95: 5 Instagram Growth Hacks For Your 2026 Marketing Strategy
If your Instagram growth feels stuck or you are posting without a clear direction, this episode gives you clarity fast. I break down the five Instagram growth hacks that are helping small business owners grow their accounts, tighten their messaging, and get more eyes on their work. Each strategy is simple. Each strategy is doable. Each strategy is relevant to your 2026 plan.
I also share how these principles work inside Hot Reels, my high-touch content lab for business owners who want clarity, confidence, and a repeatable system that drives real results.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
[00:00] Why your Instagram growth feels stalled
[00:26] Five simple growth strategies that work in 2026
[07:16] Growth hack #1: Target market research
[12:52] Growth hack #2: Narrow your focus
[16:43] Growth hack #3: Trial Reels
[21:19] Growth hack #4: Remixes
[23:38] Growth hack #5: Talking head videos and stories
[25:22] How Hot Reels supports you year-round
Key Takeaways:
Your audience responds when you use their exact words.
Clear focus helps the right followers see themselves in your message.
Trial Reels remove guesswork and speed up your growth.
Remixes help your reach when you add your own perspective.
Talking head videos deepen trust and connection fast.
Links Mentioned:
Join the Hot Reels waitlist or DM me hot on Instagram
Read Dani’s Story: How She Made $100K from Instagram in Under 12 Months (A Hot Reels Success Story)
A Truth You Need to Hear:
“When you narrow your focus, you widen your impact.”
S3 Ep95 Transcript: 5 Instagram Growth Hacks For Your 2026 Marketing Strategy
00:00
If you've been feeling like your Instagram growth has stalled or you're posting and praying with zero clear direction, you're going to love today's episode. I'm breaking down the five Instagram growth hacks that are actually moving the needle for small businesses and brands right now. The same strategies my clients are using to grow their accounts, tighten their message, and get way more eyes on their business. These shifts are simple.
00:26
They're doable and they're going to clarify exactly what you should be focusing on in your 2026 Instagram marketing strategy. Are you ready? Let's do it. Welcome to strut it a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies.
00:45
I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole lead work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place. Let's dive in.
01:16
Welcome back to the show. I'm super excited to drop these five Instagram growth hacks that are working right now for small businesses and brands on Instagram. As you know, the social media landscape is always shifting and changing and there are parts of it that remain the same. And my goal in today's show is for you to walk away understanding the nuance of
01:39
Yes, there are new things that are happening on Instagram. There are new strategies that are working that I would love for you to go and run and implement with. And there are algorithm proof, timeless marketing strategies that are true. They've always been true. And it's more of a refinement of how they work within the social media lens. So there's a little bit of nuance here. But my goal is to make it really simple, actionable and fun as always.
02:08
And before I dive in, I wanna make sure that you know that the doors to Hot Reels, my 12 month Instagram content lab are currently open, but only for a few more days. If you don't know, Hot Reels is a strategy-backed, high-touch group coaching program for established business owners and creative entrepreneurs who are done second guessing every post and are ready for a simple, repeatable system that...
02:34
actually works and drives more of their ideal clients and customers to their account and to their business so they can make more money. So even if content creation feels cringy, confusing, or like a total time sack, when you come into Hot Reels, you are going to quickly learn how to improve the quality of your content, the resonance of your content, meaning,
03:00
How can you make it resonate and attract like a magnet your ideal client or customer to your Instagram account? Because remember people can't buy from you if they don't know you exist. Instagram is such a powerful top of a funnel opportunity of getting in front of more of your dreamboat clients, but it doesn't stop there. When positioned strategically, Instagram can work like a lead generating machine, driving
03:30
hot leads and sales to your business. Ask me how I know I've used Instagram to grow not only my brick and mortar studio to multi six figures, but also my online business. I'm obsessed with this platform. I think it provides us the most incredible opportunity. And I completely understand how overwhelming it can feel. How you feel like you're throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks every time you post.
