Background
Contrary to what many "gurus" will tell you about easy ways to monetize a coaching practice and make six figures in a few months, coaching is an intimate medium that calls for very human-centered and service-oriented public relations. This takes time, vulnerability and sincerity.
At the same time, appreciating the science of strategic communications can help you strategize how you serve people, generate leads or scale your business more effectively, but this process is conditioned by the intimate nature of coaching, therapy or any transformational modality you may be engaged in.
Since 2018, I have been supporting individuals and organizations to achieve their goals and unleash their potential in the context of wellness and productivity. I could tell from the very beginning that traditional marketing techniques were not entirely relevant here, but sometimes, especially when they were extensions of my desire to serve others, they were very helpful.
In 2021, I received a chance to take a deep dive into the public relations aspects of coaching. As a Fulbright scholar at the Cronkite School of Journalism, I conducted research supervised by seasoned PR practitioners on marketing coaching practices, with a focus on digital audiences and online services.
I started by sending out surveys to coaches, mental health practitioners and people with multiple degrees of interest in this type of service, both with no experience being coached and having received institutionalized and periodic coaching, for example, through their employers.
I conducted interviews and focus groups asking people about their previous experiences, expectations from sessions and coaches, topics of interest, their decision-making process as they hire a coach or and many other issues relating to the content and process of signing up for transformational services.
Finally, I used PR research and digital analytics tools to track the audiences interested in coaching, their demographic and psychographic constitution and other features that would help identify and serve them more effectively.
All of the insights shared below have been ascertained through evidence-based methods. Moreoever, I have had a chance to test them through the public relations and digital marketing services I have provided to coaches. This blog addresses only some parts of the research. If you are interested to learn more, reach out to me directly.
You will certainly find some of them more relevant than others, but remember that communication is both an art and a science. The more you can appreciate the fundamental principles in this area, the more it will allow you to individualize your public relations.
Who is interested in coaching?
North America constitutes about 36% of the global industry of personal development.
Traditionally, the focus has been on boomers and gen X-ers. Millennials are the future of this market, but industry analysts observe that there are few experts catering to them. This means that there is a growing need for millennials that will serve both gen X-ers and their millennial peers.
According to digital analytics tools such as Meta Insights, women demonstrate a higher interest in coaching than men. The same is true for other forms of personal development, such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, etc.
Audiences interested in coaching according to Meta audience insights.
Remember that this is merely a generalization of digital behavior that indicates an overall interest. You can do what you will with this information. Even if it can help you with marketing, you don't have to have a specific audience group that you serve. The essence of your service, the changes you help generate, your authenticity and vulnerability are far more important, and research confirms this.
How to find clients as a coach?
Coaching is not as centralized as other forms of mental health and personal development services, so coaches may need to put a greater effort into being discovered.
There is a misunderstanding that certain lead-generating tools are, by default, more effective than others. For transformational coaches, the underlying idea behind lead generation is to provide a preliminary value to potential clients when it comes to wellbeing and productivity, trigger their curiosity and hope for change, create a sense of optimism, excitement and trust.
In other words, it's not about the forms of communication, it's about the changes that happen through it. If your marketing and public relations are extensions of your desire to serve people and help them solve problems, I guarantee they will be effective.
In this sense, you should feel free to choose the tools that fit you, whether it's video, audio, text or simply having conversations with people (yes, I know a lot of successful coaches that run a successful business doing just that).
What lead-generating tools can I use as a coach?
Here is a list of lead-generating tools that can choose from:
Podcasts and podcast appearances
Online challenges
Free online mini course
Paid online courses with free access to the first lessons
Free coaching sessions
Free webinars
Facebook and Instagram Reels
Facebook group
Ebooks
E-mail list
Teaming up with other coaches
Coaching demos published with the approval of the coachee
Coach training classes
Free talks
What do people expect from coaches and coaching sessions?
ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.
People's expectations from coaches and coaching sessions can heavily vary. Here are some answers that I have received.
Survey results: "What are the most important qualities a coach should have?"
Survey results: "What would you expect from a meaningful coaching session?"
1st set of examples
2nd set of examples
3rd set of examples
What are some of the best practices of marketing coaching businesses?
Pass truly helpful information to the leads to trigger reciprocity.
Conscious and strategic communicators serve first knowing well that it will generate a wave of reciprocity. Whether you do it by creating content, offering your time free of charge, giving discounts or any other means is up to you.
