As a coach, it’s essential to find ways to connect with potential clients and grow your business, and social media can be an effective tool for doing so. But with so many platforms and strategies to choose from, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. In this article, we’ll provide a Social Media Marketing 101 guide tailored specifically to coaches who want to use social media to attract and engage more clients.
A decade ago, your average coach would spend hours sending out emails, cold calling, and splurging on advertising only to land one monthly client. But the evolution of social media has been a game-changer for coaching businesses.
Now, through the power of social media marketing for coaches, it’s possible to access millions of potential clients at any moment. Yet, even experienced coaches need help finding success online as they deal with low engagement, awful conversion rates, and even burnout. And everyone’s asking the same question: Is there a better way?
The good news is that yes, there’s always a better way. Effective social media marketing for coaches starts with this guide for learning how to leverage the proper social media channels to get more coaching clients.
3 Reasons Why Every Coach Should Have a Social Media Marketing Strategy
There are nearly five billion people who use social media every day and with so many users, social media platforms have become the new marketplace for businesses, entrepreneurs, professionals, and coaches alike. By harnessing social media, coaches can expand their reach, connect with their target audiences, and scale their businesses.
1. Attract and engage your target audience.
Creating a solid social media presence can help you attract and organically engage with your target audience. Sharing valuable content such as articles, videos, and podcasts will help showcase your expertise while providing your audience the tools they need to succeed.
- Engaging with your audience through comments, messages, and live Q&A sessions will help build trust and credibility with potential clients.
- By using the advanced targeting features on social media platforms, you can also reach a more specific audience likely to be interested in your coaching services.
This targeted approach increases your chances of gaining new clients and enables you to create a community of like-minded individuals who share similar goals and interests.
2. Showcase success stories and testimonials.
Social media platforms are the perfect place to showcase your clients’ success stories and share their testimonials. By doing so, you can effectively demonstrate the positive impact of your coaching services on your clients’ lives.
Your success stories and testimonials will be social proof for potential clients to reassure them that investing in you as a coach will lead to positive results. Additionally, encouraging your clients to share their success stories on their social media profiles can help you tap into their networks, further increasing your reach and potential client base.
3. Boost brand awareness and establish thought leadership.
Creating a solid social media presence will help you build brand awareness and establish yourself as a thought leader in the coaching industry. By consistently sharing high-quality, valuable content and engaging with your audience, you’ll position yourself as an expert in your field while building relationships with potential clients. You’ll also be able to collaborate with influencers, participate in industry-specific events, and contribute to online discussions will help you gain visibility and grow your network.
How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy That Converts Followers into Clients
Creating a successful digital marketing strategy is essential for turning your social media followers into paying clients. By understanding your target audience and employing a good mix of paid and organic avenues to expand your reach, you can create a robust digital content mix that drives conversions.
Finding your ideal clients
At the heart of every effective strategy is an ideal client. Finding that ideal client starts with researching the type of people you want to work with and identifying their struggles or pain points. If you need help with this, you can focus your research on your competitors to analyze their target audiences and identify any gaps or opportunities you can capitalize on.
As a bonus, most platforms provide access to social media analytics tools that provide insights into your current followers’ behaviors and preferences, which can help you further refine your ideal client.
Paid reach vs. organic reach
Both paid and organic reach are equal components of a successful digital marketing strategy, and knowing how to balance the two is crucial.
- Organic reach refers to the number of people who see your content through unpaid distribution, such as search engine results or social media feeds. Organic reach saves you money while helping you build trust with your audience. To optimize your organic reach, create high-quality, shareable, informative content that resonates with your ideal client.
- Paid reach involves promoting your content through paid advertising channels such as social media ads, Google Ads, or sponsored content. Paid reach allows you to target specific audience segments to achieve your coaching business goals faster.
Aim to set aside 15-20 percent of your marketing budget for paid advertising. Start by testing different ad formats, platforms, and targeting options to determine which work best for your business.
Digital content marketing mix
Your social media strategy should also include a diverse digital content mix. It keeps your audience engaged and drives conversions so you can book more clients. Ideally, you’ll follow these guidelines when creating a marketing plan to maximize your marketing efforts without breaking the bank.
- Organic: 45%
- Email Marketing & SMS: 25%
- Paid Social-20%
- Other:10%
This sample content marketing mix typically works for micro to medium-sized coaching businesses.
Creating Content That Boosts Your Online Presence
Social media thrives on helpful, valuable content — it’s like digital gold. Creating compelling content relies on you using your unique voice and and sharing content that your potential clients can’t find anywhere else. You can achieve this by planning your social media content around six categories.
- Informative and Educational Content: Share blog posts, infographics, e-books, and webinars that educate your audience about your industry, coaching methods, and the benefits of your services. This type of content positions you as an expert and helps your audience make informed decisions.
