The world of coaching has never been more exciting! We are sitting on the precipice of an ideal opportunity, a moment in time when the demand for coaching services is at an all-time high. As we look ahead to 2023, the potential for growth is massive—but how do we tap into this potential? Welcome to the world of marketing strategies for your coaching business.

Ultimate Guide To Create And Sell Online Courses

Marketing is the lifeblood of any business—and your coaching business is no different. Just as each coaching client is unique, so should be your marketing strategies. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work in the dynamic world of marketing.

Every business, including your coaching enterprise, needs to experiment with and adapt different marketing techniques to truly connect with its audience. Not all marketing strategies are created equal. Some may resonate with your audience, while others may fall flat. That’s why trying different strategies and refining the ones that bring in maximum results will form the cornerstone of your marketing efforts. The process of trial and error, trying new approaches and refining them based on response, is crucial for achieving continuous business growth.

Funnels: The Ultimate marketing system to get more customers

Consider your local sandwich shop. Maybe they use strategic signage to catch the eye of passersby, or perhaps they collaborate with local businesses for cross-promotion. Or they offer daily specials, loyalty programs, or discounts on bulk orders. They could even host community events, or advertise on local media platforms.

Yet, despite all these tactics to attract potential customers, only a select few show up at the store and fewer choose to make a purchase. This is their marketing funnel where the store owner knows that if 1000 potential customers see their marketing, only a small percentage will walk into the store and make a purchase.

How a marketing funnel looks like for a sandwich shop?

The top of the funnel represents all the people who are made aware of the shop, while those who actually make a purchase are at the bottom of the funnel.

In between, there are various stages representing different levels of engagement with the business—some people may only be mildly interested after seeing a sign, while others may strongly consider a purchase after receiving a discount offer. Effectively moving people down this funnel is key to increasing sales.

The same is true of your coaching business. You can’t expect that each person who hears about your services will immediately sign up. You need to create a marketing funnel that takes potential clients from discovering you, engaging with your content and services, and finally converting into loyal customers who trust in your brand.

The strategies listed in this post are all part of your marketing funnel. Each strategy targets a different stage, from raising awareness to encouraging action. The key is to use them in tandem, continually refining your approach based on your audience’s response. While not every person will make it to the bottom of the funnel, a well-crafted marketing strategy can significantly increase the likelihood of conversion.

18 marketing strategies to grow your coaching business

Below, you’ll find 18 tried and tested marketing strategies that can propel your coaching business forward in 2023. These strategies are designed to reach all stages of the marketing funnel, from raising brand awareness to driving conversions. Remember, the aim is to experiment, refine, and find the strategies that resonate best with your potential clients.

1. Create Target Audience Persona

When everyone is your audience, you appeal to no one. Hence, choosing a specific audience early on is the best way to focus your marketing efforts.

Creating customer personas is essential for effective marketing. By tailoring your ideas to the right people, you can ensure engaging and valuable content. This increases the chances of building a loyal customer community that supports your brand. To create a compelling persona, follow the five steps outlined for reaching a specific audience in your day-to-day content production.

• Choose your target audience;
• Identify their pain points and goals;
• Decide what services will you offer that can effectively address and resolve their pain points.
• Develop a clear understanding of why they should choose your services over your competitors;
• Lastly, consider their communication style and preferences, so you can establish effective outreach and maintain client relationships.
• Keep refining your audience persona based on the feedback and data you gather over time.

2. Build a Powerful Online Presence

At the heart of every successful coaching business is a strong personal brand—one that resonates with your target audience and reflects your value proposition. This requires an effective online presence, one that is founded on meaningful relationships with clients and potential customers.

To build a powerful online presence, start by choosing the right platforms to represent your brand. Choose platforms where you know your audience is active. Leverage these channels to engage regularly with customers and prospects. Share stories, highlight successes, and provide helpful advice—all of these create a powerful personal brand that stands out in the market. Moreover, focus on building relationships with key influencers and industry thought leaders—their endorsement of your business can have an exponential impact on visibility and credibility.