I have asked people what they would be interested to receive when someone is trying to collect their e-mail address on a landing page of a website. Some of my favorite answers have been "Honesty" and "Something to know what s/he (the coach) stands for".
Get potential clients to sign up for a challenge, a free program or take any other small step that will leverage consistency.
Don't rush moving potential clients through your marketing funnel. Leverage the art of small steps. The science of influence demonstrates that people wish to be consistent with their previous choices, so if you begin with 3 small steps that will serve your potential clients, asking them to take the next steps will be much easier.
Clarify the methodology, but don't forget to mention the outcome of your product.
Yes, describe your product. People want to know where you come from and about your methods, but don't forget that above all they want wellness and transformation, which is why they are open to receiving support.
Survey results: "How important is it for you to know about the coaching methodology a practitioner would use with you?"
Leverage scarcity ethically and carefully, considering the intimate nature of these services. Acceptable use of scarcity might be early bird tickets or limited seats for online programs.
As a coach, motivating people to work with you out of fear of missing out will not benefit you long-term and may even backfire. At the same time, if it's used to give clients a gentle nudge for their benefit, messaging an element of scarcity can be effective.
Leads must feel listened to and solutions should be individualized. It's not merely the fact whether they are individualized or not, it's often whether they are perceived to be individualized.
Build authority. You can do this by showcasing meaningful reviews. When you do this, add more information about the person who leaves the review. If you have a certification, demonstrating this will help, but surveys demonstrate that it is not as important to potential clients as commonly expected.
On the other hand, what's more important is walking the talk, so you can interpret authority less formally and more substantially. One of the people I interviewed said: "If I am going to hire someone to help me become happier, I would certainly be more interested in working with someone who already is joyful and content."
Truly listen to what people want help with. People repeatedly refer to being listened to as an indication of a meaningful coaching relationship.
Get people to take action.
What people truly seek is a sense of wellness. Often, they come to a coaching session having realized that they require a change of beliefs, but transformation is such a gentle process that many improvements can go unnoticed. On the other hand, action-oriented lead generators can generate results more quickly, thereby signaling a desire to work with a specific coach. Again, this is not advice, but an articlation of what many coaches have confirmed.
Message that the space for conversation is safe. For example, you can offer non-disclosure agreements. I recommend using the ICF sample coaching agreement.
Get vulnerable in front of the audience and share examples of your own learning path.
Use video and show your face.
Get a coach. This can sound simplistic, but many coaches seeking to find clients do not have a coach themselves. This will not only help you find your blindspots, but it will also symbolize your trust in the type of services you wish to extend to others.
Key takeaways
The intimate nature of transformational coaching has a considerable effect on the marketing tactics required for its success. While the techniques in this blog reflect data-driven approaches and can considerably raise the likelihood of generating an engaged audience, it is important to remember the unreservedly human-centric essence of the field.
In terms of lead generation, it is important to provide a preliminary value to potential clients when it comes to wellbeing and productivity, trigger their curiosity and hope for change, create a sense of optimism, excitement and trust.
In order to fulfill this mission, coaches should feel free to use the tools and the language that best reflect their unique value proposition and the audiences they serve.
While the competitiveness of the market calls for greater marketing efforts, both coaches and marketers should remember the completive advantage of authenticity. The marketing efforts should be thought of as organic continuations of the desire to serve people and help them get more out of their lives.
It is also important to remember that coaching is not a physical product and its perceived value may change days, weeks or even months after coaching sessions.
This will influence the efficiency of persuasive tactics, not least in terms of their timing.
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If you are or want to be a coach or a counsellor
As a public relations specialist, I love helping wellbeing oriented businesses communicate more strategically, so I support therapists and coaches to develop and market their practices with evidence-based principles, leveraging the research of behavioral science and best practices of digital audience acquisition.
If you currently run or plan to run a business in the domain of personal development, therapy or a similar modality, book a consultation.
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About Brand New Thought
Brand New Thought is a platform dedicated to paradigm shifts in personal development.
The Brand New Thought podcast features leading executive coaches and counselors who share a revolutionary framework of understanding about how the mind works, and how to use it for creating a joyful and highly effective life.
I'm Razmik Sargsyan, and I love helping people experience more joy and live a more abundant and productive life. I work with individuals and organizations who want to transform and unlock their hidden potential in terms of how life feels and what can be achieved.
The types of pressing issues I work with include stress, decision-making, relationships, confidence, time management, self-esteem, communication, loneliness, uncertainty, social anxiety, bereavement, resilience and conscious entrepreneurship.