If I was starting a coaching business this year, this is what I’d be doing
This year, if you are just starting your coaching or mentoring business, should be a watershed moment in your digital marketing. There are going to be a range of established and very new types of digital marketing strategies out there in 2022 to help businesses grow and become more popular, so here’s your cheat sheet if you want to do well this year.
If I was going to start up a new coaching or mindset mentoring business in 2022, these are the areas I’d be looking at investing time, effort and creativity into.
1: Keep up with Social Media Marketing
Social media has been an excellent tool for marketers to establish their unique point of different or brand values, and get their products or services in front of prospective customers. In 2022, social media will continue to grow in importance for businesses, even if it feels like it’s largely peaked. But when it comes down to it, if you want to be a coach in 2022 and you want to market your business, you can’t avoid social media.
2: Do some SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is one of the most widely used digital marketing strategies for all kinds of businesses. SEO is all about using keyword phrases for your website that are relevant to what your business does in order for it to rank higher in search results. If you want to come up when people search online for what your business offers, you should incorporate SEO into your marketing strategy. And for a coach or mentor, this is especially important, because you are in one of the most competitive industries with one of the lowest search ratios out there — because no one is actually looking for a coach or mentor, and they don’t really think they should have to pay for one.
Despite the fact that Google has been cracking down on spammy SEO companies in recent years, SEO is still extremely important. It is still very possible to do SEO in a non-spammy way, and if you focus on this, it can be very effective for your new coaching business. The best way to attack SEO for your business will be to write great success stories and to localise your writing and website content to where you are based. Even if you want to serve a global audience, the reality is that no one will find you globally without a direct word of mouth referral from someone you’ve already served locally.
3: Send emails
Email marketing strategies have been used for decades, but it is now easier than ever to learn how to create an effective email marketing campaign. If you want to expand your business, you should consider hiring an expert email marketer or using a programme such as MailChimp or Hubspot.
It is also important to note that there are certain rules that must be followed when marketing via email. This means that you must ensure that you are in compliance with the SPAM Act of 2003 in Australia and similar regulations in other countries.
The aim of email marketing is to always send something of real interest and real value to your subscribers so that they actually open it. That requires a meaningful subject line (not just “My March Newsletter”) and punchy stories and issues that your target audience can really relate to.
4: Make Videos
The trend towards video is one of the best overall trends in the world of digital marketing. In 2022, video marketing will be given even more attention, but not in the way we have seen in the past. If you want to get ahead this year, you should include video production as part of your marketing strategy. And that’s not easy, I know. Video can be hard. But it doesn’t take a production pro to record something in a bright space with a decent microphone into a computer or a phone. And if you struggle with the tech setup, just use a system like Streamyard on your computer to record things, as I do. And if you’re recording short-format stuff for TikTok or Reels, then use your phone and edit it on the apps themselves.
It’s less important to be perfect than it is to be present on video platforms. And while you probably don’t feel comfortable with it all yet, this is one area that you can’t really avoid. If someone is going to trust you with their time and money, they’re gonna want to see who you are and what you’re like first.
5: Start a Podcast
Podcasts have grown in popularity in recent years, and many marketers see them as a way to connect with their customers. For me, it’s been a great way to reach an audience I otherwise wouldn’t. Put simply, a podcast is an audio record of you talking about what you do. You can explore case studies, discuss relevant news to your industry, chat with others as an interview, or just pump out lots of useful free information about the things you do. This is my strategy. And don’t worry if you feel like you’re giving all your useful information away for free. That’s the whole point. The freeloaders will always do that. But for those who are seriously after the service you provide, they’ll see you as an authority and be more likely to seek you out when they’re ready for a coach.
You can get your message in front of the right people at the right time by incorporating these marketing strategies into your digital campaigns. Choosing more than one of them is critical to the success of your company. But you will also need to create an integrated plan that takes the customer journey into account. That means creating content that speaks to the customer when they are not aware of who you are when they are not aware but comparing you to others, and when they are actually ready to commit.
Dante St James is the founder of Clickstarter, a Meta Blueprint Certified Lead Trainer, a Community Trainer with Meta Australia, a digital advisor with Business Station, an accredited Digital Solutions advisor and presenter, an Entrepreneur Facilitator, and the editor at The Small Marketer. You can watch free 1-hour webinars and grow your digital skills at Dante’s YouTube Channel.
