What is a Marketing Coach? How to Become a GREAT One 

Want to become a marketing coach?

Today, you’ll learn:

• What a marketing coach is
• How marketing coaches help their clients
• How YOU can become a marketing coach
• And much more!

Want to learn more? Let’s dive in!

What is a marketing coach?

As a marketing coach, you help businesses improve their marketing online and/or offline.

Online, you help with:

• Social media
• Blogging
• Podcasts
• Ad campaigns
• Websites

Offline, it’s about:

• Events
• Conferences
• Workshops

Is there demand for marketing coaches? Yes – businesses in the US, as the biggest advertising market, spend about $300 billion on marketing. Marketing is constantly evolving, too, and businesses need to keep up.

By becoming a marketing coach, you’re tapping into this huge market. 

Let’s take a closer look at what exactly marketing coaches do.

What does a marketing coach do?

As a marketing coach, you…

• Identify niche and audience: Help clients discover their specific market and target audience. Who are they selling to?
• Develop a marketing strategy: Work out a big-picture roadmap so that clients can visualize (and reach!) their goals.
• Create a marketing plan: Break down the marketing strategy into actionable steps.
• Review marketing materials: Go over all content, ads, and promotional materials so that they’re hitting the mark.
• Analyze marketing data: Look at the numbers, and help clients understand what is and isn’t working.
• Provide feedback on campaigns: Give advice on how to improve marketing campaigns.
• Grow sales and business revenue: Show how to sell more with marketing.

You help clients get the most out of their marketing efforts and see their business grow.

But who benefits the most from hiring a marketing coach?

Let’s cover that next.

Who should hire a marketing coach?

The clients you work with are typically solopreneurs or businesses not seeing results from their marketing.

Maybe their strategies aren’t working, or they lack the support to follow through with their plans. Or they want to add on a marketing strategy they haven’t used so far. 

This is where you step in. You identify the gaps in their marketing and provide solutions.

How you do this depends on your niche and the size of the company.

We’ll talk about your niche in a bit, but first, let’s go over your coaching role in small versus big businesses.

Small business marketing coaches

Small businesses often don’t have their own marketing team.

As a marketing coach, you help them:

• Choose the right marketing tools: Which tools get the best results while also fitting the client’s budget and needs?
• Set effective processes: Streamline all marketing.
• Build a team: Give advice on hiring the right marketing talent.
• Develop key marketing assets: Design memorable logos, websites, ad materials, and so on.
• Find the right clients: Create targeted marketing strategies to attract ideal customers.
• Improve pricing: Prices should reflect the value of the products or services AND fit the target audience’s budget.
• Scale up: Keep track of demand and ramp up at the right time.

Big business marketing coaches

Big businesses generally already have a marketing team. But they might need help with adding on a strategy or improving what they already have.

You’d:

• Review current plans: Figure out what is and isn’t working — and why.
• Create new strategies: Develop up-to-date strategies that align with changing marketing trends and techniques.
• Identify new opportunities: Find untapped markets or channels.
• Optimize marketing strategies: Optimize and systematize team performance and how marketing strategies are implemented. 

Whether you work with small or big businesses, as a coach, you take on the role of an expert partner.

That’s what sets you apart from marketing consultants.

Let’s go over that distinction next.

What’s the difference between a marketing coach and consultant?

Not sure what the difference is between a marketing coach and a marketing consultant?

Let’s clear that up.

A coach is someone who acts as a partner with clients to:

• Ask questions
• Set goals
• Develop skills
• Tackle marketing challenges
• Review results
• Adjust strategy

When a client wants to learn the ropes and needs step-by-step guidance, a marketing coach is the go-to.

Coaches keep clients accountable. They show how to find solutions AND teach clients the skills to solve future challenges on their own.

A consultant is more of a service provider who helps with specific tasks. This is often on a short-term basis.

If clients want an expert to take charge so they can focus on other tasks, a consultant is great.

Finally, there are also marketing agencies.

An agency offers a full range of marketing services. This makes them ideal for an all-in-one marketing solution on a larger scale.

