{"id":45827,"date":"2023-10-20T15:46:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/aussie-start-up-gets-around-the-instagram-api-to-allow-users-ability-to-schedule-posts-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:46:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:38","slug":"aussie-start-up-gets-around-the-instagram-api-to-allow-users-ability-to-schedule-posts-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/aussie-start-up-gets-around-the-instagram-api-to-allow-users-ability-to-schedule-posts-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie start-up gets around the Instagram API to allow users ability to schedule posts – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Developed in three months and launched this week, Schedugram enables people to schedule posts on Instagram and manage multiple accounts, a feat Instagram has steadfastly blocked by refusing to open up their API.<\/p>\n

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Instagram describes their resistance to opening up their API as an experience and quality control measure.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe want to fight spam and low quality photos. Once we allow uploading from other sources, it’s harder to control what comes into the ecosystem,\u201d Instagram\u2019s blog reads.<\/p>\n

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Schedugram co-founder and chief executive Hugh Stephens says not enabling scheduling was a significant bug bear for almost every Instagram-using small business he knew, so they decided to find a way to make it possible.<\/p>\n

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To do so, they had to completely bypass the Instagram API. They created software that runs on the device rather than the social media platform, and automates the signing in, posting and signing out that was eating up hours for heavy Instagram users.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWorking in the social media space, we know it\u2019s very frustrating for brands because they couldn\u2019t access basic functionalities that allow companies to effectively use the platform,\u201d Stephens says.<\/p>\n

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Launched last week with a subscription model, over 50 clients with a total of just over 120 Instagram accounts are using the service.<\/p>\n

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Schedugram includes a couple of measures to ensure brands don\u2019t misuse the service and spam their followers, such as a cap of four posts an hour.<\/p>\n

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As they\u2019re working directly against the wishes of Instagram, who closed their API after a deluge of spam, Stephen says they\u2019ve invested a lot of time in assessing a range of possible responses from Instagram.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs we\u2019re working around the API rather than with it, there is a lower negligible risk in terms of Instagram getting shirty about it,\u201d Stephens says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe aren\u2019t revealing which brands are using us, because it is a risk that Instagram may block them. But in the next year or so, Instagram will be launching their advertising platform, so we think it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019d want to antagonize brands willing to invest in using their platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A similar idea forms the core of Schedugram\u2019s exit plans, which include selling to Instagram or other social media scheduling softwares such as Hootsuite.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are growing every day, and while we\u2019re going to do that slowly, in a few months we\u2019ll have a lot of brands who are willing to invest cash into Instagram and that would make us a logical acquisition for them,\u201d Stephens says.<\/p>\n

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Another key risk is if Instagram re-opens their API, causing a spate of new scheduling start-ups to launch, potentially making Schedugram redundant before they\u2019ve recovered costs or reached profitability.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve invested a lot in this software, all our own capital, and we\u2019d lose that if they opened it soon. We don\u2019t think it\u2019s likely. From conversations we\u2019ve had and media coverage, we know it\u2019s not a primary interest of theirs right now,\u201d Stephens says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Developed in three months and launched this week, Schedugram enables people to schedule posts on Instagram and manage multiple accounts,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}