03:58
that you're posting because you think you should, but you have no idea exactly how this content connects to your marketing and sales funnel or how this content connects to your overarching goal of your business. I get it. It is confusing. And my job on this podcast and in my program, Hot Reels, is to really simplify that for you. So looking at 2026, if one of your goals is to grow your audience on Instagram, boost visibility with Reels,
04:27
that actually work and really feel like you know what to say, you know what to post, and you know exactly how to leverage Instagram to attract your dream clients without burning out, second guessing yourself on camera, or just constantly stressing about the algorithm changes. Hot Reels is for you. I invite you to go check it out. You can find all the info on my website, Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y.com slash hot.
04:57
H-O-T, or you can hop on over to Instagram. Hello, are we already friends over there? Make sure you're following me at Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y. Send me a direct message with this word, hot, H-O-T, and my sexy robot assistant will send you over the link. And I want you to know truly, this is the truth. If you send me a voice note,
05:23
with questions. If you send me a text over on the DMs through Instagram, I respond to each and every message. So if you're going through this page and you're reading about Hot Reels and you're like, okay, I think this is good, but I'm not sure I have questions or I'm not clear on, okay, how am I gonna get my return on investment? Or if you need to have a conversation with me, I am here for you, okay? So don't be shy.
05:49
send me a message, I listen and respond to all messages over there. I care so much about my audience and about my clients and I want to serve you. I wanna pour into you and I want to help you make the most aligned decision for yourself and for your business. So if this is something that you're interested in, you have any questions, don't forget to DM me the keyword hot over on Instagram, you'll get all the details and like I said,
06:18
You know where to find me if you have questions. Spots are very limited. I keep this group intimate, okay? I'm not one of those coaches who loves a room with hundreds and hundreds of people. That is not my jam. My sole blueprint is to serve less people on a much deeper level so I can get to know you, your business, your heart, your vision, all of that. So I keep the group intimate. So as I'm recording this right now, there are four spots available.
06:47
that is going to be changing rapidly. So if you're hearing this and you're like, okay, I want in, don't sit on this, head on over to elizabethmarberry.com slash hot or DM me hot on Instagram and let's chat about next steps and if this is the right program for you. Okay, so let's get into the five Instagram growth hacks that are working in 2026 and why these hacks are the difference between stagnant growth and posting content that gets you seen.
07:16
trusted and hired. Growth hack number one, it's not sexy, but it is so effective and that is target market research. This is the foundation and honestly still the most skipped step. Here's the thing, most business owners are speaking from their expert brain and not even realizing it, right? Because you have been in your business for so long or you are
07:47
years ahead of your ideal client or customer, and you almost don't even realize that you're speaking in that expert speak, right? So when you do that, when you post a hook or you post messaging from that space of using your expert lingo or what you think matters to your customer versus your audience's lived experience or your audience's words, the words that they're
08:16
actually using to describe their problem or desire, your content is gonna fall flat. And it's interesting, yesterday I was doing a master class, one of my private clients has a mentorship for permanent jewelers and she coaches them in growing their permanent jewelry business. And I was doing an Instagram bio audit.
08:38
And I was looking at everyone's Instagram bios to ensure that it's optimized to work like a magnet to attract their ideal clients or customers. So many of their bios were filled with words that were pertinent to them as permanent jewelers, right? So an example of that would be, we have the largest selection of permanent jewelry in the area. And well, is that important? Yes. But does that go on an Instagram bio? No.
09:07
And the reason is that I guarantee you that if someone is searching to get permanent jewelry, they're probably not typing into Google, who has the largest selection? They're just searching for like permanent jewelers near me. They're looking at your videos. They're looking at your pictures. Like you can show that you have the largest selection, but that's not gonna be one of those things that's gonna activate their customers to say,
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Oh my gosh, they are the largest selection. I'm going to go with them, right? They're thinking I want to have permanent jewelry, so I have a custom piece of jewelry made and welded to me. And this piece of jewelry symbolizes a special connection that I have with my sister. That's why they're buying it. They're not buying it because you have the largest selection in town. So that's an example of.
