Social media agencies and brands often look after several legitimate Instagram presences: a main brand account, regional accounts and client accounts. Each one needs a stable, well-organised setup so the work stays separate and accountable. Everything below assumes you operate within Instagram's Terms of Use and the law that applies to you. A proxy cannot, and should not, be used to break a platform's rules, and no proxy can promise that an account stays active.
Start with access, not proxies
The cleanest setups begin with how your team gets into each account. Where a client's account is connected to Meta's business tools, ask the client to grant your agency access there instead of handing over a password. Turn on two-factor authentication for every account, and keep a simple register of which team members can open which account.
The core stack
For compliant multi-account work, most agencies combine three things:
- Mobile 4G/5G proxies. Carrier IPs are the connection type the Instagram app is built around. Residential works well for read-only research on public profiles; mobile is the better fit for signed-in account work. Because carriers already share their addresses among many subscribers, agencies commonly run 3-10 accounts per mobile IP.
- A multi-account browser. Each account gets its own browser profile, so one client's session never touches another's. Dolphin Anty or Multilogin are common choices for agency teams.
- A content plan run by people. Accounts post and engage according to the brand's calendar, handled by staff who know the brand, not through bulk or automated actions.
Setting up a new brand account properly
When a client needs a new account, for a new region or product line for example, the client should own it from day one:
- Register it with the client's real business details and an email address the client controls.
- Switch it to a professional account so it can use Instagram's business features and approved scheduling tools.
- Complete the profile, with photo, bio and contact options, before the first post.
- Turn on two-factor authentication and store the backup codes.
- Publish to the agreed content plan at a pace the client's team can sustain.
Practices that put accounts at risk
Instagram's systems look for activity that doesn't come from a real person or business. Avoid:
- Datacenter IPs at sign-up: they often lead to extra verification steps.
- One browser profile shared by many accounts: keep every account in its own profile.
- Automated likes, follows or comments: Instagram's terms don't allow them.
- Unsolicited mass messaging: this breaks Instagram's terms, so don't do it.
- Follow/unfollow cycling to inflate numbers.
- Reposting other people's content without permission.
- The same post copied across many accounts.
Tools that work within the rules
Use tools only for features Instagram supports, such as scheduling, analytics and inbox management:
- Meta Business Suite: Meta's own tool for planning posts, answering messages and reading insights.
- Later and Hootsuite: scheduling and analytics suites that connect through Instagram's official API.
- A multi-account browser plus the official API: for technical teams that want fine-grained control. Our guide to Instagram research with the Graph API covers the API side.
Setting up the mobile proxies
Order one of our mobile proxies per 3-10 accounts and set each browser profile to use one proxy. Choose the country where the account's brand actually operates, so US accounts run on US mobile IPs. Use a sticky session while someone is working in an account, and let the IP change between working sessions.
Take on accounts at a pace you can manage
Agencies whose client accounts stay healthy tend to add them gradually, giving each one proper access, security settings and a content plan before moving to the next. Bringing dozens of accounts on board in a week usually means shortcuts, and shortcuts are where policy problems start.
Keep recovery details on file
Store the login, two-factor backup codes and recovery email for every account in your team's password manager. If an account is ever restricted, those details and a record of rule-abiding use give an appeal its best chance.
