NCC Blog
Starter Social Networking Strategies for Coaches
Essentially, social networking is setting up a profile in a network (e.g. Facebook) and becoming “friends” with others who use the same network. As friends, you will be able to share, see and partake in various happenings, updates, and events amongst those your network.
There are three social networking strategies I see coaches using:
- None – You don’t have a profile. You don’t actively use social networking as a marketing tool. Which is OK. Maybe your target audience isn’t spending time there. Maybe your time and energy are best spent elsewhere.
- Passive – You setup a profile and connect with people casually over time. It’s basically available if others were to look you up.
- Active – Your profile and use of the network are actively designed to find clients, sell products, grow your list, build your brand, etc.
At the core of any successful marketing strategy, you will want to have a strong message that will reach an audience and then lead that audience towards your business.
Social networking is no exception.
For example, if you were a relationship coach for single men and you held live workshops in New York City, then you might set up a Facebook profile and invite all single men in NYC to become your friend. Then over time you could invite them to one of your workshops.
Before pursuing social networking, I suggest asking yourself:
- Does your target audience use social networking?
- What do I want to gain from social networking?
- How can I use this specific network to grow my business?
- Do I have the time, resources and desire to pursue social networking, now?
- Are there social networks that are specific to my target audience?
If you are a new coach, curious about social networking, and want to try it out, here are some starter strategies:
- Set up your profile to highlight your coaching services. Having an exciting business description including who you work with, the challenges they face, and the kinds of results you help them achieve. Make this short, sweet and prominent with a link to your coaching business website.
- An invitation to get something valuable from your profile and/or business website like an article, video, assessment, etc. This is to direct people towards discovering more about your business.
- A photo that potential clients will like. You can go more casual if the network is a casual like FaceBook(a network of friends). Hint: It’s good if people can see your face relatively easily.
- If you are already publishing content on a regular basis, get that content to update on your social networking profile for all your “friends” to see. For example, if you blog on a regular basis, you can easily connect that to your profile.
- As you meet more people in your normal social/business events, invite them to be “friends” with you.
The biggest thing I want to say about social networking is to think of how social networking can help you reach potential clients, build your image in front of them, and lead them into your sales and marketing systems.
Kenn Schroder helps professional coaches who struggle to find and attract clients setup a compelling web presence to create a steady stream of fun-to-work-with, paying clients. Get 5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching Clients at http://www.CoachingSitesThatWork.com
Great post Kenn and very helpful information.
I just wanted to remind coaches that at it’s core, social media is about developing relationships with people and not trying to hard sell to them. Their goal should be to get people to know, like and trust them so they will be comfortable purchasing from them in the future. Social media is relationship marketing and should be approached in that manner.
I think what you are saying is at the heart of all marketing! I also believe that one of the most (if not, the) powerful relationship builders is helping others achieve their dreams.
Thus, on a coach’s social media profile, I would suggest coaches put up some goal-achieving, people-motivating, challenge-removing, and myth-busting material … with a human smile.
Recently, I watch some Seth Godin material. He taught me that if you can use Social Media to help people socialize (connect with each other), then you are using social media well.
How? I wonder if some sort of coaching game would work. I see people love playing games with their friends. Insert some coaching action in the game, and wala … I think.