When I first graduated from my Masters Degree program I knew that my long term goal was to get into online coaching. I wanted the flexibility of running my own business while working from home, but I also wanted to help people achieve their goals. Along my journey I learned about using ads to automate my business and very quickly I began to put all my eggs in that basket. Paying to get leads and hoping that eventually one of them would buy from me. I’m here to tell you that if you want to run ads for your coaching business… You shouldn’t… YET!
Why should you wait? There’s a period of development in every business where you have to decide on your brand, your offers, and how you want to share them with the world. No doubt by now you’ve heard of organic reach vs. paid reach. Paying to get leads is a great way to automate your client intake and reach people without lifting a finger. Long term this method will allow you to scale your business and make more money!
The problem is… if you jump too quickly into ads then you’ll pay money to put out offers that aren’t aligned with what your ideal client wants! This leads to spending more money getting leads, getting unqualified leads, and ultimately not making sales. Have you ever spent $5,000 on an ad campaign only to not make a single sale? It hurts…
Ads will NOT magically make you sales. Instead, they amplify what you already have in place. So, if you have an offer in place that isn’t fully aligned with your ideal client then ads will only amplify the lack of alignment. Before you spend a penny on ads you need to build a solid foundation that will funnel cold leads through a process that will ultimately encourage them to buy from you.
The foundation you need is a sales funnel that will take a lead from strangers to engagers to buyers.
Strangers
Posting often on social media and putting yourself out there will give people the opportunity to learn about you and your business. Additionally, sharing posts and contributing to groups and conversations will introduce people to you and begin the process.
Engagers
Continued posts and engagement will establish your authority on the subject you coach. At this phase once someone has come to know you a bit more and get an idea of what you work with and how you do it. People will be more likely to sign up for freebies or lead magnets you offer that will get them onto your email list.
Buyers
Once you have introduced yourself you can build trust by continuing to engage and post relevant content. Eventually your leads will trust you and you can offer them a free call where you can sell to them. You could even sell your offer in your email sequence since they’ve signed up at this point.
What Is The Best Offer?
Everything in your funnel relies on having a rock solid offer at the end. So, what is the best offer? Many coaches will do one off 1:1 sessions hoping to just get repeat clients. Some coaches will put together a simple workbook that will just help their coach answer a few questions. Other coaches will try to sell multiple 1:1 Session in one go.
Whats the problem with all these offers?
They don’t provide a clear, concise transformation that shows your client what they can achieve if they follow your steps. The best offer you can provide is a program that will walk your clients through a transformation where, at the end, they will have everything they need to achieve what they set out to do. Having a signature program allows you to essentially automate this process by developing all of the things they need to consider into thoughtful steps that walk them through the process. Closing out your sales funnel with a signature program will give your leads a much better idea of what you can offer them and make them excited to buy from you.
Ads For Your Coaching Business
Building a foundation funnel that works and nurtures clients towards a sale will enable you to start building an email list and an audience that you can sell to. Develop this funnel out using different lead magnets, finding new groups to engage in, and writing more emails that will convince your leads that you can help them.
Once you have a funnel that produces results it is FINALLY time to introduce ads. Once you have proof that your funnel works you can amplify its effect by reaching bigger audiences by investing in platforms like google and facebook to deliver your ads to a qualified audience.
If you want to talk more about running ads for your coaching business or if you’re ready to develop your own signature program offer, book a free Coaching Business Strategy Call.