3. Offer Free Coaching Calls

For prospective customers, seeing is believing—offering free coaching calls helps them understand the value of your services and get a taste of what working with you looks like.

Coaching calls are also an effective way to uncover potential client’s needs and determine if they are the right fit for your services. Through these free sessions, you can build relationships with prospective clients, offer helpful advice on their challenges, and lay the groundwork for a successful coaching experience.

Here are the steps to facilitate this on your coaching website:

• Create a Sign-up Form: Incorporate a sign-up form on your website where interested visitors can register for a free coaching call. This form should gather essential contact details and information about their specific needs or challenges.
• Use a Scheduling Tool: Integrate a scheduling tool such as Calendly or Acuity Scheduling on your website. These tools allow visitors to see your availability and book a slot for their coaching call.
• Create a Confirmation Page: After a visitor has scheduled a call, redirect them to a confirmation page. This page should provide details of the call, such as the date and time, and what they can expect from the session.
• Send Automated Email Confirmations: Set up an automated email to be sent to the visitor once they’ve booked a call. This email should confirm the details of the call and provide any additional information they might need before the session.
• Prepare for the Call: Before the call, review the information submitted through the sign-up form to understand the potential client’s needs better. This will help you tailor the call to their specific situation and provide the most value.
• Follow-up After the Call: After the call, send a follow-up email thanking them for their time and providing the next steps, if they’re interested in continuing with your services.

Offering free coaching calls from your website is a proactive way to engage potential clients and showcase the value of your services firsthand.

4. Nurture and Engage With Content Marketing

Creating and sharing content is a key part of any successful marketing strategy. It helps in building relationships with potential customers, nurturing them through the sales funnel and ultimately driving conversions.

Content can take many forms—from blog posts, videos, to podcasts—all offering different ways to engage your target audience.

Kinner N Sacchdev, Co-founder & CEO – Knorish

When creating content for your coaching business, always consider its relevance to the context of your business and services. Relevant content helps you establish yourself as an authoritative figure in the industry, while also providing value to prospects. Moreover, ensure that the content focuses on the end user— addresses their pain points, and provides helpful advice and valuable insights.

Offering valuable, free content to your target audience is a great way to establish yourself as an authority in your field. At the same time, you encourage your target audience to engage with your brand.

5. Focus On WhatsApp Marketing

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. It’s a powerful marketing tool that can be used to reach out to prospects and build relationships with customers.

According to Statista, WhatsApp enjoys an impressive open rate of approximately 98%, significantly higher than the average email open rate, which hovers around 20%. This high level of engagement makes WhatsApp a highly effective marketing tool. Moreover, Campaign Monitor reported that businesses using WhatsApp for shopping cart recovery witnessed a 35% increase in their conversion rates. This uplift demonstrates the potential of WhatsApp as a powerful tool in combating shopping cart abandonment and furthering business growth. These are the top 5 ways of using Whatsapp marketing for success in your business.

• Recover Abandoned Carts: Reach out to customers who abandoned their carts and engage them with reminder messages. Get them excited to retry completing the transaction with a discount offer.
• Personalized Customer Service: Use WhatsApp to provide one-on-one customer service, addressing concerns and queries in real-time. This personalized approach enhances customer satisfaction and builds trust in your brand.
• Broadcast Lists: Build WhatsApp groups & communities. Utilize the broadcast list feature to send updates, promotions, and information to multiple contacts at once. Ensure these broadcasts are targeted and provide value to maintain engagement and avoid being perceived as spam.
• WhatsApp Business API: Integrate your business systems with the WhatsApp Business API. This enables automated, programmable communication for things like order updates, appointment reminders, or customer support, providing operational efficiency and a seamless customer experience.
• Promotion and Marketing: Share promotional materials, product launches, and special offers directly with your customers on WhatsApp. Including images, videos, or interactive elements can further boost engagement.

When using WhatsApp for marketing, focus on creating personalized messages that resonate with your target audience. Encourage conversations, answer customer queries quickly, and use the platform to build relationships with customers. This helps to foster trust in your brand and drive conversions, leading to increased business growth.

