Marketing Coaching 101: How a Marketing Coach Helps Grow Your Business

What is marketing coaching?

Marketing coaching is just what it sounds like: Coaching on marketing.

As opposed to general business coaching, which may focus on topics like operations, team-building, start-ups, business development, and time management, marketing coaching focuses solely on helping you market your business..

This can be extremely beneficial if marketing is one of the core areas you need support, if you lack skills or experience in marketing, and if you feel more comfortable and confident with the other areas of your business.

Marketing coaching is focused on helping you market your business, so that you can increase your brand awareness, build an audience, attract potential clients, and convert those prospects into paying clients.

In this post, I’ll share more about what marketing coaching is so you can see if it’s a fit for you and if so, how to move forward and find a marketing coach.

Why hire a marketing coach?

Since marketing is a core business function, it’s important that you as a business owner know how marketing works. 

It may not surprise you to learn that many business owners enter business without any marketing experience! 

This is one area where many business owners have to either take time to learn or hire support to really master their marketing.

Reasons you’d hire a marketing coach include:

• If you’re just starting out and you want help to launch your business and find your initial clients
• If you’ve been coasting on referrals but you know it’s time to widen your exposure to a larger audience, but you don’t know where to start
• If you’re tired of DIY-ing your marketing and getting lackluster results. You want to get a personalized strategy
• If you’ve been throwing spaghetti at the wall and nothing seems to stick, hiring a marketing coach can help you focus on the key levers that can move the needle in your business
• If you’ve been attracting clients, but they’re not the right fit clients, hiring a marketing coach can help you find more aligned clients by targeting your marketing directly to them

What topics are covered in marketing coaching?

A marketing coach can often cover a variety of topics. But it’s a good idea to think about the specific areas of marketing you want help with when hiring a marketing coach.

Areas a marketing coach may cover include:

• Messaging: Messaging refers to the words you use to describe your business and yourself as a coach, healer, or other service professional. Messaging is a key part of marketing because without the right words, your marketing will fall flat.

   

• Visibility: Visibility means being consistently seen by the right people—your ideal clients—so they know who you are, what you offer, and how you can help them. Being visible means showing up authentically and consistently.

   

• Strategy: Marketing strategy refers to your overall plan for how you’ll attract, nurture, and convert your ideal clients, based on your business goals. Marketing strategy includes your marketing channels, your marketing message, and the cadence and timing.

   

• Content: Content refers to the information, stories, or insights you share—like blog posts, emails, social media, or videos—that help your audience get to know, like, and trust you. Content is how you connect and build relationships through marketing.

   

• Mindset: Mindset refers to your beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes about yourself and your work. Your mindset shapes how confidently and consistently you show up, whether you believe people want what you offer, and how you handle rejection and failure.

The difference between marketing, advertising and PR

It’s rare that a coach is skilled in marketing, advertising, and PR. So it’s best to understand the difference so you can identify what you need:

• Marketing is the overall strategy for attracting and converting clients. Marketing includes everything from messaging and content to social media, email, and branding. 
• Advertising is a subset of marketing that involves paying to promote your offer, like running Facebook or Google ads, where you control the message and placement. 
• Public relations (PR) is about earning visibility and credibility through media coverage, interviews, or guest features. It is usually unpaid but can include paid opportunities.

What type of results to expect from marketing coaching

The results you can expect from marketing coaching vary, depending on your business, your level of experience, your willingness and ability to dive in and do the work, and the other competing priorities in your life and business.

But when you intentionally invest and commit to marketing coaching, you should be able to witness the following results in time:

• Clarity in messaging and niche. You have clarity in who you’re speaking to and how to describe what you do in a way that resonates.
  
• A personalized marketing plan – You’ll have a clear, values-aligned marketing plan that fits your business and energy.
  
• More confidence and consistency – You’ll stop second-guessing yourself and start showing up more authentically and consistently.
  
• Better visibility and engagement – Your content starts attracting more of the right people who are genuinely interested in your work.
  
• An increase in inquiries and clients – With clear messaging and a solid marketing foundation, more people reach out ready to work with you.

What does a marketing coach do?

In short, a marketing coach helps you with marketing. Here’s what the process typically looks like.

