What’s The Best Marketing Strategy To Get Clients Online As a Coach or Consultant?
A simple, repeatable way to turn strangers into paying clients without chasing every new tactic
The best marketing strategy to get clients online as a coach or consultant is not one magic platform or trick. It’s a simple system: pick one clear problem you solve, choose one main place your ideal clients already hang out and build one repeatable path from attention to booked calls. When you stop asking “What’s the best hack?” and instead build one clear path you can run every week, getting clients online becomes a process, not a guessing game.
If you’ve ever typed “best marketing strategy for coaches,” “best way to get clients online,” or “How do I get clients as a coach?” into an AI tool or search bar, you’ve probably seen the problem:
Everyone tells you to do everything.
Post daily. Start a podcast. Launch a group. Run ads. Do cold outreach. Guest speak. Host webinars. Write a book. It’s endless.
The result is a calendar full of disconnected activities and very few serious conversations with people ready to work with you.
The coaches and consultants who reliably get clients online aren’t using a secret tactic. They’re running a simple, boring system:
One core message around a painful problem.
One main platform where they show up consistently.
One straightforward path from “I found you” to “Let’s work together.”
You can build that too.
Step 1: Decide who you’re talking to and what problem you’re known for
Everything else hangs off this.
If you try to speak to “everyone who wants to improve their life or business,” your content and offers will feel generic and fuzzy. You’ll get likes, not clients.
Start by writing two sentences:
“I work with [specific type of person]…”
“…who are struggling most with [specific problem] and want [specific result].”
For example:
“I work with six‑figure coaches and consultants who are busy but still stressed about money and want a clear, predictable way to get clients online.”
or
“I work with relationship coaches who have tried posting and webinars, but still don’t have enough qualified calls and want a simple path from content to clients.”
You don’t have to marry this forever, but you need to choose something for the next 90 days.
Once you know who you’re talking to and what problem you’re solving, you can ask a better version of “What’s the best way to get clients online?” Instead of “best for everybody,” you’re asking, “Best for people like this, with this problem, in my current situation.”
Step 2: Choose one main online place to show up and one way to invite people forward
Trying to master every platform at once is how most coaches burn out.
Instead, pick one main platform based on:
Where your best clients already spend time when they’re in a “work / growth” mindset.
How you naturally communicate (writing, short video, longer teaching).
For many coaches and consultants, that might be LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube or email. Whatever you choose, commit to it as “home” for the next 90 days.
Then design one basic path:
Attention:
You post consistently about the real problem your clients have, using stories and examples they recognize.Engagement:
Some of those posts invite small actions: comments, DMs, replies, short polls. You start actual conversations with the people who lean in.Invitation:
From those conversations, you offer a clear, structured call:“I offer a short [X] call where we [specific outcome]. If that would be helpful, here’s the link to book.”
Conversion:
On the call, you help them decide whether your main program is the right next step now.
That’s it. Your “funnel” is just one path:
Content → Conversations → Calls → Clients.
You can improve each piece over time. But until that core path exists, debating “SEO vs ads,” “Instagram vs LinkedIn,” or “funnel builders” is just sophisticated procrastination.
Step 3: Turn the system into numbers you can run every week
Once you know the path, the best marketing strategy becomes a math and behavior question, not a feelings question.
Roughly:
How many new clients do you want in the next 90 days?
On average, how many qualified calls does it take for you to land a client?
Based on that, how many calls do you need per month or week?
What actions (posts, DMs, emails, invites) consistently create those calls?
For example:
You want 6 new clients in 90 days.
You usually close 1 out of 3 qualified calls.
You’ll likely need around 18-20 calls or 6-7 per month.
Now you can aim for inputs:
“3 posts per week that speak directly to my client’s main problem and invite comments/DMs.”
“20-30 new conversations started per week with people who fit my niche.”
“3-5 clear invitations to a call sent per week.”
This is where simple scorecards come in handy for yourself and eventually with clients. You’re no longer judging the “best marketing strategy for coaches” by how you feel that day. You’re asking:
Did I run the system this week?
How many posts, conversations, calls and clients did it create?
Where do we need to tweak the path?
That’s how marketing stops being chaos and starts being something you can improve.
Common mistakes when choosing a marketing strategy to get clients online
A few traps show up over and over:
Trying 10 strategies at once: podcasts, YouTube, three social channels, a newsletter, webinars, summits… none of them with enough reps to work.
