There are two kinds of Instagram growth services – hands-on and hands-free. Allow me to elaborate.
Hands-on services provide you with the tools, but you have to do the work yourself. Hands-free companies manage your Instagram growth for you.
Social Upgrade is the latter type. Or, perhaps it’s better to say “was.” These folks got shut down for shady practices, which I’ll discuss later.
So, why would you want to read about a company that doesn’t exist anymore?
Well, you can see what they did wrong, and then avoid similar services. Today’s Social Upgrade review is going to help you learn from their mistakes.
Dig in!
What is Social Upgrade?
Social Upgrade closed its doors in 2020. Nevertheless, I’m going to talk about what it was.
In my opinion, the service was nothing spectacular. It was a classic pay for growth tool firmly grounded in Instagram’s grey zone.
Aside from the usual automated engagement, it provided full-on management. In other words, the company managed your Instagram growth campaign. All you had to do was select the target audience and pay.
Like many similar agencies, Social Upgrade claimed to provide only real followers and engagement. And, like many similar agencies, they didn’t tell the whole truth.
It was evident that they used an Instagram bot to perform automated tasks. The advanced “marketing” story that they sold was a facade for generic bot use. While automation isn’t so bad in itself, they employed it in a way that violated Instagram’s policy.
So, why did Social Upgrade close?
The short answer is – they sold fake likes.
It’s safe to say that the company abused its user base. They took their customers’ accounts and sold their likes. This means that, if you were their registered user, your account was liking other people’s stuff without you knowing it.
These actions earned them a lawsuit from Instagram, after which they went down the drain.
Top Social Upgrade Alternatives
| Service | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Social | 4.8 | Check Price |
| Upleap.com | 4.6 | Check Price |
| Nitreo.com | 4.3 | Check Price |
| SocialFollow | 4.2 | Check Price |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | Check Price |
| Stim Social | 3.9 | Check Price |
How Does Social Upgrade Work?
Before Social Upgrade shut down, they sold engagement and “growth management” to Instagram users.
It was a very simple concept. You targeted your audience using hashtags, location, and competitors’ accounts. You could also blacklist profiles that you didn’t want to interact with.
Once you did that, you got assigned your “personal Growth Expert.” Allegedly, this was a real live human who managed your campaign. However, it’s more likely that there was no such person, and that a bot was doing all the work.
Popular reviews you should also read:
- Nitreo Review: Is It Really One Of The Best Instagram Growth Services?
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- Kenji Instagram Review – Is It Legit? All You Need to Know
How to set up Social Upgrade?
Setting up a Social Upgrade account was very simple. All it took was a few steps.
First, you had to go to their website, the now-deceased socialupgrade.co. Unlike many IG growth tools, Social Upgrade’s site was easy to find, so kudos for that.
Once there, you had to click on “Get Started” located in the upper right corner. You signed up with your email and Instagram username.
Last, you had to choose a subscription plan and pay via PayPal.
That’s all there was to it.
Social Upgrade Features
The service didn’t have too many features. They were pretty standard automated operations that most bot-based tools offer. Let’s take a look at what Social Upgrade could do.
Organic Growth
Social Upgrade’s selling point was the whole “organic growth” story. They claimed to engage with other users in a way that looks natural. There weren’t many details available on what concrete steps they take.
But, that doesn’t matter anymore because now we know that their actions were far from organic.
Like I said earlier, the company provided users with likes from its other users. What was problematic about this? The people whose accounts were being used to send likes didn’t know it. In a sense, they betrayed their customers’ trust and violated Instagram’s policy.
Targeting
The service required you to target your audience. You could do this via hashtags, account names, and competitors’ profiles. In the case of the latter, the tool would target your competitors’ followers.
Another thing that you could do is blacklist accounts. Those would be profiles that you didn’t want to engage with at all.
Growth Manager
A personal Growth Manager was another key feature of Social Upgrade. However, it is now questionable whether it even existed.
To clarify, this was supposed to be a real person who would manage your Instagram growth. But, it is plausible that they just let a bot run this operation, which would be another dishonest move by the service..
Customer Support
The company said that it offered 24/7 customer support. You could contact them via email or phone. As you may have expected, the support didn’t function “smoothly,” to say the least.
Some customers complained about how nobody responded to their emails for days, and that their phone number was unreachable.
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Flock Social Features
As I continued to scroll down their main website, I was eagerly searching for a list of their main features as I strongly believed that their price-to-value ratio wouldn’t disappoint (more on their pricing later).
Luckily, Social Flock continues to bring in the good news, especially when it comes to:
Targeting Options
Most social media growth platforms don’t have a lot to offer in this department, as they mainly function by providing you with Instagram bot services.
However, when you have a genuine business model that strives to elevate your social media rankings, their services usually consist of the following:
- Hashtag targeting
- Influencer and Competitor targeting
- Location targeting
This is only a glimpse of their primary mechanisms – the entire list marches forward extensively.
Personal Account Manager
As I already mentioned, Flock Social offers a wide range of professional Instagram account managers that will observe and supervise your social media growth from day one.
Ensuring the safety of your precious Instagram account, as well as maintaining a meaningful Instagram growth procedure – your personal account manager will stay by your side at all times.
Priority Support and Consulting
It’s a good feeling knowing that you have someone to take care of your problem when and if you have one – a personal account manager will reach out to you shortly after you appoint a meeting through messages or, eventually, a voice call.
