Background: Media Booster was born during the early days of Instagram, providing an automated solution to help accounts grow their follower base. At the time, Instagram's algorithms were more open to engagement automation, allowing Media Booster to offer highly effective follower growth strategies through automation. However, as Instagram evolved and became stricter with automated behaviors, the platform had to adapt constantly to stay ahead of changes, which ultimately led to Media Booster's decline as the social platform's rules shifted.

The Key Goal: The objective of Media Booster was simple but ambitious: to help Instagram users rapidly grow their follower numbers through targeted engagement. By automating interactions such as follows and likes, Media Booster allowed its users to reach a broader audience, build engagement, and establish their brand presence on Instagram—all without spending hours every day on manual outreach.

However, we were both busy individuals, so we set Media Booster up to largely be self service for our users. Very rarely did we need to communicate with our users at all, as we used only inbound SEO marketing and some sporadic usage of other channels like social, and users would sign up for trials, enter their card details, and continue to use the service. While this wasn’t ancient history, this was definitely a very early taste of automated income for me, no matter what I did, I could rely on income from the website always.

The Implementation:

Follower Growth Techniques: At the core of Media Booster's strategy was automated engagement. My Ukrainian business partner, Alexander, was a technical genius and personally developed all the automation tools we used. By focusing on targeted follower interactions—such as likes, follows, and comments based on specific hashtags—we helped clients grow their accounts organically. This strategic use of hashtags allowed us to connect our clients' accounts with audiences that were already interested in their niche, boosting their visibility.

Automation Technology: The Media Booster website ran on PHP, and through my work with Alexander, I developed a rudimentary understanding of the language. Alexander’s backend automation scripts enabled Media Booster to take control of client accounts, executing outbound interactions that drew attention and initiated engagement. Simply automating these fundamental actions created significant growth for our clients, with many accounts going from almost no followers to tens, or even hundreds, of thousands.

Challenges: Working in the automation space for Instagram was always a game of cat and mouse. Instagram continually updated its policies and algorithms to crack down on automated behavior, which meant that Media Booster had to evolve rapidly to keep up. Maintaining effective automation while avoiding account suspensions was a constant challenge, but it was also part of what kept Media Booster on the cutting edge.

Outcome: Media Booster achieved remarkable results for its clients during its time. We successfully grew numerous accounts to hundreds of thousands of followers, helping individuals and brands build their presence at a time when Instagram growth was less about advertising spend and more about genuine engagement. The platform had a wide user base and generated substantial recurring revenue from clients willing to invest in this growth strategy.

The results we achieved were a testament to the effectiveness of automating engagement in the early days of Instagram, but as the platform evolved and tightened its policies around automation, Media Booster’s success began to wane. Nonetheless, the impact we had during our peak showcased how automation could be harnessed effectively to provide real value to social media users, helping them achieve visibility and reach in an increasingly crowded digital landscape.

Conclusion

Media Booster’s story is one of early innovation, a successful entry into the nascent world of Instagram automation, and a reflection of the adaptability required to stay relevant in social media. By leveraging targeted engagement techniques and building a robust automation platform, we helped countless accounts achieve substantial follower growth and brand recognition. Though Instagram's changing policies eventually caught up with the automation model, the foundational growth we provided for our clients during the platform's formative years was impactful and enduring, proving the power of well-implemented automation in social media marketing.