You are a coach or course creator and your zone of genius is in coaching and inspiring your audience to create transformation in their lives.  You started your coaching business because you wanted to create change in this world.  And over the years of growing your business, you have realized it takes a hell of a lot of marketing to spread the word and create visibility for you and your business.  You may have convinced yourself that you can handle the marketing, with a little help from your virtual assistant.  And then you realize, it’s a lot more complicated than that and you need a marketing manager.

Recently, I had a breakthrough planning session with a potential client.  She is launching her first book in 2023 and she wants to become known as THE expert in her specific niche.  That doesn’t happen without significant marketing support.  Thankfully, she realized that and she engaged me to help her devise her 2022 marketing plan.  As her interim marketing manager, I helped her see her marketing vision, plan her marketing goals and ultimately create her marketing calendar.

Right now, you might be wondering, why do I need a marketing manager?  Can’t I just hire a few marketing freelancers and call it good?

Why You Need a Marketing Manager

When you are first starting out as a coach, you will wear all the hats.  Your next hire will most likely be a virtual assistant.  But somewhere around the $100k mark, you will have a need for a business manager.  Depending on the focus in your business, you will need either a business operations manager, or a marketing manager.  If you are working on defining and streamlining your business operations, you will want to hire an OBM.  But if you are focused on scaling your business and increasing your revenue, you will want to consider a marketing manager.

A marketing manager is much more than a marketing assistant.  An assistant will carry out the marketing “to do’s” for your business.  But you will be responsible for all the strategy, planning, and management of this person or a team of marketing freelancers.  It is a time-consuming job that detracts from your zone of genius – coaching and being the CEO.

By hiring a marketing manager, you will have a right hand that you can lean on for all your marketing efforts.  He/she will help you develop marketing strategies that are aligned with your goals.  She will work with you on a quarterly basis to carry out said strategies and manage the team of marketing experts that will be necessary for each activity.  A marketing manager can strategize, plan and execute launches for you, as well as oversee any marketing projects you may have like building funnels or websites.  She will manage metrics and make tweaks to your marketing campaigns as needed.

A Marketing Manager Can Manage Your Team

There are two ways you can set up your marketing team.  The first is to assemble a variety of marketing professionals that specialize in various activities…

• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Launches
• Podcast management
• Video production
• Graphic design
• Ads management
• Funnel building
• Website builds and management
• And the list goes on

Your marketing manager can hire all the appropriate people you need when you need them.  And she will be responsible for managing all these people, making sure they do what is assigned to them, evaluating their performance, and building an engaging team.

A Marketing Agency Brings Their Own Team

The second way to hire the marketing professionals you need is to hire a marketing agency that already has a built-in team.  Amazing OBM is an example of a marketing agency with a team that consists of a copywriter, social media manager, website designer, graphic designer, general admin VA and of course, a marketing strategist and manager.

When you hire an agency, you don’t have to worry about hiring a bunch of individuals (and paying them all separately).  There is an already assembled team of experts that have been working cohesively together for a period of time.  With an agency, you get the experience they have from working with a multitude of different clients. After all, we all learn from each other’s successes and failures.  And ultimately, you save time and money because an agency is frankly, more efficient.

An agency always has a point person or a marketing manager that you will work with to oversee your growth activities.  

Rules for Hiring the Perfect Marketing Manager

Not all marketing managers or agencies are created equal.  So follow these steadfast guidelines for finding and hiring the perfect marketing manager for your coaching business.

1. Make sure they specialize in the industry or audience you serve.
2. Evaluate their specific marketing expertise to ensure they are the right fit for your needs.
3. Review the values and culture of your marketing manager/agency to make sure it aligns with yours.
4. Ask for testimonials or case studies for proof of their success.
5. Read through their website/blog to get a feel for their messaging.
6. Take a look at their social channels for recent activity.
7. Look for any marketing certifications they’ve obtained from reputable organizations.
8. Consider a VIP or strategy session to get a feel for how they work.

Where You Can Find Your Next Marketing Hire

• The best source is word of mouth.  Ask around in your network for referrals.  People will brag and gladly recommend someone they’ve been happy with.
• Search your social media channels.  LinkedIn is a great source for finding great talent.  But if you hang out on Instagram or Facebook, do a search or ask around in FB groups.
• There are organizations that accept requests for proposals from business owners that are looking for marketing managers or online business managers.  Try IAOBM or Funnel Gorgeous Society.
• Good ole Google search.  Type in “marketing manager for coaches” or “marketing agency for coaches” and see what pops up.

So what are your marketing plans this year?  Do you have your team in place to help you increase visibility and revenue?  If not, we’d love to chat.  Schedule a free 30-minute consultation so we can meet.