- Interactive Content: Engage your audience with quizzes, polls, and surveys, encouraging participation and providing valuable insights into their needs and preferences. This information can help you refine your marketing strategy and create content that resonates with your audience.
- Storytelling Content: Share client success stories, testimonials, and case studies that highlight the impact of your coaching services. This content type builds trust and provides social proof that your services deliver results.
- Visual Content: Capture your audience’s attention with eye-catching visuals such as images, videos, and infographics. Visual content is more likely to be shared on social media, increasing your reach and visibility.
- Personal Content: Humanize your brand by sharing personal stories, behind-the-scenes looks, and insights into your coaching journey. This type of content helps your audience connect with you and fosters trust.
As you go, you’ll need to monitor your social media content’s performance by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI). Use this data to identify areas for improvement and adjust your strategy when needed.
The Best Social Media Platform to Find Potential Coaching Clients
As a coach, finding the right social media platform to connect with potential clients is essential for growing your business. While it may be tempting to have a presence on every platform, focusing on the ones where your ideal clients are active can lead to better results.
Facebook Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on Facebook: Health coaches, wellness coaches, and life coaches.
Pros:
- Community Building: Facebook Groups provide an excellent opportunity to build a community around your coaching niche. By creating or participating in groups, you can share articles, engage in discussions, and connect with potential clients through messaging.
- More features: Facebook offers a wide range of features, including live streaming, events, Reels, and ads, which can help you reach and engage with your target audience.
Cons:
- Competition: There’s a lot of competition for attention on Facebook. Standing out and capturing your audience’s interest can be challenging but possible.
Twitter Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on Twitter: Business coaches and finance coaches.
Pros:
- Community Building: Twitter Spaces is a feature that allows you to create and participate in live audio conversations, providing an excellent opportunity for networking and engaging with potential clients. Twitter threads make sharing valuable information easier within your coaching niche.
- High-ticket Clients: Twitter has a reputation for being a platform where professionals and influencers connect, making it a great place to find high-ticket clients.
Cons:
- Limited Content Types: Twitter primarily focuses on short, text-based content, limiting the variety of content you can share to attract potential clients. New updates have allowed for longer tweets, but there aren’t any current data insights on how longer posts perform on the platform.
YouTube Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on Youtube: All types of coaches.
Pros:
- Community Building: YouTube’s comments section and the ability to collaborate with other creators enable community building around your coaching services.
- Longevity of Content: High-quality, evergreen video content has the potential to attract clients for years to come.
Cons:
- Time-consuming: Producing high-quality video content can be time-consuming and may require a considerable investment in equipment and editing skills.
TikTok Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on TikTok: Social media coaches and business coaches.
Pros:
- Reach: TikTok’s algorithm often promotes content from new creators, making it possible to reach a large audience quickly.
- Longevity: Although TikTok is known for short-form content, recent updates have allowed users to create videos up to 10 minutes long, increasing the potential for long-lasting content. Not only that, TikTok videos have a longer shelf life. Your social media posts could remain relevant for up to six months!
Cons:
- Demographics: Nearly 60% of TikTok users are between 10-29 years old. This demographic may not align with your ideal coaching clients and could make it harder to convert your followers into paid clients.
LinkedIn Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on LinkedIn: Career coaches and executive coaches.
Pros:
- Corporate Clients: As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn is an ideal place to connect with corporate clients who might be interested in your coaching services.
- High-ticket Clients: With a focus on professional development and career growth, LinkedIn is a great platform for finding high-ticket clients who value coaching services.
Cons:
- Limited engagement: LinkedIn users tend to be less active than other platforms.
Instagram Marketing for Coaches
Niches that perform well on Instagram: All types of coaches.
Pros
- Superior Visuals: Instagram is a visual-based platform that allows you to create and share high-quality images and videos to showcase your coaching services and attract potential clients.
- Hashtags: Instagram’s hashtag feature allows you to reach a wider audience interested in your niche.
Cons
- Time-consuming: Creating and sharing high-quality content can take time and effort, which might take away time from your coaching services.
- Low Engagement Rates: Due to frequent algorithm changes, organic reach on Instagram has decreased, and getting your content in front of your target audience’s eyes can take time and effort.
The Social Media Truth
Social media marketing for coaches will be a prominent aspect of your online marketing strategy.
From creating great content to choosing a platform that highlights your strengths — one you enjoy using and can be consistent on — social media can help you gain visibility as a coach and build the reputation of your coaching business. A strong social media strategy has a lot of moving parts and details to keep track of but investing the time to create a cohesive plan will drive more traffic to your coaching business website and result in a higher conversion rate that can help you create a sustainable business.
Quiz: Which Social Media Platform Suits Your Coaching Practice?
Torn between TikTok and Instagram? Wondering if LinkedIn is worth it? Take this short quiz to narrow down your ideal social media avenues. Then leverage the tips from this post to grow your coaching business on the platform that suits you best.
