Instagram Lead Generator - Hashtag Discovery, Email Extraction & AI Lead Scoring

Discover and enrich Instagram leads from hashtags. Extract emails and phone numbers from bios, crawl external URLs for contact info, and score leads with AI. Supports authenticated scraping via session cookies -- required for hashtag discovery since Instagram's /explore/tags/ pages are 100% login-gated. Includes login wall detection on all pages.

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Authentication (Session Cookies)
3. Use Cases
4. Quick Start
5. Input Parameters
6. Output Format
7. Pricing
8. Example Usage
9. Comparison to Competitors
10. Troubleshooting
11. FAQ

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Features

• Hashtag Discovery - Find users posting with specific industry hashtags
• Email/Phone Extraction - Regex extraction from Instagram bios
• External URL Crawling - Use Firecrawl to find contact info on linked websites
• AI Lead Scoring - Score leads with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or Mistral
• Smart Filtering - Filter by followers, bio presence, business accounts
• Deduplication - Automatic removal of duplicate profiles
• Session Cookie Auth - Authenticate with your Instagram session for full access
• Login Wall Detection - Detects Instagram login walls on all pages and reports them clearly instead of silently failing

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Authentication (Session Cookies)

Session cookies are REQUIRED for hashtag discovery. Instagram's /explore/tags/ pages are 100% login-gated -- without cookies, the actor cannot discover leads from hashtags.

What Works Without Cookies vs. With Cookies

Feature	Without Cookies	With Cookies
Hashtag discovery	Does not work (login-gated)	Full hashtag exploration
Direct username enrichment	Unreliable (may hit login walls)	Reliable profile data
Email/phone extraction from bios	Only if profile loads	Full bio access
External URL crawling	Only if profile loads	Consistent access
AI lead scoring	Depends on profile data availability	Full data for accurate scoring

How to Get Your Session Cookies

Step 1: Install Cookie-Editor

Cookie-Editor is a free browser extension that exports cookies in JSON format.

• Cookie-Editor for Chrome
• Cookie-Editor for Firefox

Step 2: Log Into Instagram

1. Open your browser and go to instagram.com
2. Log in with your Instagram account
3. Make sure you can browse profiles and hashtag pages normally

Step 3: Export Cookies

1. While on instagram.com, click the Cookie-Editor extension icon
2. Click the Export button (the download/arrow icon)
3. Select Export as JSON (copies to clipboard)

Step 4: Paste Into Actor Input

Paste the entire JSON array into the sessionCookies input field. You do not need to pick individual cookies -- the actor uses the relevant ones automatically.

{
  "hashtags": ["plumber", "plumbinglife"],
  "sessionCookies": [
    {
      "name": "sessionid",
      "value": "your-session-id-here",
      "domain": ".instagram.com",
      "path": "/"
    },
    {
      "name": "csrftoken",
      "value": "your-csrf-token-here",
      "domain": ".instagram.com",
      "path": "/"
    }
  ]
}

Login Wall Detection

The actor detects Instagram login walls on all pages -- hashtag explore pages, profile pages, and search results. When a login wall is encountered, you will see a clear error message in the run log instead of getting 0 results with no explanation.

Cookie Lifespan

• Instagram session cookies typically last 1-2 weeks
• If runs start failing after cookies were previously working, export fresh cookies
• Avoid changing your Instagram password while using cookies (invalidates all sessions)
• Using a dedicated Instagram account for scraping is recommended

Cookie Security

• Cookies are passed as an input parameter and are not stored beyond the actor run
• Cookies are used only to authenticate requests to Instagram during the scraping session
• Never share your cookies publicly or commit them to version control

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Use Cases

• B2B Prospecting - Find local service businesses (plumbers, HVAC, landscapers)
• Influencer Outreach - Discover relevant micro-influencers with contact info
• Competitor Analysis - Find businesses in your industry
• Partnership Discovery - Identify potential collaboration partners

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Quick Start

Hashtag Discovery (Requires Cookies)

{
  "hashtags": ["plumber", "plumbinglife", "plumbersofinstagram"],
  "minFollowers": 500,
  "maxFollowers": 50000,
  "requireBio": true,
  "maxTotalLeads": 100,
  "sessionCookies": [{"name": "sessionid", "value": "...", "domain": ".instagram.com", "path": "/"}]
}

Direct Username Enrichment (Cookies Recommended)

{
  "usernames": ["plumberpro_nyc", "hvac_masters_la"],
  "crawlExternalUrls": true,
  "firecrawlApiKey": "fc-...",
  "sessionCookies": [{"name": "sessionid", "value": "...", "domain": ".instagram.com", "path": "/"}]
}

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
hashtags	string[]	-	Hashtags to search (without #). Requires sessionCookies.
usernames	string[]	-	Direct usernames to enrich
sessionCookies	array	-	JSON array of cookies from Cookie-Editor. Required for hashtag discovery, strongly recommended for username enrichment.
minFollowers	number	1000	Minimum follower count
maxFollowers	number	1000000	Maximum follower count
requireBio	boolean	true	Must have biography
requireExternalUrl	boolean	false	Must have external URL
requireEmail	boolean	false	Must have extractable email
excludePrivate	boolean	true	Skip private accounts
maxLeadsPerHashtag	number	50	Max leads per hashtag
maxTotalLeads	number	200	Total max leads
crawlExternalUrls	boolean	true	Crawl websites for emails
firecrawlApiKey	string	-	Firecrawl API key (BYOK)
enableLeadScoring	boolean	false	Enable AI scoring
aiProvider	string	none	AI provider for scoring: openai, anthropic, google, mistral
aiApiKey	string	-	AI provider API key (BYOK)
targetIndustry	string	local services	Industry for scoring context

