like most social media, Instagram’s system encourages users to pre-select themselves for marketing. For example, an Instagram user who is pounding out hashtags for all the albums they listen to is flagging himself as a viable target for a company that markets merchandise within that musical niche. Hashtags are becoming more popular than ever, and they are the best way to find the most targeted – and apparently wealthiest – customers.
My personal experience with this technique came from a niche in the hip hop community. I noticed the following initially on YouTube and then began targeting users that associated themselves with that niche on Instagram. After a few months of taking daily action, I had built a few thousand cult followers. And then, with an occasional Instagram post with a limited-time coupon discount code, I could create a buying frenzy within minutes to my eCommerce site.