So you want to be Instagram famous – we get it.

The more likes you have, the more “influence” your lifestyle possess and, hey, which brand doesn’t want to be linked to a real-life influential person?

But how do you get there? Beyond branding yourself like a boss, using the most popular hashtags can help your cause.

Which hashtags should you use? According to Kim Garst, there are three main strategies you can use.

First things first:

The first is using hyper-popular hashtags that get searched for most often. The good part about using popular hashtags is that you know tons of people are searching for them. And the bad part? Tons of people are searching for them. In other words, because so many people are using them, it can be more difficult for your photos to get noticed.

Take a look at the top 10 most popular right now:

1. #love: 1 billion+ posts
2. #instagood: 537 million+ posts
3. #photooftheday: 385 million+ posts
4. #beautiful: 359 million+ posts
5. #tbt (throwback Thursday): 355 million+ posts
6. #happy: 346 million+ posts
7. #cute: 346 million+ posts
8. #fashion: 339 million+ posts
9. #me: 311 million+ posts
10. #picoftheday: 289 million+ posts

Standard.

Next up:

The second strategy is to find and use hashtags that are commonly used for getting more likes and follows (e.g., #like4like and #follow4follow). These will result in more general followers, which can be great for connecting with a much wider audience.

I’m going to give you the top five in this case, because this is just desperate:

1. #follow: 306 million+ posts
2. #like4like: 296 million+ posts
3. #tagsforlikes: 209 million+ posts
4. #instalike: 207+ million posts
5. #likeforlike: 193 million+ posts

Arg. Please refrain from being that person.

So, let’s just move onto the third and best practice:

The third and final strategy is to identify extremely relevant and specific hashtags that will be more likely to get you targeted followers. These hashtags are the ones most commonly used in your niche, and will be the ones your target market is most likely to search for.

Interested in plants that aren’t green? How about cats eating ice cream? Or maybe walking backwards is your thing.

Whatever it is, hashtag the shit out of it with relevant tags that will help you gain the followers you actually want and need that fit your brand.

Got it? Great, now go get all those followers and I’ll see you at the top.

[source:kimgarst]