77: Keyword Strategy for Instagram Growth (Attract Clients with the Right Words)
If you're tired of creating content that goes unseen, this one’s for you. With Instagram posts now showing up on Google (yes, that’s a thing), it’s never been more important to use the right keywords. But what does that mean? In this quick-hit solo episode, I’ll walk you through a simple, actionable strategy for discovering what your ideal clients are already searching for, and how to use those exact words in your content.
We’re covering how to find your best keywords (without being an SEO expert), my go-to free tools, and how to avoid keyword stuffing while still boosting your visibility. Whether you’re writing captions, recording Reels, or updating your IG bio, this strategy will help you attract the right audience with content that gets seen.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
[04:46] Why keyword strategy is essential and why success goes to the implementers
[05:44] How Instagram’s new Google indexing changes everything
[06:40] The difference between Instagram SEO and keyword discovery
[07:08] A mini case study from Hot Reels: how Krista closed a client from IG content
[08:56] Another Hot Reels win: how Courtney sold 2 coaching packages through Instagram
[11:14] Why keywords help the algorithm show your content to the right people
[13:12] Step-by-step: how to find your ideal keywords without overthinking it
[14:38] The Contact Form Trick: goldmine for language your clients actually use
[15:34] The Google Autocomplete Hack (and why it's the easiest place to start)
[16:27] 3 keyword research tools I love (and how to use them fast)
[22:00] How to build your keyword list in under 10 minutes
[22:30] The #1 thing not to do with your keywords (don’t get flagged!)
[23:28] The best place to find client language for your content (and it’s free)
Key Takeaways:
Keyword strategy isn’t just for websites anymore. With Instagram content now indexed on Google, your keywords help you show up in two places at once.
You don’t need to be an SEO pro to find strong keywords, just start with your clients’ own language.
Google’s autocomplete and tools like KeywordTool.io, Answer the Public, and Google Trends make keyword discovery fast and free.
Don’t keyword-stuff your content. Use natural language that speaks directly to your people.
Your content can’t convert if no one sees it. Keywords = visibility = more leads.
Join the Waitlist:
🚨Doors open August 18th for Hot Reels, my high-touch 12-month Instagram content lab! If you're ready to stop guessing and start strategically showing up on Instagram, you need to be in this room. Small group, big breakthroughs, plus waitlist-only bonuses that won’t be available after day one. → Get on the list: elizabethmarberry.com/hot
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
A Truth You Need to Hear:
“Success goes to the implementers. Keyword strategy isn’t about being perfect, it’s about showing up where your people are already looking.”
S3 Ep77 Transcript: Keyword Strategy for Instagram Growth (Attract Clients with the Right Words)
00:00
When it comes to marketing your business or brand on Instagram, you already know how important it is to make sure your Instagram content is optimized for search. And a huge part of that is using the right keywords. In today's short but sweet episode, I'm gonna break down exactly how to find the words your ideal clients are typing into Google right now. So you can stop guessing with your content and start showing up.
00:29
where it counts. Are you ready? Let's go.
00:34
Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. 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.
01:03
Let's dive in.
01:14
Welcome back to the show. I'm super grateful that you have joined me for another episode of Strut It, where every week I'm teaching you exactly what's working and what's not for businesses and brands on Instagram. As I'm recording this, my kids are getting ready to go back to school already. And I have to be honest, while I am so grateful for
01:37
the many incredible moments with them over the summer. We just spent some time in the mountains, which was so lovely. I love being in nature. We had lots of playtime and fun and family connection. And I am so ready for them to go back to school because I crave structure and routine in my days. And I just want to give love to all the working parents out there listening to the podcast who are trying to juggle all the things.
