Having a steady stream of clients is essential for your business. Social media can be an effective way to attract new clients, but it can also be overwhelming and time-consuming if you’re trying to do all the things without a strategy. Too many coaches are not using social media to their advantage and as a result, they’re not getting the results they want. 

Identify and Stick to a Niche

Identifying and sticking to a niche drives everything with social media! Being an expert in one particular area will help you stand out from the crowd, attracting clients who need specific advice related to that niche topic area. Specialists are much harder to come by than coaches who take a more catch-all approach, and if you go in attempting to frame yourself as a jack of all trades, you can easily come off as a master of none! Your niche isn’t a description of what you do… it’s your sweet spot in the market so take the time to get clear on your niche!

Having clarity on your niche is a must so you know where your ideal clients are spending time online. For example, if you’re an executive coach, you’d be better off using LinkedIn than Facebook if you use one platform.

Make Your Profile Visible & Connect Worthy

I often see outdated headshots and average bios that are focused on the person and not the audience they serve.  Stand out by making sure your profile stands apart from the competition!

One of the key things is to make your social profiles VISIBLE if you are in business. This goes for your personal Facebook page too since it’s one the first places your audience will find out more about you. Use posting permissions to change certain posts to friends if you don’t want the world to see them.

In order to make your profile visible and connect-worthy, you need to ensure that all of the profile information you provide is accurate, informative and up-to-date. Also, you should make sure to have a great headshot and a bio that makes it clear that you are the expert they need.

Ask Who am I, and why should they care?

If you want to think about this a little deeper, you can also ask yourself who you are, what you do, how you do it, and who you help.

Use Video to Your Advantage

Content creation is a must to attract your ideal clients. If you want to reach a bigger audience faster, then consider using Video to your advantage. Predictions for this year show short form video is a must to increase your visibility and reach! If you want to take that next step with video, then consider going live on Facebook or YouTube regularly. This will entice your audience to follow you so you can nurture the connections.

Speaking to a variety of topics is a must. All too often ‘experts’ tell you to create content around your offer pillars. While this is valid advice, you’ll miss the chance to attract your audience at their various stages of awareness. My Content to Connections Marketing Map includes 9 pillars that fall into educational, inspirational, and promotional categories.

• Educational pillars call out mistakes, and industry myths and provide valuable tips
• Inspirational pillars include fun facts, inspirational/motivational and shifting beliefs
• Sales or promotional pillars address objections, offer social proof and promote your services.

If you want my easy-to-use spreadsheet, then send me a quick message and I’ll send it your way!

I Want the Map!

Maximize Reach Through Cross Promotion

Increase your visibility by cross-promoting content. Your audience likes to consume content in different types of formats including static posts, short form video, lives, blogs and audio. You can stay out of content overload by using the same content across multiple platforms – instead of creating new content for each platform. When you think of shelf life and the percentage of followers who are seeing what you’re posting, the odds they’ll notice the same post done on Facebook and as a reel on Instagram is slim.

Email should be a part of your cross-promotion strategy. Email marketing can feel complex, but it doesn’t have to be. When you’re just starting, one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to personalize your email content. You can use your social media content and add a slightly different spin. Email also gives you the advantage of taking your relationships offline so if there’s ever a tech glitch, you’ll be able to stay in contact with your followers and fans.

Be Consistent

You don’t build a brand or an audience overnight, so post quality content consistently once you’ve decided on which social media platforms to use. Interact with your followers by responding to comments, messages and posts. Be sure to respond to comments, DMs, and other messages quickly and professionally. This will show potential clients that you are available when they need help or advice – even if it’s not related to your services directly because you never know who you can connect them to! It’s always about adding value first, and the rest will naturally follow.

Build Relationships First

You don’t want to be seen as the person who just “sells.” If you want more people to interact on your content, then reach out to people who could be your ideal clients and build meaningful relationships first. This also tells the algorithm who you want to show up in your profile. If you comment on random profiles, you’ll see more profiles like that in your feed so the platform won’t know who your audience is and send more random profiles your way.

If you notice someone who could be a potential client, show them that you are a real person who is interested in who they are and what they do by commenting on their posts. When you take that next step and send a DM, mention something you noticed on their profile or in a post that isn’t related to business. If all they post is business content

Join Communities and Groups

Joining communities and groups on social media will give you access to more potential clients. Seek out communities that match your target audience so that you can build connections and increase your visibility. You can find niche-specific groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites like Reddit with a quick search.

Once there, use the same approach mentioned earlier by interacting first. Ask questions and answer questions in threads that are aligned with what you do. Pay attention to what others post because it’s an opportunity to provide advice that could turn into a client opportunity. Position yourself as an expert by answering comments in the threads related to what you do.

Collaborate With Other Experts

Reach out to other experts in your field and look for ways to collaborate. This could be as easy as inviting them to collaborate on an Instagram post or doing joint lives, or even a podcast. This will help you reach a larger audience and increase your visibility.

If you’re concerned about having a smaller audience, let them know you will do everything you can to promote the collaboration. We all have to start somewhere with our audiences but as long as you have the right intent to add value, it will work out!

Work Your Network

Leverage existing relationships by asking friends, family, colleagues, or past clients if they know anyone who might benefit from working with you as a coach. Before you reach out to anyone, do a search of their social media profile to see what they’ve been up to. Once you make the ask, then ask them how you can help them!!!

Show Up

Last but not least, show up! If you want to get more leads and more clients, then get social on social media. Hiding behind your desk and hoping that someone is going to click the link and buy your program or book a call does not work. You have to be visible and consistent. Posting one week and not posting anything for a month won’t help you build any relationships.

Social media can be a powerful tool for coaches looking to build relationships and find more clients. By leveraging these tips, such as creating great content, joining communities and groups, collaborating with other experts, working your network, and showing up consistently on social media platforms – you will set yourself up for success when it comes to finding new clients. With the right strategies in place you can start seeing results tomorrow!