angle worth considering: apify actors, skrapior .com or igleads .ai to get email and then contact them through cold email. Multiply touch points. DM + email hits different than just DMs. Plus email automation is way more mature and cheaper than IG automation

Hey, thanks so much for your detailed response!

40 accs - all from 2020/21 - bought from random websites then nurtured with posts, follow 4 follow, commenting etc - probs havent used most in a few years so defo need to be warmed up again

accounts look good - private with good post count / follow/following (friends which insta is starting to role out) / bio etc - accounts all look real 100% and like normal people the targets would want to chat to - confident in that

Thanks for these recommendations! Haven't heard of Onimator or SuSocial yet so super keen to research them more

agree with wasting time building the whole infrastructure - tbh i think ive been lacking finding the right tools so thanks for your help here

heard a lot in here about mobile proxies - will do. rotate between logins - e.g. on the same account - new mobile proxy per login?

noted on browser automation & these other suggestions - gonna look into those tools then hit you back with a bunch more questions haha, thanks!!

 

[Turo]

Hey! I’m trying to do exactly the same, It’s being hard to not get ban, I have some aged accounts but I’m not using it because I want to be sure that they won’t get banned. I have the system to do cold dms, logins and everything, but I already burned like 10 accounts (new accounts) that I used to try the system, still don’t get it done with the IPS I think… if you have any new info I will be glad to know it

 

[OllieS]

The tools you're looking at are overpriced for what they do. $100/account/month is insane when you can get the same results with better control

Your warm-up sequence is solid but you're missing the account foundation. Those 40 accounts - where'd they come from? If they're fresh or bought without proper aging, you'll burn through them fast. Account quality matters more than the automation tool

For deliverability into main inbox instead of requests: the account needs to look real. Real profile, posts, followers, following. If you're DMing from blank accounts, you're already in request folder territory. The follow → like → DM sequence helps but it's not magic if the account looks sus

20-30 DMs/day is conservative, yeah. But it depends on account trust. An aged account with real activity could push to 40. A fresh account might get clapped at 10. Test in small batches first

For automation at your scale, you're overthinking it. You don't need Perfect Studio's infrastructure for 3k DMs/month. Look into Onimator or SuSocial - they handle the warm-up actions and DM sequences properly. Both work on Mac

The unique message thing - most tools let you spin messages with variables. You don't need Claude for basic personalization. Just use {firstname}, {company}, spin syntax. If you really want AI messages, build a simple webhook that generates them and feeds into whatever tool you pick

Your vibe about building custom is valid but unnecessary at this scale. You'll spend weeks building what already exists. Focus on the revenue side first, optimize the tech later when you're doing 10k+ DMs/month

Proxies matter more than the tool. Get mobile proxies, not datacenter. Rotate between logins. One account per proxy ideally

Reply rate trigger makes sense but also watch for: account bans, DMs going to requests (ask a few leads), engagement on warm-up actions dropping. Those are earlier signals than reply rate

Skip the browser automation route entirely btw. Too many moving parts. Mobile emulation is more stable and looks more authentic to Instagram

Another angle worth considering: apify actors, skrapior .com or igleads .ai to get email and then contact them through cold email. Multiply touch points. DM + email hits different than just DMs. Plus email automation is way more mature and cheaper than IG automation

My only bottle neck is deliverability, I have generated $40k+ in rev from IG dms before hidden inboxes existed, however since IG have introduced them I can't get around it and believe me I have tried everything. Mobile proxies, aged accounts with good warmup procedure, real profile, followers, following etc and even tried sending from accounts that were verified with blue tick and still going into the hidden inbox. I don't want to give up on the model completely because I was making good money from it, but I need a break through on this. Anyone have any ideas not already mentioned?

 

[vnml123]

My only bottle neck is deliverability, I have generated $40k+ in rev from IG dms before hidden inboxes existed, however since IG have introduced them I can't get around it and believe me I have tried everything. Mobile proxies, aged accounts with good warmup procedure, real profile, followers, following etc and even tried sending from accounts that were verified with blue tick and still going into the hidden inbox. I don't want to give up on the model completely because I was making good money from it, but I need a break through on this. Anyone have any ideas not already mentioned?

Hey! What tools have you been using? / how have they been?
Been getting banned with fanzella but not with IGdm pro. Its a much simpler tool but seems to be working so far with sending out around 30 dms per day.

