By Adam Helweh 
There is a glut of services out there that make lofty promises about expanding your Instagram presence and growing your following. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a scam and what’s genuine.
Having recently read an intriguing SocialDrift review, I decided to try it out and see what it’s all about.
Automation in a Nutshell
There’s a lot of confusion and debate surrounding the use of automation. I think a lot of it stems from misconceptions about how these tools function.
An automation tool, such as SocialDrift, typically works by taking control of your account and its interactions. You start by inputting specific details and setting filters to target your desired audience, and then you watch it start liking posts, sending customized comments, and following others for you.
Some people actively discourage the use of automation. They claim it to be a poor and ineffective alternative to the more “organic” method of doing all of it yourself.
As somebody who has tried a few different tools, I think these naysayers miss the point. Automation is not supposed to replace all of your activity entirely. It’s more of an assistant than anything. You should absolutely continue interacting with others as you usually do, and possibly to buy Instagram followers or likes as well.
The greatest benefit of automation is that it allows you to relax and focus on more important matters. It handles the minor tasks that would consume all of your time, and does it faster than any person possibly could.
Main Features
SocialDrift has more than a few notable features included with its service. Here are some that it advertises on its homepage.
The most unique feature would have to be the Artificial Intelligence that powers their automation systems. This AI is programmed to learn and self-optimize over time. So, the longer it runs, the more effective it becomes.
In order to keep your activity under control, SocialDrift employs a SecureBoost engine and other safeguards keep your account compliant with Instagram’s rules. This is a necessary feature, as one of the biggest issues with automation tools is that they break the boundaries of what networks like Instagram allow. That means using SocialDrift won’t get you banned from the platform.
Finally, SocialDrift sends you growth reports so that you can track your account’s progress. These are delivered weekly and monthly, and are generally helpful when it comes to making adjustments to your approach and strategies.
Everything considered, SocialDrift covers all of the bases you’d want from a decent automation service. It’s the average package you’d hope to get from something like this. Nothing too novel, but it doesn’t really have to be. It just needs to get the job done.
Safety and Security
Safety should always be the number one priority when dealing with any service like this. There’s a lot of shady sites out there that you absolutely shouldn’t trust with your personal information.
Fortunately, SocialDrift is about as safe as it gets. This is one areas where it deserves full marks.
SocialDrift’s security certificate is legitimate and up to date. This means that you can expect any information given to the website to remain private. An expired certificate would be an instant red flag, so this should give anybody who feels uncertain a deal of confidence.
Similarly, the payment gateways have all of the proper authentication and validation processes necessary to keep you protected.
Navigation and Layout
There are few things more frustrating than a poorly designed user interface. I know that I’ve spent countless hours wandering in circles on certain websites, trying to solve the most basic of queries.
If you can’t figure out how to use the tool in the first place, then how useful can it really be?
The layout for any good website should be clean, simple, and easy to navigate. SocialDrift manages to check all of these boxes.
Everything on SocialDrift is neatly organized and labeled, so you never feel lost trying to find what you’re looking for. Also, if you hover your cursor over the question marks next to each setting, it gives you a concise explanation about how it works.
Pricing and Plans
The first thing that should be noted is that the prices are displayed openly on its website to any visitor. I think SocialDrift deserves kudos for doing this.
Many less-reputable automation services avoid having that kind of transparency. They’ll bury the prices or make you sign up before you see them. This is often done to sneak in hidden charges that they don’t want to reveal until they’ve got you already committed.
SocialDrift has two plans that you can choose from: $13 per week or $39 per month. Both are pretty solid deals, with the monthly plan saving you more in the end if you are willing to stick with the service. There also seems to be special discounts for agencies or anybody with over five Instagram accounts. On the whole, it’s quite inexpensive and fairly priced compared to the competition.
After signing up, you’re given a free three-day trial. A credit card isn’t required during this period, and you can choose to stop at any point. You should keep in mind that the trial version differs from the full version though, as it lacks some of the features you’ll get with a premium account.
Customer Support
SocialDrift proclaims its customer support to be “world class.” I’m not exactly sure how you’d qualify that, per se, but I’d say it’s about as good as any other service out there. It’s far from the worst I’ve encountered, and in some ways it’s a definite step above the average.
All of their representatives were courteous, patient, and punctual. They answered every question I had, even the dumb and obvious ones.
On a side note, there’s also a FAQ that you can refer to if you don’t get an immediate answer from anybody. It covers about all of the basic questions you’d have, from how the targeting filters work to their money-back policy. It certainly came in handy for me when I was setting things up late at night.
Final Thoughts
The question you’re probably asking now is “would you recommend it?”
In short, the answer is yes. SocialDrift is a worthwhile service for any business or influencer trying to increase their visibility, following size, and engagement rates.
For the purpose of this review, I’ve used SocialDrift for a total of three weeks so far. Within that time frame my account experienced a good amount of growth. I’ve gained about 980 new followers and counting. It was a bit slow at first, but it took off once it got going.
Even more importantly, my posts have been getting more likes and comments than ever before. This is crucial since Instagram’s algorithms are based around the amount of interaction that content receives. As a result, my posts have been placing higher on the search results.
So if you’re looking to spread brand awareness on the platform, SocialDrift will do the trick nicely.
Scorecard
For anybody who skipped straight to the bottom of this review to get a TL;DR, then look no further. You can consider this section a quick summary of this service’s quality across its most important components.
Without further adieu, here’s the scores that SocialDrift earned:
Features: ★★★★ (4/5 stars)
Safety / Security: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)
Ease of Use: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)
Price: ★★★★½ (4.5/5 stars)
Support: ★★★★ (4/5 stars)
Growth: ★★★★½ (4.5/5 stars)
Final Score: ★★★★½ (4.5/5 stars)
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