6. Start Blogging

Content marketing has always been gold for marketers. Organic search results driven by keywords, high-value content, and context have been proven to generate quality leads over time. This cost-effective approach to driving traffic and capturing leads is enhanced when combined with proper SEO. Utilizing blogs aligned with your course content can serve as a powerful marketing tool to boost course sales, as the blog audience becomes potential buyers of your online course.

Start by creating blogs about your course topics while creating meaningful and information-rich content for your readers. Share industry news, and provide complimentary resources while using the call to action buttons which will be beneficial to capture leads. Use blogs to generate awareness about your brand while conveying what more you can offer to your audience. Use keywords within the content to enable the crawler to crawl all over your content. You can even reach out to fellow creators and blog on their websites. Ask them to add backlinks to your content in return while offering a similar favour in return. You can even comment on some of the top blogs in your domain while adding links to your course page. This can be a great way to validate your content, thereby enabling better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) results.

Ultimately, you are trying to establish a position of authority in the eyes of a reader. If they build solid trust in your brand they are surely going to buy from you. This is one of the few powerful marketing strategies which might take a bit of your time and effort but will be well worth it. Over time as the content gets discovered more, the organic traffic volume will increase substantially.

7. Leverage Social Media

Social media is an essential tool for building relationships with potential customers and promoting your services. With its low barrier to entry and widespread reach, social media can be used to reach a large number of people quickly.

When using social media, focus on creating content that resonates with your target demographic. Offer helpful advice and tips related to the services you offer. When appropriate, link back to your blog post, website, or other marketing materials for further reading. Lastly, aim for meaningful engagement with customers — respond to questions and feedback in a timely manner.

Social media also presents unique opportunities for organic growth and promotion. Leverage influencers, collaborate with other related businesses, and optimize your content to maximize engagement.

8. Paid Advertising

While free and organic methods of marketing are effective, they often take time to produce results. Investing in paid advertising can help you reach out to a larger audience quickly and boost your visibility in the market.

When using paid advertising, set clear objectives for each campaign—what do you want to achieve? Who is the target audience? What message do you want to communicate? Answering these questions helps you create effective campaigns that deliver results.

Paid advertising also offers many ways to track and measure performance—including click-through rates, conversions, and customer lifetime value. This data can be used to refine your campaigns in the future, as well as help you optimize your return on investment.

9. Provide Additional Value Through Email Marketing

Email is an effective way to keep in touch with potential customers. As long as you follow best practice guidelines, it’s also one of the most cost-effective methods of reaching out to prospects to grow coaching businesses.

Focus on delivering value to those on your email list. Offer helpful advice, updates on what you’re working on, and exclusive discounts. You can also use email to promote your blog posts and youtube videos, as well as upcoming webinars or events related to your coaching business.

By focusing on providing value through each email interaction, you create meaningful relationships with prospects. This leads to trust and encourages customers to purchase your services, ultimately driving conversions and growing your business.

10. Launch and Grow Podcasts

Podcasts are an engaging way to reach out and connect with your audience. It allows you to gain authority in the field by providing valuable and informative content on topics related to your coaching business.

You can use podcasts as a platform for interviews, discussions, Q&As or even solo monologues—all of which provide different ways to engage with potential customers and build trust. Additionally, podcasting allows you to promote your content in a conversational format, which can be more inviting for new prospects.

When creating podcasts, consider the topics that will resonate with your target audience—offer advice on overcoming challenges or provide tips related to your services. Promote your podcasts via social media and other digital channels and encourage engagement with your episodes. By creating an engaging podcast series, you can effectively reach out to potential customers and convert them into paying clients.

11. Find Ideal Groups & Communities

It’s important to be active within the right groups and communities, especially those that relate to your coaching business. Numerous online platforms—from LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit to name a few—make it easy for you to find relevant groups and engage with members.