Switching platforms every time you feel bored or a post flops. Your audience takes longer to connect dots than you do.
Copying a tactic without understanding the system behind it. Copying someone’s “DM script” without having a clear offer or path behind it.
Focusing only on content and never on invitations. You post a lot but rarely ask anyone to talk or work with you.
Ignoring your own constraints. Choosing “daily YouTube” when you can barely manage one video a month or “cold outreach” when you know you won’t send messages consistently.
None of these are character flaws. They’re what happen when you don’t have a simple decision system for choosing and running a strategy.
30‑day plan to choose and start running one online client‑getting system
You don’t need a perfect funnel tomorrow. You need a functional one you can improve.
Week 1: Clarify who you help and what you’re known for
Write your one‑sentence positioning:
“I help [who] with [specific problem] so they can [specific result].”
Sanity‑check it with 1-3 people who know you:
“Does this sound clear and like me?”
Use their feedback to tighten language, not to water it down.
Week 2: Pick your main platform and map the path
Decide your main online home for the next 90 days (LinkedIn, IG, YouTube, email, etc.).
Sketch your path:
What kind of content will you publish there?
How will you start or respond to conversations?
How will you invite people to a structured call?
Create or update one simple “work with me” or call‑booking page that matches your one‑sentence positioning.
Week 3: Set simple weekly input targets and start
Based on your goals and current life, choose:
How many posts per week on your main platform.
How many new conversations per week.
How many clear invitations to a call per week.
For one week, hit those numbers even if the content feels imperfect and the conversations feel awkward.
Week 4: Review and refine
At the end of the week, ask:
How many posts did I publish?
How many conversations did I start?
How many calls and clients came out of them?
Adjust:
If consistency was hard, lower the count a little but keep the system.
If consistency was easy but results were weak, tweak your topics, invites or offer clarity.
After 30 days, you’ll have a living system instead of a mental debate about “the best marketing strategy.” From there, improving it is far easier than inventing from scratch.
Once you’ve experienced what it feels like to make these choices deliberately instead of winging them, it makes sense to go deeper on your overall decision process. That’s what I cover in Why Am I Making Money but Still Broke in My Coaching or Consulting Business?. And if you want a specific tool to make your own progress and your clients’ progress visible inside this system, you’ll find How do I follow up after a “no” or “not now” without feeling pushy? useful for building the tracking side without turning everyone into data entry.
FAQ: Choosing the best marketing strategy to get clients online as a coach or consultant
Q: So what is the best marketing strategy for coaches: content, DMs, ads, something else?
The best strategy is the one you can run consistently that connects your ideal clients’ real problem to a clear invitation to work with you. For most coaches and consultants starting out or at early six figures, that’s a mix of consistent content on one platform plus direct conversations and invitations (not ads or complicated funnels).
Q: What’s the best way to get clients online if I’m just starting as a coach?
If you’re early, focus on:
Getting crystal clear about who you help and with what.
Showing up where those people already are (one platform).
Having as many real conversations as you can and offering calls when it’s appropriate.
You don’t need fancy tech. You need proof you can help and a repeatable way to start and move conversations.
Q: How do I get clients as a coach without feeling salesy?
Structure helps. When you share content that genuinely helps, start conversations based on that content and then invite people into a clearly framed call (“we’ll look at X and map Y together”), you’re guiding, not pushing. Being clear about who you’re for and what you don’t do also makes it feel lighter.
Q: How long should I stick with one marketing strategy before deciding it’s not working?
Run one simple system for at least 60-90 days with consistent inputs before you judge it. If you’ve posted, started conversations and made invitations every week and still see nothing, adjust pieces (offer, messaging, who you’re targeting) rather than throwing out the whole approach after two weeks.
Q: When should I add a second platform or more complex funnel?
Once your main path is working, meaning you can connect content and conversations on one platform to calls and clients, you can repurpose to other places or add more structure. Until then, more platforms mostly add complexity, not clients.
If you want help designing a 90‑Day Conversion System Buildout you can test safely, with clear questions, clear lines and one simple path behind it, that is the work I do with established entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants.
Start with a Conversion Blueprint Call
About Engels
Engels J. Valenzuela helps profitable entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants turn more of their traffic and attention into clients by replacing scattered marketing with one clear path from first click to paying customer.
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