That said, coaching and consulting is often fairly similar. In fact, my preferred approach to coaching is “coach-sulting,” a mix of coaching and consulting. 

I talk more about coach-sulting here: 

With this cleared up, let’s go over how you can become a marketing coach.

How do you become a marketing coach?

Let’s start with some good news: Becoming a successful marketing coach isn’t too complicated.

There are no strict prerequisites.

BUT you do need experience in the field to help your clients get results.

The process of becoming a marketing coach involves four key steps.

Let’s walk through them.

1. Find a niche

Step number one is finding your niche.

In other words: What will you specialize in?

Picking a niche has many benefits:

• It sets you apart as an expert
• Clients are quicker to trust you
• You deliver better and faster results
• You can increase your rates because your coaching is so targeted

When choosing your niche, ask yourself:

• What aspects of marketing are you good at and have experience in?
• Who do you want to help?
• What problems or challenges do you want to solve?

Perhaps you’re great at branding and want to help startups.

Or maybe you’re a social media expert and want to help fitness entrepreneurs boost their online presence.

Still not sure what your niche is? Then this video will help you out:

Of course, picking your niche is just the first step.

You’ll also need to get coaching clients.

2. Get marketing coaching clients

When it comes to finding coaching clients, I always tell my students to start with just one.

Why?

Trying to juggle too many clients at the start can be overwhelming.

Instead, keep it simple and manageable.

Plus, you learn a lot by doing. You see the results and get immediate feedback.

Use this to improve your coaching for future clients.

Not sure how to land your first client? Here are three great options:

• Your network: Your personal and professional networks are goldmines. Reach out to friends, family, and former colleagues. They might need your coaching services or know someone who does.

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• Social media: Social media platforms are perfect for showcasing your marketing expertise. Share valuable content, engage in conversations, and offer useful tips. This helps you build relationships with your audience. Plus, it grows your reputation as a go-to marketing coach. The key is to focus on those platforms where your ideal clients hang out. Master that platform before expanding to the next.
• Podcasts: Being a guest on marketing podcasts or starting your own is great for reaching a wider audience. You get to dive deep into marketing topics and can share your unique approach. Here’s another benefit: On someone else’s podcast, the audience already trusts the host. This means they’re more likely to trust you too, making a personal connection easier.

For more advice on landing your first client, check out my video:

Once you’ve got a plan for attracting clients, it’s time to create a coaching package that gets them results.

3. Create a marketing coaching package

A coaching package is a complete, structured program.

Working with packages is much better than billing by the hour.

Here’s why:

When we work with hourly rates, we focus on how many hours we put in.

This structure caps your income potential. It turns your coaching business into a time-for-money trade. (Similar to most 9-to-5’s…)

In contrast, coaching packages shift attention to the results your clients will see.

It becomes more about the changes and growth they experience instead of the number of hours you put in.

This focus on transformation and outcome is what clients are willing to invest in.

They’re not just paying for your time — they’re investing in their own progress and success.

A third benefit is that coaching packages offer a clear roadmap.

Clients see what they can expect at what point.

This transparency makes them feel more secure and committed to the coaching process.

Here’s how to set up your packages:

• Begin with a three-month program: Three months is long enough for a real transformation, but not too long to become overwhelming.
• Regular but spaced-out sessions: Bi-weekly or monthly sessions coupled with regular email support work best. It gives clients time to implement strategies and see results.
• Smart pricing: I recommend starting with $1,500 packages — but this isn’t the limit, though. With more experience and testimonials, you can charge increasingly higher rates. For example, most of my students go on to offer +$5,000 packages.

With a well-structured package, you’re ready to offer value to your clients.

Now, all that’s left is actually doing the coaching.

Let’s look at that next.

4. Work with marketing coaching clients

The fourth step is coaching your client.

Here, the transformation you offer is key.

How will your coaching change their lives for the better?

