Should Coaches Post on TikTok? A Brief Analysis
Should coaches post on TikTok as part of their marketing mix?
The short answer: Probably.
For some, that might elicit a sigh. TikTok? The short-form video platform made famous by Gen Z influencers during the pandemic?
Yep. That’s the one.
Getting more clients for your practice can be distilled down to a pretty simple question: Where are the warm leads?
The warm leads hang out in places where they can learn more about coaching. Wherever that exists, coaches should consider building a presence.
It’s no different than Google Search. You build a strong, SEO-optimized website in order to show up in search results like “hire a life coach” or “executive coach in New York City.” People searching those terms are warm leads who hopefully find your site, fill out forms, and become clients.
That’s your standard content marketing funnel.
Marketing-savvy coaches are building a version of this on TikTok. And it seems to be working for many.
A Brief Rundown of TikTok for Coaches
If you’re new to the idea of adding TikTok to your marketing mix as a coach, you probably have some general questions:
Wanting to keep our audience looped into the latest marketing trends, CoachRanks did some digging. The following brief analysis covers our takes and perspectives on these top FAQs.
What does it mean to post on TikTok?
For coaches, posting on TikTok means publishing short-form videos (~15 seconds to ~3 minutes) as a marketing strategy to get discovered. Coaches successfully deploying this strategy may post anywhere from daily to once per week. Consistency is key.
From what we’ve seen at CoachRanks, coaches are having success posting very basic videos. They use their iPhones to film. Production value is not particularly high. At most, you need a phone tripod, good lighting, and some very basic editing chops (editing can be done in the app).
Topics like self-help, relationships, productivity hacks, and life insights do particularly well on the platform—a great environment for coaches to thrive.
Is my audience on TikTok?
Yes, members of your audience almost certainly hang out on TikTok. The platform has grown to a magnitude that all but guarantees it.
We recently took this discussion to Reddit and asked r/lifecoaching whether or not coaches should be posting on TikTok. One user replied with a common response, citing TikTok’s young audience as a reason not to be posting there.
As you can see from our reply, we don’t quite agree. With more than a billion active users you’ll find audiences defined by all different ages, backgrounds, and interests. Exploding Topics reports that 47.7% of TikTok users are under 30 years old. That’s a massive percentage, yes. But not a reason to believe you can’t reach older, more mature audiences on the app, too.
What topics should I talk about?
The winning formula is to lean hard into your coaching niche. Start sharing your insights on the topics you know best. Answer questions that offer helpful advice and insight to viewers.
TikTok is great for marketing because your content will be featured organically on people’s For You Page. Your videos may also appear when people use the search feature to find content on specific topics (TikTok is increasingly being used as a search engine, according to the New York Times). The platform has been heralded as the best social media for content discovery. In other words, users don’t necessarily need to follow you in order to come across your videos.
How do I get views?
There’s no shortage of tips and tricks out there to answer this question. A few key points for now: Your “hook” is extremely important. Your goal should be to get people to watch at least 10 seconds of your videos. TikTok’s algorithm promotes videos with strong viewer data. If lots of users watch your video, like it, or save it, you’ll be shown to more and more users. This snowball effect is how videos go viral.
How do I convert views to leads?
Your TikTok “funnel” will run through your profile. Use your bio to clearly communicate who you are and what you do. Then, link to a meeting scheduler (i.e. Calendly) to make it easy for your audience to learn more about your practice over an intro call. The user journey here looks like this:
User discovers one of your videos
User clicks through to your profile
User engages with more of your videos
User sees value and follows your profile
User eventually books time when they’re ready for coaching
What are some examples?
There’s no shortage of examples. Explore for yourself by searching around for videos on your niche and you’ll get a feel for what performs well. Here are a few high-performing profiles we found on a quick search:
A dating coach for men, a counselor specializing in Attachment Theory, a mindset coach, a spiritual & business mentor. Notice how they all feature a link in their bios. That’s where they’re aiming to turn followers into clients.
Some of these coaches have earned incredible metrics (millions of views) on videos that undoubtedly cost $0 to produce. It doesn’t take fancy equipment or advanced coaching degrees to resonate on TikTok.
We get it. Video content may not be for you. You don’t need to be posting on TikTok. But we’re seeing high returns on low investments for coaches who are doing it well. And some of them probably have less experience and skill than YOU. Anyone can do it. So maybe do a little more research and give it some real consideration. Good luck!