I didn’t joke when I said that they stay by your side – every step of the way!
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- Everliker Review: The Unexpected Answer
- Likegrowers Review: What Happens When You Use It
- Followliker Review: Is It A Scam? The Truth Will Shock You
Flock Social Pricing
In most cases, social media growth platforms deemed unfaithful will try to hide their business plans and pricing packages, revealing them only during the last few steps before the transaction is completed.
With Flock Social, no faulty agreements and secrets are lurking behind – two plans are presented, and depending on your wishes, you may choose between the beginners and advanced packages.
Personal Instagram profiles will usually lean toward the beginner’s package, as they don’t necessarily wish to engage with countless people but just slightly boost their social media presence every month.
However, the advanced packages should be used by larger profiles eager to contend with other Instagram profiles with a large audience behind them, if you ask me. But everybody’s free to use a plan they see fit for their needs since that’s what’s most important at the end of the day.
Is Flock Social Legit?
Trustpilot is a reputable source of user feedback. Currently, you can find a total of 116 reviews on Flock Social. Although we are primarily focusing on the Flock Social reviews – you can check other reviews for similar online companies that delve into social media growth.
Both people from Trustpilot and my personal experience will lead you toward the same conclusion – Flock Social is a legit social media growth platform.
PROS and CONS
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| True conversations | The monthly plans are slightly pricey. |
| Real engagements | |
| Targeted followers | |
| Instant delivery | |
| Excellent customer support |
Flock Social Review – To Sum Things Up
What’s there else to say?
Average social media growth platforms can’t compete with the overall services and trustworthiness that surround Flock Social. Still, I was eager to give you my take on Flock Social review, just to be safe.
At the end of the day, it’s better to hear from one more person what they thought of a product or a service since that’s what bases the general sentiment towards it on the market.
As I was digging around for answers regarding Flock Social, I found that it’s a successful company that takes care of your beloved Instagram profiles with tenderness.
Stay tuned for more reviews on social media growth platforms!
Top Instagram Growth Services
Before you depart, I highly recommend you take a quick look at the table below, which contains the most reliable organic growth companies!
| Service | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Social | 4.8 | Check Price |
| Upleap.com | 4.6 | Check Price |
| Nitreo.com | 4.3 | Check Price |
| SocialFollow | 4.2 | Check Price |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | Check Price |
| Stim Social | 3.9 | Check Price |
Social Upgrade Pricing
Social Upgrade offered two pricing packages – Standard and Turbo. They were paid monthly and cost $39 and $99, respectively.
What could this money get you?
The Standard subscription was supposed to bring you a 65% growth. The Turbo package bumped this number up to 100%.
So, if one had 5000 followers, the Turbo subscription would have doubled that? That’s what Social Upgrade claimed.
It sounds a bit outrageous now, and I don’t know whether it worked. But, given that they sold fake engagement, who knows, they might have been able to pull it off.
Is Social Upgrade Legit?
From all that I read online, I can conclude that Social Upgrade wasn’t legit. Their Trustpilot.com score was 3.5 stars, which isn’t terrible. However, scroll down through the comment section, and you’re in for a surprise.
Reviews that claim this service is a scam are predominant. People reported many issues. Some of them said how Social Upgrade kept charging them even after it shut down! Others couldn’t reach customer support, especially when they wanted their money back.
It’s a real mystery how they stayed in business for so long.
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- SocialCaptain Review: A Shameless Fraud? Is This True?
- Combin Review: What Happened When I Tested It?
- Everliker Review: The Unexpected Answer
- Likegrowers Review: What Happens When You Use It
- Followliker Review: Is It A Scam? The Truth Will Shock You
Is Social Upgrade Safe?
Social Upgrade wasn’t a safe tool to use.
At first glance, everything seemed to be in order. They had a secure website and verified payment gateways.
The trouble was that they misused their customers’ accounts and got some of them banned. Also, the fact that they kept charging monthly fees after closing is very disturbing.
Honestly, it’s good that such a business isn’t around anymore.
Social Upgrade Pros & Cons
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| They provided short-term growth | Sold fake engagement |
| Secure website | Misused their customers’ accountsMisused their customers’ accounts |
| Unreachable via phone | |
| Didn’t respond to emails sometimes | |
| Kept charging even after shutting down | |
| Somewhat expensive |
Social Upgrade Review: Final Verdict
Was Social Upgrade able to grow Instagram accounts?
Possibly yes, but at what cost?
I’m not talking about money, even though they weren’t cheap. I’m referring to them using your account behind your back to their benefit. They did it in a manner that could get you banned.
Social Upgrade was a dishonest service that didn’t work in line with Instagram’s terms. It’s no surprise that they ended up the way they did.
If you want to boost your account, do it the right way. Only use real organic services, some of which you can find in the table below.
Top 10 Instagram Bots
We’ve put in all the hard work for you and tested numerous services that claim to help grow your Instagram account. Not sure which to choose? Check out the table below and make your choice!
| Service | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Social | 4.8 | Check Price |
| Upleap.com | 4.6 | Check Price |
| Nitreo.com | 4.3 | Check Price |
| SocialFollow | 4.2 | Check Price |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | Check Price |
| Stim Social | 3.9 | Check Price |