02:05
I just want you to know I see you, I am you, and we've got this. We can do this. We can grow our business and be the most incredible parents and partners. And if you don't have kids, I know you can still relate to that feeling of intense seasons in your life where you feel like you're juggling 20 balls with one arm tied behind your back. I'm a big fan of the both and. Like, it can be both and, meaning
02:35
I love being with my kids, I love being a mom, and it's exhausting, and I need my own space, and I need breaks. I think it's so important to give ourselves permission and space to be in the both and, because life isn't black and white, right? There's the gray. And this philosophy is something I bring into coaching with my clients, because to me,
03:01
your Instagram marketing strategy or your content strategy is really only gonna be effective if it resonates with you and your heart and your beliefs and your mission and your values and all of that. And I can give you all the guidance, but at the end of the day, it has to make sense for you. During this transitional time in August, I always feel that push and pull of the both and and the tension.
03:27
that exists sometimes when we are trying to juggle so many things. So I just wanted to share that piece with you. I'm curious who is resonating. I'd love for you to message me on Instagram. Tell me. I want to just quickly say I've been receiving more messages from you, my beloved listeners, and it's incredible. Thank you for reaching out to me. I'm a real person. I put my heart and soul into this podcast to serve you. And when I get a message from you that
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Oh my gosh, Elizabeth, you spoke directly to me in your podcast. This is what resonated. This is what helped. It really supports me and it supports the team. It keeps us going and showing up for you each week. So thank you in advance for doing that. And if you haven't already, don't be shy. I would love to hear from you. Make sure you follow me over on Instagram and send me a message and I will get back to you, especially when I get my kids back in school.
04:18
I'm excited about today's episode. My goal is to keep it short and sweet and just very impactful so you can go and implement these action steps right away. One of my business coaches actually once said to me, success goes to the implementers. And so if you are one of those people who binge podcasts, which thank you if you're binging my podcast, side note, I love that. It's so good to consume information but
04:46
please don't forget that the success goes to the implementers, which is why I'm always in these episodes trying to give you like one thing to do that week. Because if you want new results, you have to take new actions. And it's important to consume and educate yourself and get information, but at some point it can also be information overload. And so make sure you're just finding a flow of
05:15
learning and supporting yourself in that way, but also giving yourself time to implement just one or two things that maybe you'll learn today this coming week. I'm really pumped about today's episode because a few weeks ago I did a whole episode on Instagram SEO and how to really optimize your Instagram for search. On July 10th, 2025, Instagram confirmed this really big announcement that
05:44
public-facing profiles are now crawlable and indexable by Google, which was a really big shift. And I did a whole episode on why that's really big for us as businesses and brands showing up on Instagram. Essentially, really what it means is that your Instagram content can now show up in Google search results. And in that episode, I went pretty deep on
06:13
the importance of using keywords on Instagram, like in your bio, hooks, captions, on-screen text, all that's really important so your content can show up in Google search results. But today's episode, I wanted to go even deeper on that and explore, well, how do you find those keywords? Because keyword research doesn't have to be complicated and you don't need to spend.
06:40
Trust me, it can be very simple and you don't have to be a search engine optimization pro to discover what are the top like 10 keywords that my ideal clients or customers are typing into Google. So this episode is a mini training to really help you figure out what keywords your ideal clients are already searching for so you can show up for them on Instagram and Google. Sound good?
07:08
Before we dive into that, I wanna share a couple quick wins. In my Hot Reels 12-month Instagram content lab, this week one of my clients shared a win. She said, I enrolled a client last week who built trust from following me on Instagram. Krista has been in my program now for 12 months and I love this win. She is a pain relief coach. She helps people get out of
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chronic pain through embodied movement. I love how she wrote that they enrolled because they had been following her over time on Instagram and they had built trust with her through her content, which helped her to close them as a client. And that is such an important reminder of you have to be willing to play the long game with your Instagram content.
08:03
But once you have been playing the game and you've been strategic and you're discovering what kind of content really resonates and activates your ideal clients, it is magic what can happen for your brand and your business. Like things that aren't even in your brain are possible for you. So whether that's more clients, more podcast interviews, TV interviews, speaking gigs, a book, whatever is like secretly.