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Output Format

Each lead includes:

{
  "username": "plumberpro_nyc",
  "fullName": "Mike's Plumbing NYC",
  "biography": "Licensed Master Plumber | 20+ Years",
  "followersCount": 12500,
  "followingCount": 850,
  "postsCount": 234,
  "isVerified": false,
  "isBusinessAccount": true,
  "businessCategory": "Home Service",
  "externalUrl": "https://plumberpro.com",
  "email": "mike@plumberpro.com",
  "phone": "(212) 555-0123",
  "contactSource": "bio",
  "discoveredVia": "hashtag",
  "discoverySource": "plumberlife",
  "leadScore": {
    "score": 85,
    "tier": "hot",
    "reasons": ["Business account", "Email in bio", "High engagement"],
    "confidence": 0.92
  },
  "profileUrl": "https://instagram.com/plumberpro_nyc"
}

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Pricing

$0.02 per lead generated (pay-per-event).

Scenario	Leads	Cost
Small prospecting run	50	$1.00
Medium campaign	200	$4.00
Large research	500	$10.00

Additional costs (BYOK):

• Firecrawl API: Charged by Firecrawl (your account)
• AI Lead Scoring: Charged by AI provider (your account)

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Example Usage

Find Plumbing Leads (Requires Cookies)

{
  "hashtags": ["plumber", "plumbinglife", "plumbersofinstagram"],
  "minFollowers": 500,
  "maxFollowers": 50000,
  "requireBio": true,
  "maxTotalLeads": 100,
  "enableLeadScoring": true,
  "aiProvider": "openai",
  "aiApiKey": "sk-...",
  "targetIndustry": "plumbing",
  "sessionCookies": [{"name": "sessionid", "value": "...", "domain": ".instagram.com", "path": "/"}]
}

Enrich Specific Profiles (Cookies Recommended)

{
  "usernames": ["plumberpro_nyc", "hvac_masters_la"],
  "crawlExternalUrls": true,
  "firecrawlApiKey": "fc-...",
  "enableLeadScoring": true,
  "aiProvider": "anthropic",
  "aiApiKey": "sk-ant-...",
  "sessionCookies": [{"name": "sessionid", "value": "...", "domain": ".instagram.com", "path": "/"}]
}

Influencer Discovery by Niche (Requires Cookies)

{
  "hashtags": ["fitnessmotivation", "personaltrainer", "fitfam"],
  "minFollowers": 5000,
  "maxFollowers": 100000,
  "requireExternalUrl": true,
  "maxTotalLeads": 200,
  "crawlExternalUrls": true,
  "firecrawlApiKey": "fc-...",
  "enableLeadScoring": true,
  "aiProvider": "google",
  "aiApiKey": "your-google-ai-key",
  "targetIndustry": "fitness",
  "sessionCookies": [{"name": "sessionid", "value": "...", "domain": ".instagram.com", "path": "/"}]
}

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vs Competitors

Feature	This Actor	PhantomBuster	IGLeads
Price	$0.02/lead	$69/mo	$59/mo
Hashtag Discovery	Yes (with cookies)	Yes	Yes
Email Extraction	Yes	Yes	Yes
Website Crawling	Yes	No	No
AI Lead Scoring	Yes	No	No
Login Wall Detection	Yes	No	No
API Access	Yes	Yes	No

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Troubleshooting

"Login wall detected on hashtag page"

Cause: Instagram's /explore/tags/ pages are 100% login-gated.

Solution: Provide session cookies via the sessionCookies input. See the Authentication section for setup instructions.

"Login wall detected on profile page"

Cause: Instagram requires login to view this profile's content.

Solution: Provide session cookies. Even for direct username enrichment, cookies are strongly recommended.

"0 leads found from hashtags"

Possible causes:

• No session cookies provided (hashtag discovery requires cookies)
• Cookies have expired (re-export from Cookie-Editor)
• Hashtag has very few posts or no matching profiles

Solutions:

1. Provide valid session cookies
2. Try broader hashtags
3. Lower minFollowers threshold
4. Check that your Instagram account can browse hashtag pages normally

"Cookies expired"

Solution: Session cookies last 1-2 weeks. Export fresh cookies from Cookie-Editor and update your input.

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FAQ

Q: Do I need an Instagram account? A: Yes, for hashtag discovery. Instagram's explore/tags pages are fully login-gated. You need to provide session cookies from a logged-in account. For direct username enrichment without hashtag discovery, cookies are strongly recommended but the actor will attempt to work without them.

Q: Can I find leads from private accounts? A: No. Only public profiles are scraped. Private accounts are automatically skipped.

Q: How long do cookies last? A: Instagram session cookies typically last 1-2 weeks. Export fresh cookies when runs start failing.

Q: What happens when a login wall is detected? A: The actor reports it clearly in the run log, specifying which page was blocked. It does not silently return 0 results.

Q: Can I use this without any cookies at all? A: Only direct username enrichment will work (and unreliably). Hashtag discovery will not work at all. Cookies are effectively required for any meaningful use of this actor.

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Instagram is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc. This actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta.

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal