How do I grow an engaged Instagram audience using hashtag research?

Search for hashtags highly relevant to your work (for example, #baldeagle if you photograph eagles). Look at the top posts that appear—these get the most engagement. Follow the people who are commenting on those top posts, because they’ve already demonstrated active interest in that subject. This takes about 2 minutes per day to follow 10 targeted people. These intentional follows—people who have shown they engage with content like yours—are far more valuable than followers acquired through services or random discovery. Do this consistently for 30 days (following 300 highly targeted accounts) and you’ll see measurable improvement in engagement.

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Asked by an artist wanting to grow their audience · Answered by Juan · Office Hours · 2026-04-09