RE your issue with hidden DMs, have you tried commenting to tell them you've DMed them? That way they still get a notification.
People keep telling me this will just lead to bans but I feel like you could do it with loads of variation in the message as long as it communicates the same thing (so it doesnt look spammy to insta) and then work it into a standard account warm-up flow.
My problem with this is that no tool seems to have all of these elements unfortunately and then I feel like using multiple different tools will lead to bans (but maybe not if they use the same mobile proxy)

 

[vnml123]

Hey! I’m trying to do exactly the same, It’s being hard to not get ban, I have some aged accounts but I’m not using it because I want to be sure that they won’t get banned. I have the system to do cold dms, logins and everything, but I already burned like 10 accounts (new accounts) that I used to try the system, still don’t get it done with the IPS I think… if you have any new info I will be glad to know it

Hey! what do you mean by "still don’t get it done with the IPS I think"?

IGdm pro has been working for me but also haven't scaled it up yet because want to be sure it doesnt lead to bans yet. What tools have you been using and whats your feedback on them so far?

 

[taktikbot]

Those dormant 2020/21 accounts need a proper re-warm before touching DMs, at least 1-2 weeks of organic activity first or they'll get flagged fast even at 2-3 DMs/day. Mobile emulation > browser automation at this scale. 75 DMs/account/month is very conservative, you can push harder once the warm is solid.

 

[vnml123]

Those dormant 2020/21 accounts need a proper re-warm before touching DMs, at least 1-2 weeks of organic activity first or they'll get flagged fast even at 2-3 DMs/day. Mobile emulation > browser automation at this scale. 75 DMs/account/month is very conservative, you can push harder once the warm is solid.

I just set one account to warm-up on fanzella but it got banned within a day, any suggestions of tools to use for warming up & ideally can also do all the outreach on as well?

 

[taktikbot]

I just set one account to warm-up on fanzella but it got banned within a day, any suggestions of tools to use for warming up & ideally can also do all the outreach on as well?

If it got banned within a day, I’d look more at the warm-up, device trust, and IP consistency before blaming the tool itself. With old dormant accounts, I’d usually do 7–14 days of normal organic activity first, then start outreach very slowly. The kind of setup I personally prefer is in my signature.

 

[Turo]

I’ve been vibe coding with my own setup using Adspower and Playwright, one profile per account plus an IPS-type proxy. It works well; I set up a 4 day warm up period, and after that, it sends 5 messages per day, then scales up to 30. But my accounts kept getting banned, so now I’ve set up a more gradual warm up to let the accounts warm up properly, and we’ll see how it goes. But I’m not using any services, I’m wary of giving my login info to third parties. My plan is to automate account creation and cold DMs to sell services.

A lot of the research I've done suggests that using real phones is the best solution for account security, but not so much in terms of scalability.

I'll look into IGdm Pro a bit, maybe the best solution isn't to build my own software but to hire someone who already knows how to do it, as Social Swarm suggested.

 

[Turo]

btw i've all my setup in a VPS using headless browsers, not in phones.

 

[vnml123]

I’ve been vibe coding with my own setup using Adspower and Playwright, one profile per account plus an IPS-type proxy. It works well; I set up a 4 day warm up period, and after that, it sends 5 messages per day, then scales up to 30. But my accounts kept getting banned, so now I’ve set up a more gradual warm up to let the accounts warm up properly, and we’ll see how it goes. But I’m not using any services, I’m wary of giving my login info to third parties. My plan is to automate account creation and cold DMs to sell services.

A lot of the research I've done suggests that using real phones is the best solution for account security, but not so much in terms of scalability.

I'll look into IGdm Pro a bit, maybe the best solution isn't to build my own software but to hire someone who already knows how to do it, as Social Swarm suggested.

thats sick, i was also debating vibe coding my own solution for my specific needs. From doing research around this thread, it seems headless is the problem vs in phones - geelark seems to be the solution to fix that where you can make your own automations and i wonder if claude code could make its own automations in there that would be the solution.

Are the accounts you're using brand new? that could be part of the problem, maybe test buying some aged ones

 

[Turo]

Geelark seems a bit pricey to me for scaling up to 30–40 accounts

 

[ToyBox Marketing]

In case you plan to warmup accounts, using API dashboards might flag the profiles; look into real device automation, and that should help.

 

[vnml123]

In case you plan to warmup accounts, using API dashboards might flag the profiles; look into real device automation, and that should help.

Thanks! Any tools you would recommend?

 

[boianon]

Thanks! Any tools you would recommend?

Hey check out my recent posts I have this same exact tool would love to get in touch and know more exactly what you have tried so far and what exactly is your method let's see if we can work together. So far it's pretty undetectable very low ban rate but even for bans we have It has detection in place to see what kind of a ban is it because some are easy to resolve and it does that automatically

 

[Turo]

I bump this in case if someone have any info to add

 

[wanderingelephant]

Very interesting thread; keen to hear if any updated thoughts given Insta's recent ban wave