Marketing for Health Coaches: How to Grow Your Online Business After Graduating
You did it!
You’ve completed your training, mastered the science, and are officially certified as a professional health coach.
Now, you’re ready to enter the real world and start your online health coaching business.
Hooray!
The only question is… where do you start?
Suddenly, you feel like you’ve been dropped off in the middle of nowhere, without a roadmap, and have no clue where to turn next.
You have SO many questions, like…
How do I get clients?
How do I actually make money?
How do I show people that I can help them?
Well, wonder no more!
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) is here to simplify marketing for health coaches so you can build a successful online health practice.
Ya ready??
Let’s dive in!
Your Marketing For Health Coaches Foundation
There is one thing that serves as the foundation of your health coaching business, and that is…
** Your Health Coaching Niche **
Maybe you’ve heard this before…
“The riches are in the niches”
Well, it’s true!
Having a niche allows you to stand out from other online health coaches in this rapidly growing industry, and position yourself as THE expert.
The mindset hurdle here is that as a health coach or practitioner, you want to help everyone!
And you absolutely can, but you shouldn’t.
When it comes to marketing for health coaches… you want to position yourself as a specialist, rather than a generalist.
Not only does this allow you to differentiate yourself from the masses, it also allows you to charge premium prices, because you’re delivering a very specific transformation that your ideal client really wants!
Your health coaching niche is like marketing gold because it makes someone say:
“YES, this is exactly the person I’ve been looking for!”
So, do not skip this foundational step.
Your 5-Step Roadmap to Marketing For Health Coaches
Now that you’re starting to think like a marketer, let’s keep it going!
You already know how health protocols are most effective when backed by science.
Well…the same can be said about your marketing when backed by strategy.
You want to be intentional with your health coach marketing, and avoid hopping on every new trend.
Butttt….how do you distinguish between the trendy stuff and the marketing essentials that are worth investing in?
We’re so glad you asked!
Here are 5 marketing essentials worth considering when you are first starting your health coaching business.
Stop #1 | A Simple Website or Landing Page
Before you stress out too much…
You DON’T need a huge fancy website!
Instead, focus on a simple 1-page website that gives people the information they need, like how to work with you!
If you’re feeling fancy, you can add in your values, health coaching philosophy, client testimonials, and some PERSONALITY to give potential clients a sense of what it would be like to work with you. 😉
When it comes to creating your website, you need to decide whether you’re going to:
1.) invest your time and create it on your own, or
2.) invest your money and hire someone else to do it.
Whichever you choose, here are some pro tips:
- Clearly communicate who you help and the problem you help them solve
- Speak to your ideal client’s struggles, so they know they’re in the right place
- Use Call-To-Action (CTA) buttons to tell people what to do (e.g. book a free consult)
- Clearly communicate your packages or program
- Use short paragraphs & simple language that doesn’t overwhelm readers
- Include client testimonials if you have them
If you’re going the DIY route, consider using something like Flodesk, which is an email marketing system that allows you to build a simple “landing page”. You’ve got this!
Stop #2 | Create Your Lead-Magnet
Now it’s time to give people a taste of what it’s like to actually work with you.
The best way to do that?
Your lead-magnet.
In case you’re scratching your head… a lead-magnet is a valuable piece of free content (otherwise known as a “freebie”) that you give to people in exchange for their email address.
Some ideas for a lead-magnet include:
- A downloadable PDF guide or checklist
- A quiz
- A video training
To choose one, think about…
What would give your ideal client a “quick win”?
What’s something they can learn or start doing today that will get them one step closer to solving their problems?
Use THIS to guide both the topic and type of lead-magnet you create.
Stop #3 | Get Started With Email Marketing
Once people give you their email address in exchange for that free piece of content, they’re officially one of your precious email subscribers (yes!).
This moment, when this person is interested in your business and what you offer, is a prime time to give them a warm welcome to your space.
You do that by sending them a string of 4-5 emails that help them get to know you better. In the marketing world, they call this a “welcome sequence”.
Your welcome emails should:
- Deliver your freebie
- Share your story or your “why” behind starting your health practice
- Provide more value and demonstrate your expertise
- Encourage your subscriber to connect with you on other platforms
- Invite your subscriber to work with you
The best part? These emails are automated and sent out every time someone signs up to receive your lead-magnet.
So once it’s set up, you can sit back, let it work to generate leads, and watch your health business grow!
Stop #4 | Create a Social Media Plan
Do you need to be on social media?
Well, if you’re ready to start working with clients and grow your health business, you *really* should be.
We’re lucky to live in a time when getting in front of your audience is as easy as creating a free account and following your people!
But remember, posting whatever you want, mimicking what everyone else is doing, and hopping on every new trend probably isn’t the most effective use of your time and energy.
You need to sprinkle proven strategy into your social media!
Here at FDN, we’re all about sticking to what actually works to get results.
Here are top proven strategies to use for social media:
- Select your brand colors and fonts to keep a consistent online presence (so people think: hey, you again!)
- Keep your ideal client front of mind and create content for them (help them solve their problems and answer their questions)
- Create a content calendar that keeps you organized and showing up consistently (don’t go ghosting your audience!)
These simple strategies will take you further than fleeting trends.
Stop #5 | Nurture Your Audience
Now that you’ve got your core marketing foundations set up, it’s time to nurture your audience and grow.
To keep building a sense of trust and authority, you need to build authentic relationships.
Email Marketing
Your people want to hear from you! Check-in with them regularly with a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter to keep them in the loop about what’s going on in your industry and how you can help them. Encourage people to reply to your emails, and get back to them!
Social Media
Regularly engage with your followers. This means replying to comments on your posts or reacting to their stories. Remember, you’re creating real, online relationships here!
One final tip → move through this list one step at a time. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the marketing you need to do for your online practice – but, we’re playing the long-game here. Rather than thinking about doing everything all at once, focus on hitting one stop at a time. Then you can move onto the next thing.
Starting an online health business takes work.
But building a career of purpose and freedom is SO worth it!
Marketing For Health Coaches – BONUS TIP
As you move forward with executing the steps above, there is one thing to keep in mind that applies to all your marketing content, whether that’s your website, your emails, or your social media posts…
Speak to ONE person only!
This is the key to stopping the scroll & grabbing attention in a noisy marketplace.
When you speak clearly to your ideal client, they’ll think…
“Wow! She actually *gets* me. Maybe she can help me…”
So, here’s how to do this –
Think of your ideal client.
- How old are they?
- What do they do for work?
- What do they care about?
- What are they afraid of?
Then, when you have this one person clear in your mind, talk directly to them in all of your marketing content –- talk about their struggles, solve their problems, answer their questions.
Don’t worry that your social media posts won’t make sense to someone else – the only person you’re focused on is your ideal client, with that specific problem that you help them solve!
Master Marketing for Health Coaches & Build a Thriving Business
At FDN, our certified health coaches and practitioners go onto consistently build 6-figure businesses for two reasons:
- First, they master the science inside the FDN Certification Course.
- Then, they’re guided through setting up a thriving online health coaching business inside FDN Business School.
We hope that this marketing for health coaches overview has been helpful.
But we’d love to get to know you!
