When it comes to social media marketing for coaches, you may already know that content is king! But how can we write a post in a way that it is clear, easy to understand and promotes our program in a way that doesn’t give off a salesy vibe? Today I bring you good news, it is possible, and it works.
In a few minutes you will know exactly how to create a post that raises hands, gets people reach out to you wanting more information and ready to work with you.
But before we start, there are a couple of things what you need to be super clear yourself:
- Who your ideal client is specifically
- What are their biggest pain/frustration points that your program helps eliminate or improve?
- What is the main problem/obstacle THEY think they have right now?
- What is the main, the juiciest outcome of working with you? (This topic deserves a separate article as most businesses fail to define the outcomes they offer, especially in a way that is relatable to their ideal client)
- What are additional outcomes working with you offers?
- What are their main objection that needs to be removed in order to make them really want to start working with you immediately?
- What proof do you have that your methods work?
Most coaches do not spend enough time researching the answers to these questions. As a result their copywriting is very vague, ambitious and unclear, often without any call to action. Their audience ends up simply confused by their content. They may like their stories and appreciate their valuable tips, but they do not know what the next step is, or what is it that these coaches ACTUALLY offer.
In my experience working with coaches specifically over the last 4 years the lack of clarity starts with them not getting clear on these most important areas before they launch into client attraction on Facebook, LinkedIn and beyond and sooner or later end up burnt out and disheartened by seeing successes of other coaches and getting “broken tap” results with their own content.
That sort of marketing is simply exhausting.
So start with getting clear on those. Talk to your current clients, talk to your prospects, ask questions and take note of what THEY think their problem is, and what words they usually use to describe it. Stop assuming anything about your ideal client and start collecting and analysing data.
Does it seem a lot to do? Yes, but this is how any business starts — with a business plan and a feasibility study. Somehow a lot of coaches think this is not important to their type of business, and they do not spend enough time on research, resulting in running something that resembles an expensive, stressful hobby rather than a successful business.
Suppose you have done some work and have the data. Let’s now compose a post that is focusing on getting your warmest leads to reveal themselves.
START WITH A HOOK
We need to start with a good hook — an opening that grabs the attention of the right person from the start. One of the ways of doing it is by describing your ideal client and their problem. For example, I could open my post with:
“You are absolutely BRILLIANT at coaching your clients — you get them results and change their lives, BUT you are struggling to get consistent new leads online.”
Here I describe WHO this post is for (coaches) and their biggest pain point. It immediately triggers the desire to read more, and this is what a good hook does.
PRE-QUALIFY YOUR LEAD
The hook grabbed the attention, but I need only the right type of coaches to raise their hand (this is where getting really clear on who we are targeting specifically is crucial). How can you filter out the wrong type? You can create a series of questions or statements describing your ideal client’s issues in some more detail:
“If this is you, most of these might be contributing to the issue:
1. You are using your business page to post about your business, and you do not use ads. (Probably you tried, wasted a lot of money and gave up.) But your posts get minimum engagement and you still reply on referrals for most of your new clients.
2. You have been posting a link to your page on every networking thread you see in various groups and you got some likes too, but still that does not change the “sound of crickets” situation.
3. At some point or even several times, you invited all your Facebook connections to like your page. You could have used that handy feature that invites all your friends in one go, which is a no-brainer.
And yes a lot of them liked the page, but still, no change in how you are generating leads. (As in very poorly if any at all.)
4. You then decided to use your personal profile a little more, and the engagement is better, yet some of it is from your mom and the rest of the family and friends, who will never be interested in investing $5K+ in your programs.”
What I just did is spoke to a particular type of coaches, who use some very specific tactics and behaviour. Those who have never done any of these things will simply lose interest, and only those who can relate will continue reading.
PRESENT A PROBLEM
Now it is time to present a more specific problem. But not the one that I know they have. As a coach myself, I know that too often people blame something that in fact is a cause of the real problem that they either do not see or do not want to deal with. If you are still reading, this is exactly what I describe above when I spoke about doing that research.
Just because it feels so overwhelming, most coaches do not spend enough time there, resulting in a complete lack of clarity in almost everything they do in their marketing. Yet they think the problem is the content. But if I keep talking about what I KNOW the real problem is, they will get more overwhelmed and scroll on by, ignoring my posts, just like often we tend to ignore any other huge problem that needs addressing. So I need to focus on what they are more open to hearing:
“If some or all of these are true to you, I think I can fairly confidently point out your biggest problem.
The burning one. The one that cancels out all your efforts.”
SET TANGIBLE TIMEFRAME
Now it is time to talk about your program. They are listening and they feel like you understand what they see as the biggest obstacle on their way to success. Here is the part where knowing what OUTCOMES they are hoping for and aligning your program’s benefits with those outcomes is paramount! Preferably, using the words and phrases they tend to use themselves. In my example, I introduce my program leading strong with the outcomes.
