Gary Vaynerchuk Instagram Strategy: $1.80
Before 2022, I wasn’t active on social media; my last Instagram post was June 2020. This year however, I’ve made the decision to start building up my online presence again, starting with this blog and eventually adding other platforms as well.
I’ve never been one for interrupting the moment to post, though I recognize the power of social media in terms of building networks, brands, friendships and selling products. But then I discovered the vibrant guitar community on Instagram which made me reevaluate how these platforms can improve my reach, playing skills, connections and inspiration at once.
Due to my lack of social media skills and knowledge, I decided to learn from the master himself: Gary Vee and his 1.80 Instagram strategy. Gary became renowned for posting full video wine reviews on YouTube for his Empathy Wines brand.
Building a meaningful community is paramount for digital marketing success. Gary Vaynerchuk, commonly referred to as Gary V, is one expert who has successfully built such a following around his personal brand. His popular blog posts and social media content often emphasize the significance of creating genuine connections with your readers.
With over 1.80 million Instagram followers, Gary V has perfected the art of building an authentic online community. He encourages his fans to engage with his content by leaving thoughtful comments and starting conversations, rather than simply leaving spam comments with a link back to their own page.
Utilizing the right hashtags and related tags is one way to foster a vibrant online community. Hashtags help your content get discovered by those interested in your topic or niche, leading to greater engagement and followers. Gary V often shares his favorite hashtags and related tags with his followers, inspiring them to incorporate them into their own posts.
However, building a vibrant community requires more than simply using the correct hashtags. It requires creating content that resonates with your viewers and generates conversation. Gary V’s honest approach to content production has allowed him to cultivate an adoring following of fans and supporters.
If you want to build a stronger community on social media, take inspiration from Gary V’s example. Utilize the best hashtags and related tags for maximum exposure, but also focus on crafting authentic, engaging content that sparks conversation. Be genuine and thoughtful in your interactions with followers; avoid spammy tactics which might turn off potential followers.
This post will examine Gary V’s approach to creating a personal network.
What is the Gary Vaynerchuk IG $1.80 Strategy

The $1.80 Instagram strategy is a now famous social media platform Instagram account growth strategy for building an Instagram following published over 4 years ago on his blog. Essentially, the 1.80 strategy approach involves providing your 2 cents on 9 posts for 10 hashtags that are relevant to provide $1.80 worth of value. By doing this consistently, you can build an organic following of real people, building your personal brand and reach across your niche simultaneously. You want your two cents on top of 10 hashtags across 9 posts.
I’ll outline this 1.80 strategy in more detail below. Be sure to pay attention and start engaging!
Step 1: Find your top 10 hashtags
First, find the top 10 relevant hashtags in your niche. You can do this by going to the search tab in the Instagram app and then performing a search of your main hashtag.
By searching for #guitar, the search results then provide the top 10 hashtags for my specific niche. In this case, the top 10 hashtags include #guitar #guitarplayer #guitarsolo #guitarporn #guitarcover #guitargear #guitarlife #guitarpedals #guitarplayers #guitareffects
Step 2: Find the top nine posts from 10 hashtags
Once you have your hashtags, you want to select one of the ten and then perform a scan of the top 9 posts for 10 different hashtags. Here you want to pay attention and check the profile, the bio, followers and following, check previous posts, and get a feel for the user’s character and how they are online.
Step 3: Leave your 2 cents of value on each post
Once you have done that, select one of the nine posts, and this is where you leave your 2 cents on the top of the comments section. The important thing here is to make your comment valuable – that means no emojis and no single words comments like ‘awesome’ or ‘great’. You want to leave a comment that will inspire engagement on every single one, so something like a question would be better, or leave advice for other commenters or the user.
Step 4: Repeat the process 9 more times
Once you have commented on the first of nine posts in your chosen hashtag, repeat this process another ten times across other top hashtags.
Once you’ve posted nine times across ten different hashtags, your $1.80 strategy is in effect. Don’t forget to do this daily in order to build a real following of people who are interested in what you have to say and who are more likely to engage with your content when shared.
The $1.80 Instagram strategy is an effective way to organically expand your reach and brand on Instagram without spending any money.
With consistent application of this strategy, you will rapidly build a following of organic followers and may even uncover some fantastic opportunities in the process.
That strategy was released in 2018, but much has changed since then, especially regarding technology – let us reinvigorate this plan for 2022.
Using Dollar Eighty App for your 2 Cent

