What Are The Best Social Media Channels For Health Coaches?
What social media platforms should you be on?
Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Pinterest. Periscope. SnapChat. Google+. Line? WeChat? Instagram. Tumblr. Peach?
With so many social media channels out there, and new ones popping up all the time, how can you possibly keep track of them all? And even more importantly, how can you make time for creating content, posting, building an audience, and keeping them engaged on so many platforms?
The answer – you can’t.
Nor should you. Here’s why:
First of all, your audience is overwhelmed with all of these choices too. They aren’t spending time on every single social media platform available. They stick to the ones they like.
And secondly, if you are spreading yourself too thin trying to keep up with all of these channels, your social media marketing won’t be as effective. Like I always say, it is better to focus on one thing at a time and do it really well.
So what channels should you be on as a health coach to have the most impact? I’ll share what I think are the best social media channels for health coaches.
The first step in determining which channel you should be on is figuring out where your audience is spending time online. There is no point in joining a social network if your audience isn’t there.
How do you determine where they are? You ask.
Send your current clients or email subscribers a quick survey asking them what social media sites they use.
You can use a survey tool like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google forms to create an easy-to-use survey. While you’re at it, consider also asking what websites they go to for their information (or get specific and ask about health news, recipes, and exercises), who are their favorite bloggers, if they listen to podcasts or watch YouTube videos, and who they love following online.
Gathering this information is going to give you major insight into where your audience is spending time, what types of content they enjoy, and the style of interaction they like. You can research the bloggers and websites they list to find out how they present content.
Another way to gather this information is to look at your colleagues and competitors and see what social media channels they’re active on.
Once you have this knowledge of your audience, I recommend picking ONE channel to really focus your efforts on. Once you have a handle on that and have your systems in place to manage it, start exploring the next one and continue to build on it. Taking on too many social media channels at once will lead to lackluster engagement and your eventual burnout.
The Major Social Media Channels to Consider as
a Health Coach
Obviously Facebook is the most popular social network out there right now. There’s a very good chance that your audience is on Facebook, especially if your ideal client is over the age of 18. Facebook users are engaged with an average of 80 pages, groups and events, giving you a great marketing opportunity to connect with your people. Facebook’s algorithm makes it challenging to appear in your clients’ newsfeed, so if you are on Facebook your #1 priority must be creating high quality, engaging content that your audience really wants to see.
Twitter is a great tool for coaches to find and follow their audience (or potential collaborators) and start building relationships with them. This platform allows you to start conversations more easily than any other social network. By doing a simple search for a keyword, you can find people talking about your niche and join in by either replying directly or retweeting their content. So get out there and start meeting people!
Pinterest is the most popular platform for sharing content. Their 100 million active users, mostly women, are on Pinterest searching for and saving content that catches their interest. Every time someone saves a piece of content it is also shared with that person’s audience (which means more eyes on your stuff if they save your content!). This network is all visual, so focus on creating great images to go with your content to get your recipes, exercises, advice and articles shared.
YouTube
If you aren’t shy in front of the camera, consider starting a YouTube channel. YouTube is still one of the most popular networks on the internet with millions of views every day, and is also the #2 search engine in the world – so people are using YouTube to search for information all the time. Create how to videos, recipe or exercise demonstrations, or share what you would normally write in a blog post.
Instagram is a great visual platform for health coaches. There are several health coaches doing very well on Instagram with highly engaged audiences in the hundreds of thousands. Use this platform to share images of your day, your lifestyle, food & drinks, or products. You can build up a loyal following on Instagram, engage them with your photos, and start having conversations with your audience.
If you want to use social media to grow your following, start by finding out where your audience is spending time. Then, choose 1 or 2 networks and learn how to use them really well. Focus your efforts on creating engaging content and starting conversations with your potential clients.
Now I’d love to hear from you!
What social networks have worked best for you in the past? Where are you focusing now?