08:32
in your heart or maybe not so secretly. This is why I'm obsessed with Instagram. It's all possible. It really is. It's all about working smarter, not harder, and being strategic. And I'm committed to teaching my clients that and I'm committed to teaching you that in this podcast. So I wanted to celebrate that win and another client in Hot Reels, Courtney, she
08:56
is also a coach, but she also runs an online fitness studio. So she kind of has two different aspects of her business. She sold two of her coaching packages in July through Instagram, which was so epic. So Hot Reels is the place to be if you are wanting to really go all in on Instagram and you know that that is really your marketing focus for the next year and you're ready to blow it up. You're ready to find your ideal clients.
09:25
you're ready to become really skilled as a content creator because you understand that as a marketer of your business, this skill is so worth learning and investing in. I would love to support you. The wait list is currently open. So make sure you get your name on the wait list. And you can do that by going to Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y.com slash hot. Join the wait list. It'll take you less than 30 seconds. At that URL, you can also read
09:55
all about the program, how it works, the investment, everything. But we're gonna open up doors just to the wait list on August 18th, it's a Monday. And there's two really incredible bonuses that you're gonna get if you join on that day. Now, space is limited. This is not false urgency. I'm serious when I say that my group programs, they're not where you're gonna walk in and there's gonna be 150 other business owners on a call with you.
10:22
My personal soul blueprint is serving less people on a deeper level. And so I do limit the amount of people who can join. So if you even want to be in the room, you want to make sure that you put your name on the wait list. So you will get an email from me that day. And if you decide to join, you'll get an email from us that day and
10:47
anyone who decides to join on August 18th will get some really incredible bonuses that I've never offered before. Like they're super epic. You're gonna wanna get on this list. So go to ElizabethMarbury.com slash hot or give me a follow over on Instagram if you haven't already, Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y and DM me the keyword hot, H-O-T, and my robot assistant will send you the link.
11:14
to join the wait list. I cannot wait to support you inside that program. So let's kick it off with why keyword research matters for Instagram. Number one, keywords help the algorithm understand your content. So the algorithm can push it out to the right people. Instagram makes money from people consuming content on their app. So it's in their best interest to ensure that they're only dishing you out what you wanna see, right, when you go on their platform.
11:44
So keywords really help the algorithm to classify our content in the right bucket and show it to people who are interested in similar topics. Keywords also make it easier for your ideal clients to find you. So people still use that search bar in Instagram and of course on Google. So keywords are a really important aspect of being found on search. And it's about visibility and discoverability, right? Two things that are key.
12:13
to growing your audience and driving more leads and sales with your organic content. So I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again, if people don't know that your product or service exists, they cannot buy from you. They cannot even get into a conversation with you, right? So Instagram is so good about helping you to really grow your visibility and discoverability because I want you to be discovered. You have something incredible, I know you do.
12:43
If you're listening to this podcast, you're already brilliant, right? So let's get your brilliance shared with the world. Okay, so let's get into the specifics. How to find keywords for your business. This is a very quick and simple method you can run with this week. Step one, I want you to brainstorm your core topics. Ask yourself those questions. What do you help people with? Write it down. What are your products and services?
13:12
What problems do your Dreamboat clients have? And start making a short list of words and phrases people actually type when they're searching for your offer. Now, if you're not sure, what I like to do is if you're a business that let's say people have to fill out the Contact Us form on your website.
13:39
You should have a record of all of the Contact Us forms that people have filled out. Look at the words that your prospects are using. Okay, write those down. I recommend starting a fresh Google Doc and sent and titling it Keywords for My Business, or you can make it more fun. I recommend opening up a fresh Google Doc and writing at the top Keywords for My Business.
