Whether you’re new to coaching or have been at it for years, one of the things that every coach needs to do nowadays is market their coaching services on social media. In most cases coaching businesses follow some form of sales process that looks like this:
- You need to find the potential coaching client.
- Drive them to your website so they can find out more about what you offer, why you would be right for them, and generally get them more trusting and interested in your coaching services.
- They sign up for some kind of call with you.
- They become a very happy client 😊
Obviously, there can be more to it than that when we mix in other things like email marketing, podcasts, etc. but let’s just say that’s the basic bones of it.
What most coaches find the most difficult is the very first point of where do I even first find these potential coaching clients to market to?
Well, one great way to get your coaching business found is by posting regular helpful content on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube, TikTok, etc.
Ways to market your coaching business using social media
Social media isn’t just a way to keep in touch with friends and family anymore! Currently there are 4.48 billion people who spend an average of 2 hours 24 minutes a day on social media.
That’s a lot of people you can market to!
So, how can you use social medial to get more clients for your coaching business? Well here are some tips to help you reach more people:
1. Know your niche
Before you get stuck into create posts, it’s important that you know WHO you are writing the posts for. By picking a coaching niche you can know your customers’ pain points, and therefore create content that they find useful or interesting.
“If you market to everyone, you’ll reach no one”
If you are a health coach whose target audience is new mums, then you should only write content that would be helpful, interesting, engaging, or funny to them! There’s no point in writing generic content in the hope that someone like me (32 year old man) is going to read and find it interesting because
A) Me and the new mums are less likely to find the same things engaging.
B) If I’m hooked in by your content then it’s pretty likely that a new mum, your target audience, is probably not.
C) Generic is BORING!
You can’t have it all, so just focus on who you can really get to and create ONLY FOR THEM.
2. Your content should ADD VALUE
As I mentioned earlier, your audience spends A LOT of time on social media. In that time they are going to see a crazy amount of content. So getting your audience to stop and actually read what your posting is key.
How do you that? It’s easier than it sounds! Post content that they actually want.
What do they want? Well:
- To overcome an obstacle → Give them the knowledge or tools.
- Be informed → Provide interesting and informational content about their interests.
- Personal stories → Share about yourself.
- Laugh! → Amuse them 😄
In some ways your social media marketing should be giving a lot of engaging and useful content to your audience for free. By doing that you’ll position yourself as someone who is an expert, interested in them, and you start off the relationship from a positive place.
3. Make your Marketing a MUST
So if you’re anything like me then you know that you SHOULD be marketing all of the time, and you should constantly posting. However, the second client work comes in, or holidays, or whatever else really then you can easily decide to give up on your social media marketing efforts.
Whilst you must always prioritize your client work, the next priority should be marketing. Everything else should come after that.
Top tip: Schedule when you are going to create content each week. I’m now timetabling into my calendar is a weekly appointment which I must keep.
4. Post Consistently
What would you think of someone who posted twice a day for a week, and then nothing for a month? Doesn’t give the most professional image does it? Makes the person seem disorganised and without a strategy. I’ve been there!
In order to best serve your audience, and be the most efficient with your time it’s important to be consistent.
Top Tips:
- Decide how often and when you are going to post and stick to it. (Example Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9 am).
- Schedule your posts in advance using a free tool like buffer or hootsuite. On Fridays I create my content for the next week, and the stick it into buffer so it’ll post on the days and times I went next week. I could be in the shower when my content is posted!
- Schedule in time into your calendar for A) Creating content and B) Going onto social media to share, comment, etc.
5. Choose one platform
So this might sound a bit out there, but choose one social media platform.
Firstly, think about where does your audience hang out. Start there.
Also, each social media has it’s own style of doing things. Whether it’s more image focused like Instagram, video content like TikTok, etc.
Choose one and focus on that.
Am I telling you to close down all of your other social media? No. Just use what you made for your one platform and then just share that on your other social media.
For example, if Instagram is your thing then you can post the same thing on Facebook, and use the same written content for LinkedIn. Just don’t spend hours creating new content to fit in with each different platform as you’re quickly going to find yourself fed up and giving up altogether.
6. Create Action
So while it’s great that your posting interesting or useful content, it’s important to tell your reader what to do once they’ve read it (This is called a Call-To-Action or CTA).
If you have a promotional post for your coaching services, then your call to action might be having them click a link to your website or to schedule a call.
However, it could also things like:
- Click a link to a blog post on your website
- If they need help with X download a useful freebie from you.
- Asking them them to comment with their opinion
- Asking them to follow your profile for more similar content
Calls to Actions aren’t just for your more sales-y or promotional content. You should try and include them in all of your posts to get something out of your hard work 🙂
7. Network
As a coach you’re social media marketing isn’t just about posting all of the time. You should also take the time doing things like:
- Following others
- Reading and comment on posts from other people
- Learning about your target audience by interacting with them.
By networking well, you show that you are a trustworthy coach who is genuinely interested in helping others. It helps potential clients to warm up to you, and maybe other businesses and people in your network to refer clients your way.
Need help with your website?
I hope this article has helped you up your social media game. However, if you also feel like you need help with your website’s part in your marketing effort then why don’t you check out my website design services or schedule a free call?
Yours,
Patrick