10:03
business owners often get caught in that trap of using the words and descriptions from their expert stance and not from their audience's lived experience. Because no matter how good your content is, if the words don't sound like your ideal client, they literally will scroll past it, okay? People stop scrolling when they feel understood or activated, right?
10:31
I've done entire episodes on target market research, but I'm gonna give you high level. Where do you find the language of your ideal clients? Your DMs, your comments section, your sales calls, your client wins or your testimonials, the questions your business gets over and over again. And yes, you can also use AI and chat GBT to do target market research. Be careful with that though. You need to have some sort of
11:00
real life conversations and a level of context. So that way you can be the thought leader in working with the AI. So that's one thing to keep in mind there. So if content creation feels hard or you always feel kind of frozen about, okay, what am I gonna say or what should I post? It's almost always because there's no target market research in place. Once you start collecting that language,
11:26
of your ideal clients and you use it in your messaging and you understand what they actually want, what they're looking for, or the problems that your product or service solves, content becomes so much easier and much more plug and play. This messaging piece is so huge and it's a lot of the work I do with my clients in Hot Reels because it's one thing to understand this in your brain, it's another thing to have me
11:53
alongside you looking at your content and giving you that feedback because I'm not in your business with you, right? It's hard to read the label when you're inside the box. And so I get to come in from this outside perspective and I can tell you, I will tell you straight up, I'm confused by this hook. I don't get what you're trying to say, you know, and we can really start to massage and refine your messaging. So it will be more effective at stopping the scroll and capturing the attention of the right people.
12:23
Growth hack number two is narrowing your focus. This isn't just strategy, this is survival, okay? Hang with me here because I know everyone freaks out when it's like, oh my gosh, I have to pick a niche and a focus and we kind of overthink this. Trying to talk to everyone makes your message land with no one. So even if you're a multi-passionate entrepreneur, like one of my clients in Hot Reels,
12:52
She is a singer, songwriter, she's an actress, she's a writer, she has books, she does in-person sound healing. Like this woman is so multi-passionate, she would never fit into one box, but with that being said, she has an overarching brand and mission of helping women to find their voice and heal from trauma. And she does that through all these different modalities. So that is her niche.
13:20
Right? And she has different modalities that she uses. So it's not that she has to say, oh, I only do music. Right? But you need to have a core thread and theme and value system when it comes to your account. And the more precise your content is, the easier it is for your person, right? Your ideal follower to see themselves in your message. You know, so many people are like, I want to grow my following. I want to grow my following. And it's like,
13:49
You want to grow your following with only those people who are aligned with your business or brand, meaning the people who are seeking out your products or services, right? Or your offers. I don't care if Uncle Joe gives me a follow on Instagram. My content, my business is not for Uncle Joe unless he's started up a business and he's like, hey, Elizabeth, help me grow my business on Instagram. But that's not Uncle Joe. So I don't care if he follows me, right?
14:19
We're not just going after the follows. We're going after the people who are actually going to be highly qualified to become our hottest prospects leads and hopefully come down our pipeline and become customers, right? So as we all know, there's a ton of content on Instagram. There's over 3 billion monthly users right now on Instagram. People are busy. Attention spans are shorter than ever. Just last week, I was talking about how to capture attention within those first two seconds.
14:48
of your real. So if your message doesn't instantly signal like this is for you and it's really specific and really focused, they're going to keep scrolling. And most creators and business owners feel resistance when niching down because they think they're cutting off opportunity, right? I've heard this a lot where they're like, well, you know, I coach women and men, you know, so I don't want to just focus on women. And I say, well, what is
15:15
80 % of your revenue and they're like, well, it's women. And I'm like, then let's focus on women. Believe me, men will still want to work with you. They will still see your work and hire you. I mean, ask me how I know all of my branding is bright pink. It's very girly. I'm very sassy and all of my branding in your face, very kind of girly vibes. Men hire me all the time because if you know what you're doing, the right people are going to hire you.