14:08
and just start copying and pasting the way that people are describing their problem, what they want, and put it in this document, okay? As you're doing this, you're gonna start to see common words that are going to pop up over and over and over again. And a pro tip for finding what people are actually typing into Google is open Google right now and just start typing
14:38
the first words of what you do. For example, today I was in a private coaching call with a client who booked me for an Instagram audit, which I love, love, doing. I was helping her to discover some of the keywords that her ideal clients were gonna be searching for. She is an interior designer that specifically focuses on children's spaces and children's rooms and all of that.
15:04
And so if I was her and I'm going into Google, what I would do is I would type in interior designer for kids. And then when you do that, Google is going to do this auto complete type of thing where it's going to pop up common things that people search. And that is keyword gold. I'm actually going to do this right now. I'm going to go into Google and I'm just going to go in search bar and I'm going to type in interior.
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design kids. Okay, so this is interesting. I typed in interior design kids and then right away without me even finishing it, Google auto completed it and it said room. And then in the search it says interior design kids playroom, interior design kids bedroom, interior design kids book, interior design kids bathroom. But you can start to see
16:02
the top search terms for interior design kits. So that is step one, is I want you to go into Google and type in what you do and see what pops up. And then when you start to see some of those common keywords, copy and paste them, put them in your Google Doc. Step two is use a free keyword tool. Today I have three different tools I'm going to share with you and
16:27
We will definitely link these down in the show notes so you can easily go and grab them. And just personal note, I'm not an affiliate with any of these. They're just great resources that I have discovered that can be super helpful for us in discovering what keywords our ideal clients are typing into that Google search bar. The first tool is called keywordtool.io. Keywordtool.io. So,
16:56
You go to this website, which again, we will link in the show notes and you pop in a phrase and see what people are searching for across Google, YouTube, Instagram. It's great for some quick inspo. At the top, you can type into the search. Let's say I am an interior designer that customizes rooms for children. I typed in some keywords that I know are important in my niche. So I typed in interior design for kids space.
17:25
And then all these different keyword suggestions come up. I see best interior design for kids' room, interior design for families, interior design for small spaces, children's space design, interior design for kids' study room. So these are all just kind of interesting keywords that are popping up. And then the other cool thing about this tool is it will show you the search volume.
17:54
and what keywords are trending. And I love this because you can really see what specific words are going to help your content and your messaging stand out. The other cool part about this tool is that toward the top, you'll see keyword suggestions. And then if you click on questions, it will pop up different questions that people are asking.
18:18
in your niche. So it's really good for keyword research. Definitely check it out. The second keyword tool I recommend I've talked about on the podcast before, and that is Answer the Public. I love this. You get up to three free searches a day. And essentially how it works, super easy. You type in a phrase, and it'll show you all the questions and phrases that people are asking in real time about that particular topic.
18:47
And if you're a visual learner like me, I think you're gonna love this one because the way the data is presented, it's shown in this gorgeous wheel and it just works really well for my brain. So if you're a visual learner, you'll really enjoy that. So just a big fan of how that data is presented and shared. And the third tool I wanna share with you is called Google Trends. And you can find it by going to trends.google.com.
19:16
It's really cool. It's a free tool that analyzes the popularity of different search terms and topics over time. So you can see what is trending in your industry. For example, I might think that Instagram content strategy is the keywords that my people are searching for, but they're actually searching for Instagram growth hacks. Okay? So it's a great way to kind of discover what
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are your people saying? Again, what are they typing into Google? What are the words that your ideal clients are using? We want to always be using those words in all of our marketing and all of our copy and of course for search engine optimization so people can discover our accounts. Now, Google Trends really helps with keyword discovery because I've already mentioned it identifies trending topics, which is really cool.
20:07
because it is dated, it'll show seasonal trends. So if you're looking at it pretty consistently throughout the year, you may discover that certain keywords are trending at different times of the year, which I find very fascinating. The thing that I love the most about it though, is that you can compare search interest with different keywords. For example, I own two businesses. I have my online business, which is my...
