Coach marketing 2.0

Operational strategies and marketing techniques to start up and promote your coaching activity on the web

Stefano Calicchio

• Publisher: Stefano Calicchio
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9791220280655
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This text has been conceived as a real training course, during which numerous topics will be explored and resolved, such as - the best tools for the promotion of a coaching activity, both offline and online;
- marketing techniques dedicated to coaches;
- the consequences of the digital revolution for those involved in coaching;
- digital levers on which to act in order to acquire clients and retain them;
- the transition from traditional to digital communication;
...and much more. Professional coaches who want to start up or promote their own business cannot leave room for improvisation and need specialist skills. The coaching market is in a completely new paradigm, where on the one hand simplified access to the profession has led to increased competition and on the other hand the client is increasingly demanding. This guide explains to coaches how to find clients and set up their own marketing plan. Stop wasting time and start finding new clients now with the coach 2.0 methodology.

Key information to remember 1

• Coaching has been a pioneering market in recent years, but its evolution will lead to a selection of consultants in the market, thus reaching a new stage of maturity. This implies a selection of operators currently offering their services at the level of individual coaching.
• On the other hand, the successful coach has to solve the ambivalence created by a large and not always highly professionalised competition. On top of that, the professional is confronted with an audience of potential clients still partly unprepared for coaching.
• Knowing and applying the new digital communication tools is a prerequisite for building a successful coaching business in such a difficult market.
• The business plan can help coaches to clarify their career goals and to anticipate possible critical areas in the development of the profession.

Taking the field in coaching

The time has come to really exercise our opportunities for building a successful coaching business, through the use of the best tips and most effective strategies on the market. For my part, I can assure you that the following are the most functional tools for the proper promotion of a coaching business.

It should also be emphasised that these methods have a greater chance of success if they are calibrated and implemented as a whole, thus generating an effective appeal in the mind of the potential buyer.

Repetition is one of the secrets of the advertising business and here too it has its own role to play.

In summary, the synergy of the various communication and visibility actions put in place by the coach leads to better results than an improvised use of communication opportunities.

In order to be successful as a coach and to finally achieve the goals set out in your business plan, it is important to be operational within two precise areas, which are the very pillars of a well-established business:

• contact area: all the ways in which you can be immediately reached by your customers both online and offline;
• visibility area: i.e. the generation of possible leads or contacts through public events and market research on the Internet.

Let's see together how to intervene appropriately in the strategic situations just described, calibrating the activity to the needs of the coach and the client.

How to promote coaching with traditional tools

The traditional promotion activity for a coach is the one usually followed by most consultants in the start-up phase. It is a rather expensive way, both in terms of time and money, but it has the advantage of direct and very often personal contact with the client.

Many marketing consultants today tend to undervalue or eliminate classic forms of visibility altogether, mainly because of the costs involved. Personally, I think this is a wrong choice, because it is still important for people to have precise physical references. It is important to emphasise one fact: when implemented intelligently and consistently, classic promotional activities are still able to generate interesting results.

Based on the above, setting up a good traditional promotion practice is important to reassure potential customers, retain existing customers and improve one's coaching brand.

There are many traditional business development actions that can be implemented in the specific field of coaching. We can highlight the main ones by grouping them into the following categories:

• events: e.g. courses, free and/or paid workshops, award evenings, corporate or cultural events;
• presentations: cultural, cinema-documentary, editorial, discographic;
• advertisements: in trade magazines and publications, specialist journals, house organs and company newspapers;
• printed advertising: flyers, leaflets, sales letters;
• general advertising: billboards, radio spots, local and thematic TV channels.

In addition to that, there is the classic word of mouth, which is only at its best when the business is already well established. Coaches often have several networks of people at their disposal, but do not use them properly. In a previous book of mine called The Network Factor I highlighted the untapped potential of the networks made up of the people around us; it is useful for the aspiring coach to take this resource into consideration as well, in order not to miss important opportunities for visibility.

Although the economic crisis has made these instruments more accessible, some require large budgets (such as billboards or advertising in trade magazines), while others can be implemented without any particular effort other than organisational efforts (presentations or events). A very interesting strategy in relation to events is that of joint ventures , which will be explored further in the next chapter.

How to promote coaching with digital tools

There are many digital tools that can be used to promote yourself online, but coaching offers better results by focusing on a few of them. In particular, I suggest three strategies that are really indispensable and can make a difference:

• a website designed for the specific activity of coaching and personal training;
• a personal blog, thanks to which you can open conversations with your readers;
• Newsletters and Social Tools.

Let's start with the website, a central element of any online marketing strategy. A coach may not have a physical location, operating on a consultancy level through specific structures or with the modalities of teleworking, but must necessarily have an online reference. The website must also be well visible in the main offline communication tools and media, such as business cards, posters and so on.

The website occupies a privileged position for the coach's marketing, because it has to be present in every communicatio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• COACH MARKETING 2.0
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• The coaching market
• Critical areas of coaching
• Possible areas of improvement
• Knowing the target market to find the customer
• Business plan
• Key information to remember 1
• Taking the field in coaching
• How to promote coaching with traditional tools
• How to promote coaching with digital tools
• Creating the coaching blog
• Newsletters and social sharing tools
• Key information to remember 2
• Moving on to advanced strategies
• How to generate value with Join Ventures
• How to get advice through ebooks
• The Bonus Factor
• The Landing Page technique + Adwords
• What to avoid: what not to do
• Taking action now: marketing plan in 3 weeks
• Key information to remember 3
• Conclusions