Instagram Brand Prospector — Creator Vetting & Sponsorship Pricing API for Influencer Marketing

Brand-partnership prospecting data from Instagram for influencer-marketing agents. Give it Instagram usernames; it returns typed JSON rows — schema below — with follower counts, engagement rate, audience tier, detected niche, content mix, posting cadence, and an estimated sponsorship price range per creator. Built for influencer discovery, creator vetting, and brand collaboration automation. Resilient by design: seven extraction sources (Google, Social Blade, Instagram direct, Ninjalitics, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Wayback Machine) with automatic fallback, so a single blocked source never kills the run.

Why agents use this Instagram brand-prospecting actor

• Deterministic typed output — every dataset row conforms to the published dataset schema; fields are stable and typed, safe to parse programmatically.
• Clear error semantics — invalid input or zero successful profiles exits non-zero with a status message; per-profile failures are listed in the SUMMARY key-value record, never as junk dataset rows. No silent empty successes.
• No auth or cookies needed — no Instagram login, no session cookies; primary sources are public search and aggregator pages.
• Cost-predictable — you are billed only for dataset rows that contain real extracted data; failed profiles produce no billed items.
• Rate-limit aware — randomized delays between profiles and between sources, rotating user agents, and multi-source fallback when one source throttles.

Input schema

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
usernames	array of strings	yes	—	Instagram usernames or profile URLs to analyze (e.g. "natgeo", "https://instagram.com/cristiano", "@handle").
includeRecentPosts	boolean	no	true	Analyze recent posts for engagement metrics when post data is available from the extraction sources.
maxPostsPerProfile	integer	no	12	Maximum number of recent posts to analyze (1-12).
proxyConfiguration	object	no	—	Optional proxy settings. Most sources work without a proxy. A residential proxy (billed to your Apify account) improves the Instagram-direct method.

Minimal input:

{ "usernames": ["natgeo", "cristiano"] }

Output schema

One dataset row per successfully analyzed profile, with three top-level objects. Depth of post-level metrics (engagement, content mix, posting) depends on which sources returned post data; profile-level fields (followers, tier, niche, sponsorship estimate) are available in nearly all runs.

profile — raw merged profile data

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
profile.username	string	no	Instagram handle (lowercase, no @). Always present.
profile.id	string	yes	Instagram internal user ID.
profile.fullName	string	yes	Display name.
profile.biography	string	yes	Bio text (may be truncated when sourced from search snippets).
profile.externalUrl	string	yes	Link-in-bio URL.
profile.externalUrls	array	yes	All external links: { title, url }.
profile.followersCount	number	yes	Follower count — cross-source consensus (median, outliers rejected).
profile.followsCount	number	yes	Accounts followed.
profile.postsCount	number	yes	Total posts (max across sources).
profile.isBusinessAccount	boolean	yes	Business account flag.
profile.businessCategoryName	string	yes	Instagram business category.
profile.isPrivate	boolean	yes	Private account flag.
profile.isVerified	boolean	yes	Verified badge flag.
profile.profilePicUrl	string	yes	Profile picture URL.
profile.profilePicUrlHD	string	yes	High-res profile picture URL.
profile.relatedProfiles	array	yes	Related profiles: { username, fullName, isVerified } (Instagram-direct source only).
profile.latestPosts	array	yes	Up to 12 recent posts: { id, shortCode, type, caption, hashtags, mentions, likesCount, commentsCount, videoViewCount, videoDuration, timestamp, displayUrl }. Search-derived posts may contain only shortCode and type.

analysis — derived partnership analytics

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
analysis.audienceTier	string	no	nano (1K-10K), micro (10K-100K), mid (100K-500K), macro (500K-1M), mega (1M-5M), celebrity (5M+).
analysis.engagement.rate	number	no	(avg likes + avg comments) / followers × 100. Zero when no post data.
analysis.engagement.avgLikesPerPost	number	no	Average likes per analyzed post.
analysis.engagement.avgCommentsPerPost	number	no	Average comments per analyzed post.
analysis.engagement.avgViewsPerReel	number	yes	Average reel/video views, when video data exists.
analysis.engagement.likeToCommentRatio	number	no	Avg likes / avg comments.
analysis.contentMix	object	no	Percent split: { images, videos, reels, carousels }.
analysis.posting.frequency	string	no	daily, every_few_days, weekly, biweekly, monthly, or inactive.
analysis.posting.avgPostsPerWeek	number	no	Posts per week over the analyzed window.
analysis.posting.lastPostDate	string	yes	ISO 8601 timestamp of latest analyzed post.
analysis.posting.daysSinceLastPost	number	yes	Days since latest analyzed post.
analysis.niche	array	no	Up to 3 detected niches (fitness, beauty, fashion, food, travel, tech, gaming, music, photography, lifestyle, business, education, parenting, pets, art).
analysis.shortsFocused	boolean	no	True when >50% of content is reels/short video.
analysis.sponsorshipEstimate	object	no	{ low, medium, high, currency: "USD", adjustments } — estimated per-post sponsorship price range, adjusted for tier, engagement, niche, and content mix, with the applied adjustments listed as strings.

meta — extraction metadata

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
meta.scrapedAt	string	no	ISO 8601 processing timestamp.
meta.methodsUsed	array	no	Sources that succeeded: google, socialblade, instagram_direct, ninjalitics, bing, duckduckgo, wayback.
meta.methodResults	array	no	Per-source attempt log: { method, success, data, error, latencyMs } — includes failed attempts with error reasons.
meta.dataCompleteness	number	no	0-100 data quality score. Pushed rows always score above 0.
meta.warnings	array	no	Non-fatal warnings from extraction.