15:43
Right? So you don't need to overthink this. You don't need to say, oh no, but what about this nuance here? And just simplify your life. Think about the majority of your business. Who is that person? And maybe it's not as simple as female or male. Maybe it's more like a certain type of avatar, right? A certain type of person. But you have to really think about this in terms of narrowing your focus.
16:14
is an opportunity to actually open the door to growth, right? When you can narrow your focus, it clarifies your point of view. And when you narrow your focus, it becomes so much easier to share your stories and write your hooks and write your calls to action and write your captions because you're not speaking to everyone. You're speaking to your one dreamboat client or customer. Growth hack number three is
16:43
trial reels. Now I've done full episodes on trial reels, so I'm gonna try to breeze through this right now. But this is one of the fastest ways to speed up growth in 2026. Now it's really an incredible opportunity. As you probably know, recently Instagram released trial reels, I think it was about six-ish months ago. And what are trial reels? Well,
17:08
When you go to post a reel, you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see a little toggle that says trial reels. You can toggle that on and then share it. When you do that, that reel will be shown only to non-followers. So people who don't already follow you, a totally cold audience. So it's a really cool opportunity to experiment and play with different content types.
17:38
and get some data, right? And I'm gonna talk through a couple different ways I've been doing this. with trial reels, you do not have to guess anymore. Instagram literally gives you a built-in testing playground, which I just, I'm obsessed with this feature. Thank you, Instagram, for giving it to us. So here's a couple ways that trial reels can work. You drop your idea into trial reels and you could duplicate a video where you're using the exact same video m
18:07
two times or even three times. So you can think of this as like A B testing with reels and you could use the exact same video and use three different hooks, right? And then see which one is most resonant, right? Which one performs the best, which one gets the most views and engagement and shares and saves and all these things, right? Comments. So it's a great way you could test hooks. You could test different storytelling styles like
18:35
maybe you always do those direct-to-camera talking head videos and you wanna play with more trends, right? So you're gonna test out a new type of content style that you don't normally do in your trial reels just to kind of see how it works, right? You can test visuals, you can test pacing, like, oh, I wonder if how I edit this video makes a difference. Like if you know that you have a hook that has performed really well in the past.
19:02
but you're curious if you could make it perform even better with a different video behind it, you could test that. One of my clients grew from 2,500 to 40,000 followers in seven months, and this is exactly what she did. She just didn't overthink. She just kept testing. And I love Trial Reels because it removes that emotional charge that some of us have with our content of like, oh my gosh, what if it flops?
19:29
You know, what if I post this and it flops and no one sees it? Which by the way, that happens to every single creator I know. It happens to me every single week. Just so you know, the sooner you can get your mindset on board of I'm gonna flop forward, I'm gonna fail forward, I'm gonna post and move on with my life and I'm gonna learn as I go, you will be so much happier and more successful on Instagram.
19:56
I love trial wheels because again, testing just helps to remove some of that guesswork that you feel like you have inevitably when you go to post on Instagram. And trial wheels are powerful because oftentimes we get stuck in perfectionism, right? I feel that trial wheels help those of us, wink, wink at myself, who are, I like to say, recovering perfectionists or people pleasers. It can be helpful for us because we can put ourselves out there in a way that maybe feels less exposing.
20:26
Right? So I love it from the mindset and energetic piece, but I also love it from the strategy piece. So definitely play with A, testing your content. And this is a bonus tip that I've been playing with lately and it's been really interesting and I'm still kind of studying how this works is I have been playing with when I post a reel, I will post it to my trial reels and I will post it to my feed.
20:51
So I'm doing both at the same time and I'm just leaving the trial in trial reels. I'm not pushing that trial reel out to my feed, because obviously that would show up twice on my feed. And that has actually been working really well to essentially like double my reach and my engagement. So you can kind of play with that. Growth hack number four is remixes are still working like wildfire. So if you're not using remixes, you're missing one of the easiest visibility boosts right now.
