180-strategy-explained

When to Use

You’re starting a new account, growth has stalled, or you want to build genuine engagement before relying on content alone. The $1.80 strategy is especially powerful for accounts with under 10,000 followers who haven’t yet built the audience momentum for organic discovery.

The Framework

The Math

10 hashtags x 9 top posts x $0.02(yourtwocents)=$1.80 per day.

That’s 90 meaningful comments across 10 hashtags in your niche, every single day. The name is the formula.

“You need to find the top 10 hashtags in your niche or in a similar niche that relates to your brand or business and you want to look at the top nine posts. When you’re on Instagram and you see on the explore page the top nine posts in the grid, you want to click on those posts… and leave a comment. This is where you leave your two cents.” — Jeremiah (Ip83aSz2BJM)

“The one dollar 80 cent strategy — essentially what that is: you’re giving your two cents on the top nine posts under a hashtag that’s related to your brand. You compile the top ten hashtags that are relevant for my Instagram account, and each day I’ll search that hashtag and I can see the top nine posts.” — Financial Freedom Channel (g6pAYKkvSac)

The Three Steps

Step 1: Select 10 Hashtags Choose hashtags with enough volume to have active top 9 posts but not so broad that your comment disappears. Aim for 100K-5M total posts per hashtag. Split between core niche (4-5), adjacent niches (3-4), and aspirational communities (1-2).

Step 2: Engage the Top 9 Posts per Hashtag For each of your 10 hashtags, find the top 9 posts and leave a genuine, value-adding comment on each. That’s 90 comments total.

“The key is not to just leave an emoji or a ‘that’s nice’ or ‘that’s cool.’ You want to leave a meaningful comment — a tip, or maybe asking a question, or just engaging with them in a conversation.” — Jeremiah (Ip83aSz2BJM)

“Don’t post spam or self-promotion. Don’t go on there and say ‘hey I really like your page, how about you come follow mine’ because your comment will probably get removed. Post something of value. Like as many comments as you can. Reply to comments with answers if someone has a question. Make sure your comments stand out and attempt to build the top comment.” — Zach Bordeaux (04fJ79qT22Q)

Step 3: Repeat Daily The strategy compounds. Day 1 feels tedious. Day 30, you’ve left 2,700 meaningful comments across your niche. People recognize your name. Creators follow you back. Your content starts getting engagement from people who already know you.

“If you do that every day, you’re going to grow.” — Financial Freedom Channel (g6pAYKkvSac)

“If you keep doing this every day you’re going to grow a lot faster. I used it when I was first starting out on Instagram and it built that momentum.” — Jeremiah (Ip83aSz2BJM)

Beyond Instagram

The strategy originated for Instagram but applies to any platform with discoverable content and comments:

• LinkedIn: Search topic hashtags, comment on top posts in your industry
• X/Twitter: Reply to trending posts in your niche with genuine insight
• TikTok: Comment on top videos in your niche — TikTok’s comment sections are high-engagement
• YouTube: Comment thoughtfully on videos in your niche (many creators check and respond to early comments)
• Facebook Groups: Contribute value in groups where your audience congregates

“This strategy was initially set by Gary Vaynerchuk. You can’t just keep posting on your platform expecting other people to come to you. You always need to give before you can get.” — Amjid Ali (WxZlQmb7kuQ)

Why It Works

The $1.80 strategy works because of three compounding effects:

1. Visibility: Your comment appears under popular posts where hundreds or thousands of people see it
2. Reciprocity: The creators you comment on check your profile, often follow back, and engage with your content
3. Community reputation: After weeks of consistent, high-quality commenting, people in your niche recognize your name before they ever see your content

Common Mistakes

• Generic comments: “Nice!” or fire emojis do nothing. Every comment must add specific value.
• Self-promotion: Never mention your account, link, or product in a comment. The value speaks for itself.
• Inconsistency: 3 days on, 2 weeks off, repeat — kills the compounding effect
• Wrong hashtags: Too broad and you drown. Too narrow and there’s nobody to engage with.
• Quantity over quality: 60 great comments > 90 lazy ones

The Time Investment

Expect 60-90 minutes per day when starting. With practice and familiarity with your hashtag communities, this can drop to 45-60 minutes. Most practitioners do it in a single morning session.

Example

A graphic designer starting a personal brand (0 followers):

• Core hashtags: brandingdesign, logodesigner, brandidentity, graphicdesignblog
• Adjacent hashtags: startupbranding, smallbizdesign, creativebusiness
• Aspirational hashtags: designthinking, creativedirection, visualidentity

Day 1-30: 90 comments/day. By day 30: 2,700 comments, 200+ profile visits/day, 150 new followers, 5-10 DM conversations with potential clients. The designer’s OWN posts start getting 3-5x more engagement because followers already know and trust them.

Output

After understanding this framework, you should be able to:

1. Select the right 10 hashtags for your niche
2. Execute the daily 90-comment discipline
3. Write comments that add genuine value
4. Track whether the strategy is producing growth
5. Rotate hashtags that aren’t performing

Source: GaryVee’s $1.80 strategy, explained and demonstrated across Ip83aSz2BJM, g6pAYKkvSac, 04fJ79qT22Q, WxZlQmb7kuQ, yamQ2jBB1sU, RNzAJze0eKs, BMPidLD0oUs