The One Marketing Strategy All Financial Coaches Need

(And we’ve talked about social media on the podcast before. Our conversation about it on episode 52 still stands, but here we’re talking about what you can do if nothing seems to be working.)

The Social Media Rollercoaster

This discussion is very timely. I don’t think I need to tell you about the chaos that social media has experienced lately, but I will anyway, just to really drive home my point.

We all know that Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, goes down from time to time. When that happens, there’s always panic. How will I reach my audience? How will I grow my business? How will people know that I’m even out here?

Let’s not forget the recent Instagram changes that threw everyone’s square feeds into vertical graphics with no warning at all. The result was graphics that weren’t cropped correctly, with text falling off the grid and images that just looked off.

Here’s the thing, coach: People were growing businesses long before social media and even email came to be. So even without social media, yes, you can grow your business, even when social media platforms make changes at the drop of a hat, changes that we don’t understand, and even without perfect feeds.

And it’s not just Meta we need to think about. Look at what’s happening with TikTok right now. As of the day I sat down to start writing out this podcast episode, it’s been banned in the US, and then immediately it was unbanned. No one really knows what’s going to happen down the road.

This kind of uncertainty puts your businesses at risk if you’re relying heavily on these platforms. I’m not saying don’t use them at all, although that’s okay too. I’m saying be discerning as a business owner, because that’s what you are. You are a business owner whose job it is to make decisions based on risk and reward for said business.

The Consistent Power of Email Marketing

I’ve been in this business for well over a decade now, and I can tell you that I’ve watched social media transform countless times. Remember when Facebook business pages could actually reach all of their followers? Remember when Instagram was just a photo sharing app? Or when Clubhouse was all anyone was talking about?

They are constantly shifting and changing, but through all of these changes, one thing has remained rock solid: the power of having direct relationships with your audience. And coach, that direct relationship can come in the form of email.

Social Media vs. Email: The Reality

Throughout my years of working with financial coaches, I’ve observed a pattern that keeps repeating. Coaches pour endless hours into building their social media following, creating content and engaging with followers. They do everything that experts tell them to do:

• They show up consistently
• They use all the right hashtags (which don’t even seem to be a thing on Instagram anymore)
• They follow all of the trends

But month after month, they struggle to convert any of these followers into actually paying clients.

My goal, and probably yours too, is to offer a service to individuals that gets them results and that you get paid to deliver. My goal is to offer a service that I get paid for, and I create content with that goal in mind. My goal is not to be a content creator or to monetize my content.

That’s not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t monetize content. I get paid about $100 per month from YouTube for this podcast that you’re listening to, but the purpose behind the content is different, and it’s important to keep that purpose front of mind when it comes to your marketing.

Building on Rented Land

The issue runs deeper than just strategy or content. It’s the fundamental lack of control that we have on social media platforms. When you build your business primarily on social media, you’re essentially building on rented land.

Think about how much social media platforms can impact your business without any input from you:

• An algorithm change can reduce your reach overnight. Suddenly, the posts that were reaching thousands might only reach dozens. It’s happened to me.
• Your account could be suspended without warning, cutting you off from your entire audience. I know people that this has happened to.
• Features that you rely on and currently use for free might suddenly become paid features, forcing you to either pay up or lose access to your audience.
• In the most extreme cases, entire platforms can disappear or become irrelevant. Just ask anyone who built their business on MySpace or TikTok for that matter.

The Email Marketing Advantage

Now let’s contrast that with email marketing. When you build an email list, you’re creating an asset that you truly own and control.

This means you get to decide exactly when your audience hears from you. No algorithm determining whether your message gets seen or not. You can write longer, more meaningful content that actually helps your audience understand complex financial concepts.

If you decide to switch email service providers, you can take your entire list with you, as well as any email you’ve sent in the past. Try doing that with your social media followers.

Why Email Works Better for Financial Coaches

It’s incredibly powerful for financial coaches, because the work we do requires a deep level of trust. We’re asking people to share their financial struggles, their money fears and their biggest dreams with us. That kind of trust isn’t built through quick social media posts. It’s built through consistent, valuable communication over time.

Email marketing allows us to build these deeper relationships in a way that social media simply can’t match, especially since many people avoid talking about finances in public. In an email, we can dive into a complex financial concept, share detailed client transformation stories and provide step-by-step guidance that would be impossible to show in a really thorough social media post.

At Fiscal Fitness Phoenix, my own coaching practice, I sent an email and asked for people to share their thoughts with me. I received 78 replies from that one email. That’s unheard of on social media in the financial industry.

And it’s not just Fiscal Fitness where I’m seeing this. Let’s look at what we’ve consistently seen across our Financial Coach Academy® community:

When coaches prioritize email marketing, conversion rates from prospect to client significantly increase. We can track this from Financial Coach Academy enrollees. This happens because by the time someone books a call, they’ve already received valuable content from you. They understand your approach, they trust your expertise, and they are much more likely to want to work with you.