Example item

{
  "profile": {
    "username": "natgeo",
    "fullName": "National Geographic",
    "followersCount": 279000000,
    "followsCount": 133,
    "postsCount": 27856,
    "isVerified": true,
    "profilePicUrl": "https://...",
    "latestPosts": [
      { "shortCode": "C3xYz12", "type": "Image", "likesCount": 412000, "commentsCount": 1830, "timestamp": "2026-08-10T14:03:00.000Z" }
    ]
  },
  "analysis": {
    "audienceTier": "celebrity",
    "engagement": { "rate": 0.15, "avgLikesPerPost": 412000, "avgCommentsPerPost": 1830, "likeToCommentRatio": 225.1 },
    "contentMix": { "images": 67, "videos": 8, "reels": 17, "carousels": 8 },
    "posting": { "frequency": "daily", "avgPostsPerWeek": 9.5, "lastPostDate": "2026-08-10T14:03:00.000Z", "daysSinceLastPost": 3 },
    "niche": ["photography", "travel"],
    "shortsFocused": false,
    "sponsorshipEstimate": { "low": 21250, "medium": 63750, "high": 127500, "currency": "USD", "adjustments": ["low engagement (<2%): -15%"] }
  },
  "meta": {
    "scrapedAt": "2026-08-13T18:22:41.000Z",
    "methodsUsed": ["google", "socialblade"],
    "methodResults": [
      { "method": "google", "success": true, "latencyMs": 2140 },
      { "method": "socialblade", "success": true, "latencyMs": 1830 }
    ],
    "dataCompleteness": 74,
    "warnings": []
  }
}

Error semantics

• Invalid input (missing/empty usernames, wrong types): the actor fails fast with exit code 1 and a status message starting with Invalid input:. No items are produced.
• Per-profile failure (unresolvable username, all seven sources failed): the profile produces no dataset row. It is recorded in the SUMMARY key-value record as { username, error }, and the run's status message reports the failed count. Successful profiles in the same run are unaffected.
• Zero successful profiles: the run exits with code 1 and status message All N profile(s) failed — 0 items extracted, never a silent SUCCEEDED with an empty dataset. Retry logic: a non-zero exit with zero items means retry later or with a proxy; a succeeded run's dataset contains only valid rows.
• SUMMARY record (default key-value store, key SUMMARY): { totalProfiles, successful, failed, avgDataCompleteness, failures: [{ username, error }], finishedAt } — written on every completed run.

Use from AI agents (MCP)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=apricot_blackberry/instagram-brand-prospector",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" }
    }
  }
}

Works in Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT deep research connectors, and any MCP client; the input schema above is the tool's parameter schema.

Use from code

curl (synchronous run, returns dataset items):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apricot_blackberry~instagram-brand-prospector/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "usernames": ["natgeo", "cristiano"] }'

JavaScript (apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('apricot_blackberry/instagram-brand-prospector').call({
  usernames: ['natgeo', 'cristiano'],
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Python (apify_client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("apricot_blackberry/instagram-brand-prospector").call(
    run_input={"usernames": ["natgeo", "cristiano"]}
)
items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items

Use from automation platforms

• n8n / Make / Zapier: use the native Apify integration and choose the actor by name (instagram-brand-prospector).
• LangChain / LlamaIndex: use the Apify tool wrappers (ApifyActorsTool / Apify reader) with the same input JSON.
• Webhooks: Apify can fire a webhook when a run finishes (or on other run-lifecycle events), so a CRM or outreach tool can pick up new prospect rows automatically — configure one from the actor's Integrations tab or the API.

Pricing

Pay-per-event, billed by the Apify platform:

Event	Price	Charged
Actor start	$0.05	Once per run
Result delivered	$0.01	Per creator profile in the dataset

A batch of 100 creators costs roughly $0.05 + 100 × $0.01 = $1.05. A residential proxy, if enabled in proxyConfiguration, is billed separately to your Apify account.

FAQ

Does it need an Instagram login? No. It never logs in and uses no cookies; primary data comes from public search and aggregator pages.

Why do some rows have engagement rate 0? Post-level data (likes/comments) was not available from the sources that succeeded for that profile. Profile-level fields (followers, tier, niche, sponsorship estimate) are still populated.

What about private accounts? They are analyzed with limited public data; profile.isPrivate is set to true when detected.

How accurate is the sponsorship estimate? It is a heuristic price band from audience tier base rates adjusted by engagement rate, niche, and content mix — a prospecting signal, not a quote.

Does it respect Instagram's terms? Only public-facing information is collected; no private data, no authentication.

Changelog

• 2026-08-14 — Output dataset schema published (.actor/dataset_schema.json); agent-first README and MCP integration docs; fail-loud error semantics (exit 1 on invalid input or zero successful profiles); per-profile failures moved from billed dataset rows to the SUMMARY key-value record; proxy documentation corrected (optional, residential improves Instagram-direct only).