Moreover, joining industry-specific events or conferences can also help you build relationships with prospects. These events are often great opportunities to network and establish yourself as an authoritative figure in the field.

By actively engaging and sharing your content within ideal groups, you can nurture relationships with potential customers and ultimately drive conversions for your business.

12. Leverage Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool that can help you reach a wider audience. Identify relevant influencers in your area of expertise and build relationships with them. This helps to increase the credibility of your business as well as establish yourself as an expert in the field.

The key is to select the right influencers who share your values and can help promote your coaching business to the right. Once you’ve established relationships with these influencers, collaborate on content that resonates with their followers and showcases the value of your services.

By leveraging influencer marketing, you can reach a larger number of potential customers and increase conversions for your business.

13. Host Offline And Online Events

You can also host events—such as webinars, workshops, or boot camps—to reach out to prospects and build your customer base. Events allow you to meet customers in person, showcase your expertise and skills, as well as provide hands-on solutions to their problems.

Moreover, hosting events is an effective way of starting conversations with prospects and expanding your network. You can also use these events as an opportunity to gather feedback from customers, address their concerns, and build relationships with them.

By hosting meaningful events, you create an effective platform for building trust in your business and achieving long-term growth.

14. Presell Your Course

In addition to events, you can also use preselling techniques to grow your coaching business. Preselling involves creating content that introduces and teases customers about upcoming products or services. This helps build anticipation for the launch and increases the likelihood of conversions when they are finally released.

For example, if you’re launching a new course on business coaching, create a series of blog posts or videos that provide an overview of the course and explain its value. You can also use preselling to offer discounts on early registrations, incentivizing customers to sign up before the official launch.

By preselling your coaching services, you can reach out to a larger number of potential customers and increase conversions for your business.

15. Ask Your Network

Consider asking your network for referrals. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach new prospects and secure conversions.

Send out a call to action on social media, or ask friends and family members who might be interested in your services. You can also offer incentives for customer referrals, such as discounts or free coaching sessions.

By leveraging your network for referrals, you can reach out to a new pool of prospects and increase the visibility of your business.

16. Get Published

Journalists and content creators are always looking for new content ideas. Pitch stories to local and national publications, as well as online blogs related to your industry. Publishing content in various outlets will help you reach a wider audience and build trust with potential customers.

You can also use guest blogging as an effective way to market your services—simply find relevant websites or blogs that accept guest posts and share your expertise. This not only helps to build your authority in the field, but also drives traffic and conversions for your business.

By getting published in relevant outlets, you can effectively establish yourself as an expert in the field and reach out to more customers.

17. Participate On Q&A Platforms

Q&A platforms provide an excellent platform for giving advice and building relationships with customers. Participate in conversations on platforms like Quora, Reddit, or Stack Overflow—answer questions related to your area of expertise and provide solutions to customer challenges.

Moreover, these platforms are also great for discovering potential prospects who might be interested in your services. You can use them as an opportunity to start conversations with new leads and offer valuable insights.

By participating on Q&A platforms, you can effectively reach out to potential customers and increase conversions for your business.

18. Leverage Video Content

Video content is an effective way to engage prospects and tell your story in a more personal way. Invest in creating high-quality videos related to your coaching services —from promotional videos to tutorials and how-to’s.

You can also use video content for webinars, live streams, and interviews—all of which are great opportunities to showcase your expertise and connect with potential customers.

By leveraging video content, you can reach out to a larger number of prospects and build long-term relationships with them.

Next Step: Grow your coaching business!

There you go. Marketing your coaching business doesn’t have to be overwhelming at all!

Actually, these 18 strategies are not only simple but also super effective! The trick is to pick one or two strategies and make them work for you before diving into another marketing. Let’s crush it together! 🚀

Now, put into action what you’ve learned! Discover what works best for your coaching business and watch your customer base grow. Start today, and let’s make it happen!

Good luck! And hey, don’t be afraid to experiment with different methods and find the perfect mix of marketing strategies that work for you and your business. With consistent effort, you can establish yourself as an authority in the coaching industry and build a super successful business!