We also see more consistent client acquisition. Instead of the feast or famine cycle that often comes with social media marketing, email allows you to maintain a steady flow of communication with potential clients. You’re staying top of mind without being pushy or salesy.

The Psychology Behind Email’s Effectiveness

The psychology behind why email works so well for financial coaches is fascinating. When someone checks their email, they’re in a different mindset than when they are scrolling social media.

I just want you to think about yourself right when you are looking at your email inbox versus when you’re just scrolling your feed on social media. You are in a completely different mindset. So are your clients. They’re typically more focused, more intentional with their time. This means they’re more likely to actually engage in your content, rather than just quickly scrolling past it.

Your content is more likely to have an impact because of the psychological shift that is naturally occurring.

Financial topics often require privacy and discretion. Your potential clients might not want to publicly engage with posts about debt, budgeting struggles, financial anxiety, or disputes with their spouse about money. Email provides that private space where they can learn and engage with these sensitive topics without feeling exposed.

Implementing Email Marketing in Your Coaching Business

Now that we understand why email marketing is so important, let’s talk about how to actually implement this into your coaching business. There are two main approaches that you can take, and I want to break it down so that you can choose which one of these works best for you.

Approach 1: The Welcome Series

The first approach is a series of automated emails that go out when someone joins your list, or a welcome series. Think of it as rolling out the red carpet for new subscribers. Each email serves a specific purpose in building the relationship.

The welcome email needs to deliver on whatever brought them to your list initially, whether that’s a budgeting template, a money mindset guide, or another valuable resource. But more importantly, it sets the tone for your relationship. You’re not just dropping the freebie they signed up for in their inbox and disappearing. You’re starting a conversation.

Your second email might share your approach to financial coaching. This isn’t about listing your services. It’s about helping them to understand how you think about money and their financial well-being. What makes your approach different? What can they expect from working with you?

The third email often focuses on providing immediate value, a quick win they can implement right away. This shows them that you provide practical, actionable guidance that can help them right now.

So three emails, or maybe it’s seven emails. There are a variety of sequence structures that email marketing experts argue are the best. I think the best one is the message that feels most authentic and real to you, and that you actually get done.

If the idea of writing seven emails for a welcome series is overwhelming, start with three. If you write three, but you sort of have one more thing that you just really want them to know about you, or about why you do what you do, or about your service offering, then make it four emails. There’s really no “right” magic number.

But the idea is that someone signs up for your email list, and they receive this initial series of emails, also known as your welcome series or your nurture sequence.

Approach 2: Regular Email Communication

The second approach is perfect for coaches who want to start building relationships right away, without getting caught up in a complex automation series or with the tech behind that.

With this approach, new subscribers simply start receiving whatever regular email you send next. With both approaches, but especially with this one, you want to already have a strategic focus on sending regular, valuable content to your growing list.

This might be weekly insights, monthly deep dives, or regular money tips. The key though is consistency, showing up regularly with value.

This approach has the advantage of being more spontaneous and responsive to whatever is happening in your business and with your clients. You can share fresh insights, address questions you’re hearing frequently, and adapt your content based on your subscribers’ needs.

If you’re on my email list, you know that I like to connect my regular emails with something that’s going on in my life or in the industry, so they feel really timely and personal. This approach is simpler and oftentimes easier than coming up with a nurture sequence that is going to feel more evergreen, which can sound overwhelming to somebody who’s just starting out.

While this approach might seem simpler, it does require more consistent effort, since you’re creating and sending emails regularly, rather than having them automated. However, many coaches find this more manageable when they’re just starting out.

Approach 3: The Hybrid Model

Both approaches can work well. The key is choosing the one that aligns with your current capacity and comfort level with technology, and you can always do both down the road. That is where I’m at right now, which I guess you could say is option three.

This is where I would love to see you get to eventually. So set your sights on this as your goal, but don’t worry about making it happen right away.

Option three is a hybrid approach. Someone signs up for your email list, and they’re nurtured with an initial welcome sequence. And again, that can be three emails, four emails, six emails, seven emails. It doesn’t really matter.

This builds that initial trust and connection. Then once they complete that sequence, they begin receiving your regularly scheduled email. So you’re staying front of mind months or even years after they’ve signed up for your list.

Growing Your Email List

So now the big question becomes, how do I grow my email list? What are some best practices? Well, coach, sadly, you’re gonna have to wait for that. We can only cover so much in one episode, but don’t worry, I will address growth strategies for your email very soon.

Coaching is all about figuring out what you think of something and how that is impacting how you feel and the actions you take. When you listen to me talk about email marketing versus social media, what were your first thoughts? How can you bring more email into what you do and build more relationships in this way?