This article is a twin to “My Favorite Digital Marketing Tactic: Lead Magnets“. Be sure to read that article too!

Marketing is so important when it comes to growing a business, especially an online coaching business. In today’s world, with the market being so saturated, it’s so important to brand yourself strongly. What will set you apart from the rest? What is the best tactic to bring more leads into your business? What marketing strategy will help with more clients sign ups?

Well, I’m going to start by saying I am not a marketing expert at all, nor will I ever claim to be.

However, I can tell you that I have managed to build a successful in-person and online fitness business without having to pay for ads on Facebook and Instagram (yet!).

How did I do this? That’s what I’m going to share with you today in this blog.

But first, a note on social media

Using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and Now TikTok have been very helpful in expanding my reach to potential clients from all over the world and building my brand.

But I will tell you: it’s rare that someone will just find you on social media after one post and sign up for your services. It has been a matter of continuing to show up and provide value and be myself on social media, because often when I sign a new client up one of the first tings they say is “I have been following you on (enter social media platform) for a while and would love you to help me”. I am sure there are some that have had one TikTok or Reel go viral that then blew up their business, but that has not happened with me. I wouldn’t recommend relying on going viral as a marketing tactic.

Yes, social media is great, but I can tell you I have had more new clients sign up in the past year than ever before when I started taking one thing seriously…

What has been my favourite digital marketing tactic? Drumroll please! 🥁

Email Marketing

Lead Magnets

If you don’t know, a lead magnet is basically a freebie that you can have as a pop-up or form on your website where clients need to enter their name and email address in order to get something in return.

For example, “Enter your email below to get my free 7 Day Fat Loss Meal Plan” then when the client enters their information, you send them the document. Most important though, now you have the name and email address of a new potential client who is interested in fat loss and learning how to eat to reach their goals.

Lead Nurturing

Now do we go ahead and email that person and sell them on your nutrition coaching? No, I don’t recommend that at all; however, now they are on your email list and they will receive the emails that you are sending out each week with helpful information to continue to provide them with value and continue to build trust with that client.

⚡️TZ Tip: Be sure to research the Anti-Spam laws in your country and abide by all the rules of consent for e-communications!

Security for you

Let’s put it this way, if Instagram or any other social media platform shut down today, what would you do? Do you have the email addresses of all of your followers? Probably not huh? You don’t own your followers, but you do own your email list and with algorithms constantly changing on social media platforms, your followers might not always see your posts. If you are in their email inbox, it’s more likely you will be able to reach your clients even in the case of a social media platform shutting down or getting hacked.

How have I used my lead magnet to build my email list and build my business?

1. Make them available: I have a few different lead magnets I have created and I have them accessible from every link in bio on all social media platforms.
2. Talk about them: I talk about my “free giveaways” in my YouTube videos and link them in my YouTube video descriptions in order to reach as many people as possible.
3. Automate: I use an email marketing software that makes it easy to create website pop-ups and lead forms as well as set up automations so the lead magnets are sent to my new email subscribers without me having to do anything. Set it up once and you are good to go, your email list will grow while you sleep.
4. Keep nurturing: You should be sending emails to your email list at least once a week providing them with some piece of helpful information that will help them on their fitness or fat loss journey.
5. Link to services: In these emails you can also provide links to your online coaching services, add in testimonials or before/after pics of clients, or promote anything you have coming up—challenges, sales, and non-fitness offerings—in order to make more sales.

Often when my new clients sign up with me they often tell me in their initial consultation calls that they feel like they already know me because I am in their email inbox often and I am just myself on my social media. I’m not constantly selling them, just continuing to provide value and set myself up as an “expert” that could help them, but also sharing tidbits of my life to show that I am a real human to build that connection as well.

I could talk forever on this topic because I have learned so much just from doing, but my best advice if you are not using lead magnets and don’t have an email list, you should get on it! Utilize the new link sticker in Instagram Stories to get people to download your freebie, and use links in all social media platforms in order to grow your email list.

Both articles in this series focus on the important of capturing and nurturing leads—essential steps in a sales funnel. Learn more about sales funnels to build our your digital marketing ecosystem.