I second this comment, @averyandme and @walkingkeys.
I've only been around for a few weeks here on Steemit. Only published two posts for a photo contest, all my other posts are comments. I'm still trying to get a better understanding of Steemit. I mostly comment on posts that I actually enjoyed reading, like this one. But I also see many posts that aren't that great, "lame" as averyandme said, and lots of copy/paste 'follow me / upvote me" comments.
I haven't been around long enough to know whether this works or not, but I'd like to believe that the effort of giving genuine comments and quality posts is ultimately rewarded. The strategy you recommend, walkingkeys, sounds like a great one. I've already been doing that here and there, but not so much as a strategy. Will double down on that!