Here are some transformative examples for the marketing niche:

• A struggling company recovers thanks to record-breaking sales
• A coach creates a webinar series that triples their client base
• A non-profit halves its marketing budget while still doubling its fundraising
• A public speaker’s personal branding leads to speaking engagements and collaborations
• An artist doubles their artwork sales and finally thrives financially from their passion

Now, how do you help your clients see such impressive results?

This three-step formula will help you out:

1. Start with a big goal: Figure out the main goal your client wants to achieve.
2. Set milestones: Break this big goal down into smaller milestones.
3. Subgoals for each meeting: Divide these milestones into subgoals for each coaching session.

Here’s why this approach works:

Setting goals keeps you focused. Breaking them down into actionable steps keeps up the momentum.

In every session, you cover one or two subgoals.

This is easy to manage and lets your clients see they’re making progress.

It also gives you the flexibility to change plans if certain strategies aren’t leading to the expected outcomes.

You now know what it takes to become a marketing coach. But what benefits will your clients have?

Let’s take a closer look…

Benefits of a marketing coach

Through marketing coaching, you can have a big impact on your clients’ lives.

Let’s look at some typical benefits, and how you can achieve them.

Giving actionable advice

Clients need to implement what you share.

To make sure your advice is not just theoretical but actionable, start with a three-month plan that breaks down every step.

Each month could focus on a different aspect of marketing, like:

• Personal branding
• Advertising strategies
• Content marketing

This structured approach is invaluable, especially for new coaches. It helps you see what you’re working toward.

Now, to make every coaching call count, you’ll also need to clarify the goals further.

Clarifying goals

Remember the goals-milestones-subgoals formula?

Here’s how to put that into action:

Let’s say your client wants to improve their online presence.

You set this as the main goal, with relevant milestones. And you break these milestones down into subgoals.

This way, each subgoal is linked to a bigger milestone (which is, in turn, linked to the big main goal.)

• On the first call, you identify current marketing challenges and misconceptions.
• During the next call, you teach basic digital marketing strategies.
• Then, you help them implement these strategies. One session could be dedicated to developing a content calendar. Another might focus on analyzing the results of a small ad campaign.

You offer feedback and adjustments based on their outcomes.

This approach transforms your client’s life step by step.

That’s how you set them up for success instead of disappointment.

Guiding and motivating 

As a coach, you’re not only an expert strategist but also a motivator.

You help clients believe in themselves and the possibility of achieving their goals.

Your experience and success stories reassure them that their objectives are within reach. 

They simply need the right approach.

That said, it’s not about constant cheerleading and empty positivity.

Your clients need the whole truth, even if it’s tough to hear at times…

Holding clients accountable

To keep clients on track, you need the right balance between positivity and candor.

You hold honest and straightforward discussions about their efforts and progress. And you help them spot their mental blocks and work through them.

This accountability leads to:

• Clarified marketing goals
• Marketing tools training
• Enhanced marketing strategy
• Improved marketing campaigns and results
• Professional marketing support
• Overall greater marketing success

Consider this: Organized marketers are nearly seven times (674%) more likely to report success.

This highlights the value you bring in helping clients stay focused and successful.

With these benefits in mind, let’s look at how much you can charge as a marketing coach.

How much does a marketing coach charge?

How much a marketing coach charges depends on their:

• Niche
• Experience
• Education
• Location

According to Glassdoor, the average marketing coaching salary in the US is $70,842 annually. The average range is $53K – $94K.

That’s a typical salary though — as a coach, you can earn much more.

For instance, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) puts the average hourly coaching fee at $272.

But you don’t have to charge these rates. 

Let me explain…

Being your own boss means having the freedom to set your rates.

Many of my students earn six figures or more every year. 

With the right approach, you can do the same. 

Next steps 

That’s your guide to becoming a marketing coach!

Reaching a six-figure income as a marketing coach is completely possible.

Looking for the most straightforward way?

Get my six-figure coaching business blueprint. It lays out exactly how to build a highly successful coaching business.

Read more:

How to Become a Successful Business Coach

How to Market Your Coaching Business

The Definitive Starting a Coaching Business Checklist