“I just started a 6-weeks coaching program, designed around making sure you have the environment that almost GUARANTEES a consistent flow of inbound new leads.
And I am saying almost, because you are an adult and I will not patronise you by pretending there are no other factors, like:
– the quality of your posts,
– what call to action you use,
– how often you make offers
– and the most basic one: is your personal profile optimised for lead generation at all.
But even if you get all these bank on right, your biggest problem still remains!
WHO YOU ARE CONNECTED TO MATTERS.
In my program called 6 Weeks to More Leads, (in a small group environment) we focus on defining who you need to look for, transforming your audience from a wishy-washy mess to a laser-sharp targeted, full of potential leads who are actively looking for a solution to their problem.
And that problem is what you are so excellent at solving.”
Look at how many cues I give my reader. I introduced my group coaching program about lead generation that lasts only 6 weeks. But the way I describe it is revealing the reasons for the struggles they are aware of and can emotionally relate to.
Yet my language is not confusing. I am just giving them a little “tough love” like an old friend would, but without shaming or bullying anyone into enrolling into my program. I simply list what they know they are now doing enough.
Sometimes because they resist it, afraid of judgement or simply do not realise they skip an important step. And so they keep reading the part where I lay out exactly what is going to happen:
“First we will get you super clear on who you will be looking for on Facebook and how you can recognise them (you already had a history with clients, so you will be able to nail this down fast).
Then I will show you exactly where to look for them, and while you are at it, how to sharpen up your messaging using some of my signature messaging techniques that I have learned form the best copywriters out there and use in my own content all the time.
Then we will analyse some content, so you never have to overthink or run out of ideas and have an excellent overview on how to be consistent, (even on those days when you are not even bothered haha those happen too!)
And you will be able to start creating super targeted, super clear posts that raise hands and get people reaching out to you.
Because as they read your posts they will be thinking, “ O.M.G. THIS is exactly where I am and this is what I need!” (Maybe you are thinking this right now? Then we need to connect!)”
I describe the process of the program, but not in the amount of coaching sessions or assignments. I only focus on the outcome of each step, one by one. And most of all I am focusing on the tangible results that someone who took all those steps and implemented all the strategies and tactics will achieve. In simple and relatable words, expressions and describing how they would feel if it was them.
ADD CREDIBILITY
Now it is the time to add some credibility. Showcase that your method works, the results your clients are getting, or even your own results. We just need some numbers or very practical and tangible result. Even if your program is about bigger internal transformation, think about what this transformation made happen in terms of income, relationships, health. Paint the picture of what is possible. Here is my example:
“The strategies I teach are the exact ones I use myself as I learn constantly from the best out there (I spend time every day lurking, observing, learning and I analyse and test EVERYTHING)
This, if it is done right and full-heartedly, can start creating at least 5–10 quality conversations with leads every week — so depending on how many you need to hit that consistent 10K months or whatever your goal is — this will make it happen FASTER!”
I use myself as an example. My leads who follow me on Facebook, watch my videos and read my posts, admire the confidence I show up with, and observe others raising their hands. So my results speak for themselves. You can also give very specific client results, of course.
I then follow by creating a visualisation of what can happen if they go through my program and implement everything I teach.
CALL TO ACTION
And now we come to a finish. But before we leave the stage, we must present the reader with a choice to take the next step and tell them exactly how to do it.
“If you would like to learn about the program, just send me a quick message or comment #profile below and I will reach out.
I will then ask you a few questions making sure this program is a good fit and we can ensure you have a spot in the next round and you will be able to get started on an assignment right away!”
You see, that I offered to let me know by commenting with a code word or simply reaching out to me privately (if that feels more safe to them). But I do not stop at that. I continue explaining what happens after they take the action I am asking them to take. This creates an atmosphere of ease and trust as a lot of people are simply shy to raise their hand or reach out (unless we put the spotlight on them) I experience this even inside my program when I ask if anyone has questions.
Most people prefer not to raise their hand, yet when I ask them directly, they happen to find several questions to ask or issues to work through. This is why explaining what awaits after they raise their hand immediately puts them at ease.
And there you have it. A killer post with super clear explanation what to expect from the program, and how yet without any “user car salesman” tricks.
The post I used for this article has very little engagement, but it generated 3 sales conversations and one enrollment into the program I am describing, which runs every 6 weeks — this was not even a launch or promotion period and the person happily enrolled 4 weeks and advance. (This proves that good posts remove all sorts of sales objections, including that the program starts only in several weeks.)
You can see the actual post here.
And if you want to master lead generation with your profile on Facebook, the posts tells you exactly what to do!
Originally published here.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Juliette Stapleton.
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