How to get the right #hashtags

Currently I noticed that my Instagram has reached its peak. I once saw Singaporean influencer, Xia Xue's video on Social Blade, a website which can track people who buy followers. I remember in the video, she mentioned that some influencers resort to such measures because they've gotten "Instagram cancer" which means their followers gradually drop every single day. I understand how they feel because I've been putting on more effort compared to when I just started my Instagram and somehow it's just on a standstill. I get new followers but the number doesn't go up since there are unfollowers as well.

With my talk with my friend whose work focuses on SEO, I thought "hey, keywords are just like hashtags". I googled hashtag generator and Focalmark popped up.

This is the Focalmark app. According to their website, the app is uses human research and a ranking algorithm to suggest hashtags that connect photos to a real audience. The combination allows the suggestions to be both relevant and could help increase exposure.

The app is so cool because you can combine two styles, eg. Fashion and travel in a hashtag. Certain countries or camera communities have their own special hashtag as well so it was cool to find them out. View the GIFs below on how it works!

So I'm using the hashtags Focalmark suggested me to use throughout my Korea trip Instagram posts to see whether it makes a difference and could potentially grow my following. For now, I have noticed accounts linked to those hashtags have been liking some of my photos which is a good sign but no growth of following yet.