Social Media Best Practices for Coaches

So you’d like to know how to make social media work for your coaching business and attract new clients? The more active you are on social media platforms, the more exposed you are and the more awareness there will be of your brand. Social media activity, exposure and awareness will help you to build your brand image, paving the way for more leads, more conversions and more sales.

Yes, of course, this sounds great, but you will have to put in the effort if you want your picture to be as bright as the one I’m presenting. So, how do you do this? The simple answer is by utilizing social media in an effective manner. Have you heard of the 80-20 rule and are you aware of the variety of posts you can share? Moreover, do you know when the best time is to interact with your audience and which platforms are the best for getting your message out there? In this article, I will go over these in detail and by the time we are done, you will have learnt several ways in which you can leverage social media platforms to get closer to your clients and potential prospects and therefore grow your coaching practice.

Follow the 80-20 rule

Not a hard and fast rule, but one that can deliver you results… and fast enough. Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? This is what forms the basis of the 80-20 rule. The Pareto Principle states that more than 80% of your outcome is a result of just 20% of your income. What does this mean? In terms of your business, the Pareto Principle implies that over 80% of your problems probably come from 20% of your clients and there are just 20% clients contributing to 80% of your sales. Now let us apply this to social media.

The 80-20 rule states that of all the content you post, 20% must be promotional and the remaining 80% must be valuable. Does such a less percentage of promotional content help you in marketing your brand? Yes, it does, and it does it so effectively that you can get leads and a higher conversion ratio.

The rule implies that only 20% of your posts will do all of your marketing. The rest must be devoted to the needs of your audience so that you can nurture a relationship with them.

Besides the 80-20 rule, there is also the 70-20-10 posting rule that states that 70% of the content you share should be unique and focus on your customers’ interests and needs, 20% should be shared content from other sources and the rest of 10% should be promotional.

So what type of posts can you share?

Something that is engaging
Something that is engaging entices you as well, right? Ensure you create your posts with this in mind. Talk about your brand but in a manner that sounds interesting and innovative.

Latest updates to create a buzz
Being the first one to share something will increase your value and attract more followers. As soon as you hear of some news, share it on your network. Even if you are making changes to your products and are launching new versions, let your audience know.

Maybe a video
Video marketing has grabbed the attention of so many entrepreneurs. Just a couple of seconds, and you have the attention of your audience. But when will this be? When you offer value and upload high quality videos.

A competition to generate interest
Can you offer a reward to your audience? Hold a competition and their engagement levels will grow. This will make you more visible, and you know what that means, right?

Images or cool infographics… whatever you like
According to stats, posting an image can increase engagement levels by as much as 45%. So tap into this and upload an image of anything that will appeal to your audience. You can even design an infographic and offer them value through it.

Feedback is important
Polls and surveys not only grab attention, but are also a great way to get feedback. Survey Monkey is a free and easy to use tool to build your own survey.

And the best times to post these?

Did you know there are certain times of the day that are regarded as the best to share your content? You should consider posting at these times so that you can gain maximum visibility. All timings given below are based on EST (remember a large proportion of the online market resides in the US)

Facebook
Facebook enjoys its peak times on Wednesdays at around 3 pm. If you cannot nail this hour, share your content after 1 pm on any day because that is when traffic is high.

Twitter
With Twitter, you can post anytime between 1 pm and 3 pm.

LinkedIn
Given the business-focused nature of LinkedIn, content should be shared after business hours are over, maybe early morning or late at night.

Pinterest
Pinterest enjoys the maximum number of users on Saturday mornings. If you want to post on any other day, do it in the afternoon or after 8 pm.

Google+
The two hours between 9 am and 11 am are perfect for sharing content on Google+.

Tools you should utilize to the utmost

Social media marketing can be managed with a number of great tools. Here is a quick look at the most popular ones.

HootSuite
Hootsuite lets you manage your marketing campaigns on a number of social media platforms from just one dashboard. Track your conversions and measure your results from just one place.

Buffer
Do you find it difficult to schedule your social media content? Buffer can help you with it. Add your content to the program, and it will automatically post it at your specified times.

Wildfire Interactive
Contests and sweepstakes attract users; we already mentioned this, but how do you organize them? The answer lies in using Wildfire Interactive.

Tweetdeck
Specially designed for Twitter, this tool can let you monitor all your Twitter feeds. You can focus on users that matter the most, receive alerts and schedule your tweets.

All along keep in mind

It doesn’t matter which social media platform you use, but there are some things which you should always remember:
• Whatever you post, it must offer value to your target audience
• Try to schedule all of your posts at times when you can maximize traffic
• Remember to optimize your content with keywords

I have now given you an idea of how you can use social media for growing your business. I did my part; now, it is time that you do yours. Good luck.

Gabriela Taylor (gabrielataylor.com) is an online marketer, published author, NLP Master Practitioner and a Law of Attraction Coach. If you’d like to learn more about promoting yourself online as a coach, read my FREE Social Media Guide that will give you a good perspective on social media marketing and allow you to focus on the platforms that will work best for your business.