First, the marketing coach will usually offer a consultation where they get to know more about your business and your marketing goals. (It’s OK if you don’t have marketing goals yet… they can help you set them!)

Then, the marketing coach will  do one of two things: a) Recommend a package to you based on your goals or b) Put together a specific proposal for you based on what you’ve shared.

If the marketing coach sends you a proposal, you can review and make sure it sounds aligned with your business, your goals, and even your time and budget. (If it doesn’t, I suggest going back to the marketing coach and letting them know. Proposals can usually be tailored to your needs!)

After the proposal or package recommendation, you can either choose to move forward or not move forward. If you do, you will likely get a schedule and invoice from the marketing coach to kick off your work together.

Then your work with the marketing coach will begin! Be sure to ask whether or not you’ll get updates along the way, have any check-in calls, or be able to answer any questions. Be sure to get a firm start and estimated end date as well.

How to look for a marketing coach

When you’re ready to look for a marketing coach, follow these steps:

Find marketing coaches to speak to.

• Referrals are great! Ask in Facebook groups, linkedin communities, or even just check in with a business friend or two to see if they know of a marketing coach they’d recommend.
• Google. Simply Google “marketing coach” or “marketing coaching” and explore the results that show up on Google. 
• If it’s important that your coach is certified, check the ICF or other coach directories like IPEC to find certified coaches. If you want a trauma-informed coach, be sure to check your coach’s website for that as well.

Narrow it down to 3-5 marketing coaches you’d like to chat with. Book discovery calls with them which you should be able to do from their websites.

Prepare your list of questions for the discovery calls. You can find a sample list of questions to ask a coach here.

Listen to their answers and also sense into whether or not they would be a good personality fit for you. That’s a non-negotiable!

If you’re still not sure, you might try a single session with a coach to see if you like their style and coaching method.

What to consider when looking for a marketing coach

When you’re looking to hire a marketing coach, you want to first consider what YOU need from a coach given your stage of business, your needs and priorities.

• Do you want 1:1 coaching or a group program? While group programs are often more cost-effective, 1:1 marketing coaching can often be more effective and get you faster results.
• What type of marketing coach do you want? Are you looking to work with a coach who understands your industry? Someone who is also an introvert? A coach with experience in certain types of marketing? 
• What type of level of support do you want? Coaching sessions are a given with 1:1 coaching, but think about how often you would ideally meet with a coach. Would you want to be able to check in in between sessions?
• What specific things would you like to work on in coaching? Are you wanting to overcome a fear of visibility? Do you want to put together a clear marketing plan? Do you want to get started on YouTube or with blogging?
• What skills do you want your marketing coach to possess? While you may not get 100% of the skills you’d like from one coach, think about the top 3-5 skills you’d like your marketing coach to possess.
• What type of personality do you work well with? Coaching is a very personal service. Being able to connect with your coach, be honest, and share details about your life and work openly is important.

Red flags to avoid with marketing coaches

The coaching industry is not regulated, so anyone can call themselves a coach (or a consultant or mentor, for that matter!) So the onus is on you to do your due diligence. 

Here are some red flags to avoid when looking for a marketing coach.

• Too good to be true promises – They guarantee fast results or 6-figure success in a short amount of time without a clear, realistic plan.
• Shaming or fear-based marketing – They use pressure, guilt, or urgency to get you to buy or take action.
• Lack of real experience or results – They can’t point to past client outcomes or show how they’ve helped others like you.
  
• They don’t listen – They talk over you, ignore your intuition, or dismiss your ideas instead of collaborating with you.

How to get started with marketing coaching

If you’ve decided you want to explore marketing coaching in greater detail, your next step is to look for marketing coaches and sign up for free discovery calls to assess fit.

When you find the right fit, marketing coaching can help you start and grow your business, get results faster, find more right fit clients, build your brand awareness, grow an audience, and ultimately grow your business.

For best results, identify what support you want from a marketing coach, take your time to vet marketing coaches, and then choose a coach that aligns with your needs as well as personality.

Remember, marketing is a core business function. It’s a skill you either must learn or delegate. The more effectively you can market, the easier it is to grow your business.