21:19
So what is a remix? A remix is when you take someone else's content and you uh remix it and kind of make it your own by adding some sort of element onto the screen. So let's say you see a video you like, it's in your niche. So I'll give you an example for my wedding dance coach studio. Sometimes there will be a video of let's say a father daughter dance and it's not a dance that we choreographed but I'm like, this is so beautiful. I love it. I wanna share it with my audience.
21:46
I'll click those three dots in the corner and I'll say remix the original reel. Then from there, you have to add your own elements. So I will add a text hook on the screen. Sometimes I'll add storytelling elements. And then of course I'll add a full caption to just kind of make it my own. One of my best practices now is I do give the original creator a shout out in my caption. When you remix someone's content, it'll say where the audio is. It'll say like the original creator's handle.
22:14
creators who are posting, you guys can always turn off the ability for people to remix your content. So if a creator allows it, they're consenting to it, right? But still best practices, I typically will tag the, you know, say original video by so and so to give them full credit. But remixes are just a fantastic way to find, yeah, more viewers, drive more eyeballs to your feed and serve your audience. Cause people are already watching the original video and you are
22:43
essentially kind of piggybacking off their existing momentum. And when you add your hook and your perspective, your remix becomes a new piece of content. You're not stealing, you're not copying, you're adding to it. Some of my remixes that have gone massively viral, millions of views, it's because there was a video that was already doing well, but I added a lot of different elements to it to make it even better, right? So.
23:08
People want commentary, they want your take, they want your interpretation as an expert, and it's a really quick and easy way to post some content, especially when you don't feel like getting on camera or creating a new piece of content yourself. Last but not least, growth hack number five is talking head content and also showing your face in your Instagram stories. Now, AI is everywhere. I love AI. I use chatgbt every day for all different aspects of my business.
23:38
But with the rise of AI, I feel that it's becoming even more important to show your face on camera. People want to see your face. They want to hear your voice. They want to hear your point of view. So whether that is recording talking head videos or I have been doing a lot of showing up in my Instagram stories, bringing people into the behind the scenes of my day, the process behind my business, the process of what I'm working on.
24:04
and inviting people into that next step. So nurturing that relationship with them and then driving those conversions by inviting people in and telling people how they can work with me, right? People need to be told what to do for the next step, right? Like if you're saying, I want more sales, I would say, what is your customer journey? How do I work with you? And you need to be crystal clear on that.
24:25
And showing up in your stories, showing up in those videos and using those talking head types of reels is a really great way to build trust. I feel that trust is definitely lower. know, people are more cautious about who they're buying from. They want to know who the face, the brain, the heart, the mission, the value system behind the products or services they're buying. So the more you can be brave and show your gorgeous face on camera, you're going to do so much better and you're going to stand out in this world of AI.
24:54
So that wraps up our five Instagram growth hacks for your 2026 marketing strategy. And of course, that is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're listening to this and you're like, okay, I get it. And I need help implementing this and customizing this strategy to my unique business. I hope that you will check out Hot Reels, my 12 month Instagram content lab. Remember, the doors are open for just a few more days. And if you're listening to this and it's
25:22
not even around when I originally aired this episode. Don't worry. You can go to Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y dot com slash hot. There will always be the most updated program information, whether that is we're growing that VIP wait list or the doors are open, but definitely head on over there. You can see all of my incredible client wins. My clients are incredible. They're making moves on Instagram and growing their revenues. And I would love to support you and make this
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simpler, easier and more clear so you can show up with confidence and do your soul led work in 2026. Don't forget to follow me over on Instagram at Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y and DM me the keyword hot. And if you love today's episode, do me a favor and share it with a business bestie or colleague who is also trying to figure out the mystery that is Instagram. I hope you got so much value out of today's show.
26:21
And thank you as always for sharing your precious time and energy with me. I am sending you so much love and I cannot wait to strut it with you next week. Thank you for listening to strut it. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free monetize your IG guide where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram.
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You can grab your guide at ElizabethMarberry.com slash Freebies. That's ElizabethMarberry.com slash Freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.