20:33
Instagram marketing coaching and consulting business where you're finding me here and then I'm an owner of a brick-and-mortar dance studio I've had for 15 years now that dance studio the name is called wedding dance coach So I just typed in to Google Trends You can type in search terms and I typed in first dance lessons wedding dance lessons and first dance to see how those different terms show up in Trends and it's really interesting
21:01
that wedding dance lessons is way more popular and common in search than first dance lessons. So that would inform my content decision moving forward, right? So for example, instead of saying in my Instagram reel, comment the word Denver below and I'll send you the link to grab your first dance lesson package. I'll say that exact same thing. I'll say comment Denver below and I'll send you the link.
21:30
to grab your wedding dance lesson package. It's a really small tweak, but again, you wanna be using those words that are more commonly searched, again, to lead to discoverability, but also those are the words your ideal clients are using. So you've got to use those so your content resonates with them. So I really love Google Trends for this feature that you can really super easily compare different search terms and see what's going on. So if you haven't already, definitely check that out.
22:00
And maybe you try all three tools, set a timer, give yourself 10 minutes to just quickly go scope out these tools and find the one that you love the most. And you're gonna walk away with a juicy list of five to 10 keywords that you can weave into your next reel, caption, bio, all that good stuff. So that's your homework. I want you to put together a list of five to 10 keywords that you're gonna make sure are showing up in your content. Sound good?
22:30
All right, to wrap this up, I do wanna highlight that we're never ever trying to stuff keywords into our reels or captions. I know there was a weird trend going around, I don't know when it was, a year ago, where it was like, put all these keywords on the screen and then hide the text, you know, to trick the algorithm and definitely don't do that, you'll get flagged. You don't wanna do that. Remember, you're using these keywords in your natural language. So speak like a human, don't.
22:58
make it weird and awkward and just like force yourself to throw in all 10 keywords in one post. I've said it so many times, but I just want to reiterate this. When in doubt, use your client or customer's own words. So look at the DMs they're sending you. Look at the comments. Look at the applications to your program. Look at the most frequently asked questions your business gets asked. Look at your contact as forms. That, my friend, is gold for marketing.
23:28
and creating content that resonates with your people. I hope you found today's episode super, super helpful. If you did, please do me a solid and share it with a business bestie or colleague who is also just trying to figure out how this whole Instagram game works. I would love to support them on their journey as well. And it really helps us to reach more incredible people like yourself. So I really appreciate you sharing the show with your people.
23:57
And don't forget, if you're serious about making Reels and Instagram work for your business so you can grow your audience, your following, get more engagement and attract your ideal clients, you need to be on the wait list for Hot Reels, the 12 month Instagram content lab. The doors officially open on August 18th. And my wait list crew, you're my VIPs. You guys get early access and special bonuses that will not be available after August 18th.
24:26
Here's how to get on the list. to ElizabethMarberry.com slash hot. That's Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y.com slash hot, or DM me the keyword hot, H-O-T, on Instagram, and my robot assistant will send you over the link to hop on the wait list. It'll take you less than 30 seconds to get on the wait list. You'll get all of the program information in your inbox, so you can make an aligned decision for.
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your business, but I would love to support you in leveraging Instagram to grow your business. I'm so passionate about this work and I keep my groups really small and intimate. You're not going to come into this group program and see 150 other owners on the call. I do cap it. I do keep it pretty intimate. So spots are limited. This is not false urgency or scarcity. I promise. I hate that in marketing.
25:20
This is real because my sole blueprint as a coach and mentor is I want to serve less people on a deeper, deeper level. And that's why I have all my programs positioned the way that they are. So if that resonates with you, definitely get on the wait list. I would love to serve you. 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.
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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. You can grab your guide at ElizabethMarberry.com slash freebies. That's ElizabethMarbury.com slash freebies to get my Monetize Your IG Guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode,
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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.