Dollar Eighty is a web app designed for the $1.80 strategy to make the process faster and more effective. It’s not a bot or automation service; rather, it provides an uncluttered interface with top posts from chosen hashtags in a web-based dashboard.
Dollar Eighty filters the best posts according to niche and preferred hashtags so that you can easily follow along with the strategy by commenting or following relevant content. Plus, this software can support growth on Instagram too!
Dollar Eighty Features
Dollar Eighty provides a host of features to enable you to get your social media account firing. Check out some of the main features below.
Unlimited Daily Comments
The ability to comment on as many instagram posts as you feel is suitable is a great benefit to using this software.
With the platform Dollar Eighty provides a curated display of posts on the dashboard making it easy to comment. This makes it alot easier to leave comments and will make you much more efficient.
Targeted Hashtags
When performing the 1.80 strategy, it’s important to be as targeted as possible for you to achieve Instagram growth.
The targeted hashtag feature helps you target the best posts that will benefit your niche in the most effective way.
Location Targeting
If you are a local business, having the ability to target an instagram account in your area can be hugely beneficial. Dollar Eighty has a feature that allows your to do this.
This Dollar Eighty feature is also useful if you are a business that provides local offers every now and then.
Growth Analysis
As they say, what gets measured, gets managed. The Dollar Eighty software can help you get insights that help you understand whether your growth strategy is an effective one and how many Instagram followers you might be attracting through your efforts.
The Dollar Eighty platform can help you assess your growth rate across a specific time frame.
With this analytical data, you can adjust your strategy depending on how your 10 different hashtags are currently performing for your growth strategy.
Community Access
The Dollar Eighty software also provides a thriving community of growth marketers where you can share strategy and grow your Instagram account with the help of others.
Social Media Profile Targeting
Targeting a specific account that fits within your niche with the 1.80 strategy can go a long way in helping you build an audience of followers that will be interested in your content.
The good thing about targeting a profile with your 1.80 strategy is that you can be sure that the audience will also be the right fit for your business.
Dollar Eighty Chrome Extension
To make the dollar eighty software even more accessible, you can also install a dollar eighty chrome extension that allows you get an indication of how many comments you have made each day on your Instagram account.
The chrome extension makes it easy to keep an eye on your dollar eighty account and the progress you make with dollar eighty every day.
Setting up is simple. Select your hashtag, and then all the top 9 trending posts will show in your dashboard, ready for you to comment.
For a more detailed overview of Dollar-Eighty, check out the video below by Jeremy Mura, who provides a great overview.
Overview of Gary Vee’s $1.80 Instagram Strategy from Jeremy Mura
$1.80 Instagram Strategy Challenges and Potential Pitfalls
Although successful, the 1.80 Instagram strategy comes with some challenges to contend with.
Consistency and dedication are necessary; you’ll need to set aside a couple of hours daily. Engagement may be low if you provide valuable comments but receive none in return. Trolls should also be ignored; simply ignore them and move forward.
These difficulties are manageable with persistence so don’t let them stop you from using this strategy.
Don’t let these challenges put you off from using the strategy, as they are manageable with a little perseverance.
Automating the 1.80 Instagram Strategy
As an Instagram growth strategy, the $1.80 method is extremely effective, but it is also time-consuming. Though if you consider each new follower valuable – it will be worth it.
This is where automation can help.
There are now software tools available that will automate the process of commenting on posts for you, so you can continue to grow your account without having to dedicate hours each day to the task.
Ingramer Automation

Ingramer is an AI-powered Instagram bot that can help you to organically grow your account by automate repetitive tasks such as commenting on posts, following users and liking photos.
To get started with Ingramer, simply sign up for a free account and then connect your Instagram account. Once you have connected your account, you will be able to select the hashtags you want to target and Ingramer will do the rest, leaving you free to focus on other tasks.
Phantombuster Automation

Another solution that can be used for your 1.80 instagram strategy is called PhantomBuster. This software is a bit more expensive but provides a wide range of features that can be used to grow your account.
PhantomBuster can automate many tasks such as liking photos, following users and commenting on posts. It also has a feature that allows you to mass unfollow users who do not follow you back, helping you to keep your following clean and engaged.
To get started with PhantomBuster, simply sign up for an account and then connect your Instagram account. Once you have connected your account, you will be able to select the hashtags that you want to target, and PhantomBuster will do the rest.
New Limits & Restrictions
Recently there have been reports of this strategy resulting in account blocks for some, this is most likely to curb the use of automation and bots on the platform. As of 2021, it has been rumoured the following daily limits apply:
- 7-13 follows per hour or 100-150 follows per day
- 300-400 likes per day (of followed accounts)
- 2-5 comments per hour, or 20-30 comments per day
- up to 10 DMs per hour under strict considerations
Now, these rules may not be hard and fast and may vary between accounts but the key thing here is to ensure that the comments you make are spread more evenly throughout the day rather than all in one session – this is particularly important for your account is newer. Basically, don’t look like a bot.
Does the $1.80 strategy work
Does the 1.80 strategy work..that is the ultimate question.
The Gary Vee $1.80 Strategy is an ambitious plan that seeks to help entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their businesses through a combination of strategies, such as content marketing, relationship building, and leveraging existing social networks. It is based on the idea that each dollar invested in marketing can yield up to $1.80 in return. While this strategy has been successful for some, it is by no means a guarantee of success. Every business is different and the strategy may not be applicable to all.
It is important to remember that any marketing strategy needs to be tailored and adjusted according to the particular needs of your business. The Gary Vee $1.80 Strategy may be helpful in helping you to think more strategically about marketing, but it should not be seen as a magic bullet that will guarantee success. Ultimately, it is up to the business owner or entrepreneur to implement the strategy effectively and make sure that it is working for their particular business.
Conclusion
There you have it, a (currently) timeless strategy to boost your Instagram profile. I will try this on my new Instagram post creator’s account this year, so it will be interesting to see how it performs throughout the year. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date!