Choosing Powerful Marketing Platforms

Organic social media marketing is one great strategy for promoting your business. The energy exchange for choosing this free option is the time and willingness to measure and tweak your strategy and staying abreast of updates/algorithm changes on your chosen platforms. Many coaches and consultants build 6-figure businesses from organic marketing, so it can definitely be a worthwhile energy exchange.

If you know this is the path you want to take but are feeling unsure about which platforms to choose or to potentially switch to, this article will support you to make a more informed and empowered decision.

Here is what’s included:

• The secret to choosing THE BEST platforms to quickly and powerfully connect with your ideal clients
• The mindset shifts that will support you to make a confident decision on which platforms to choose.
• How to leverage your platforms like a champ so that you can start creating momentum in growing and connecting with your audience right away.

Let’s dive in!

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The secret to choosing THE BEST platforms to quickly and powerfully connect with your ideal clients

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To start, I recommend choosing 2 platforms that you will consistently post to and engage with. Choose one that will play into your strengths. Choose another that aligns with the consumption behaviors of your ideal audience.

Choosing a platform that leans into your strengths will support you to show up consistently there. If you love to make a quick 30-second video with a tip, trick, or message, then try TikTok or Instagram reels. If you are a powerful writer, start a blog. If you love the creativity and outlet of long-form videos, start a YouTube channel. If you love making graphics on Canva, use them on Facebook & Instagram. If you love the container of a private community, start a Facebook group. Consider your strengths and lean into them as a great way to ease into promoting your business with confidence.

For your second platform, consider the behavior of your ideal clients. Where are they going to consume content? They are likely spread out across platforms but make your best assumption or do some market research. Are they stay-at-home moms in mommy groups on FB? Are they corporate professionals who are on LinkedIn? Are they so limited in time that they only listen to podcasts during their commute? With the time and energy exchange of organic marketing, you’ll want to maximize your opportunity for connecting with your ideal audience so find out where they are in the online world and capitalize on that!

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Bonus Tip:

I recommend starting an email list from day 1 or TODAY if you’re already in business. If your chosen platforms shut down, are experiencing technical issues or if you get banned (this happens!), you’ll want to have a means of staying connected to your audience. It’s also a really powerful way to stay connected when the algorithm isn’t being supportive or if your audience was too busy to catch you on social that week.

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New Platforms

Are you wondering if you should be an early adopter of a new platform? If it feels like an exciting platform for you, you should check it out and watch to see if it gains momentum. If you’re building your business alongside your 9-5 and your time is limited, be sure that you aren’t spreading yourself too thin by adding on something additional just because it’s trending. #threads

Before trying a new platform, decide if you have the time to commit to testing it out. Consider your strategy for the platform, what you’re going to be measuring for, and how much time commitment you are willing to put in, to both post and engage.

Audio apps were a huge trend during covid and the year following but then started taking a dip in 2022. I used Clubhouse and absolutely loved it while it served my business. When I noticed an extended trend of fewer people joining the app and the rooms getting smaller, I transitioned my time to other places which meant starting from scratch on other platforms. However, if I didn’t take a chance on a new platform in 2020, I would have lost a lot of business. So, be aware of how you’ll spend your time to consistently post, engage and support your audience to take action.

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The mindset shifts that will support you to make a confident decision on which platforms to choose.

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Here it is: The strategy is so much more important than the platform itself, so release the fear around choosing the ‘wrong’ platform.

If you’re thinking, well I don’t know the strategy either, you know that you can enlist support for that. Nobody knows everything when starting a business. A good coach, such as myself, is going to be able to support you to maximize your opportunity on whichever platforms you choose and make recommendations on how to move forward with an aligned strategy.

While some platforms will be obvious for your particular audience, just know that you can’t make a wrong choice and trust yourself to make the best choice with your scope of understanding of all of your options. And remember that this is your business and you have the autonomy to choose a different platform.

I opened up my Facebook group almost three years in. I knew with the online shifts that it wouldn’t be a space that would automatically have hundreds or thousands of members like a few years ago but that was not my intention for the container. I wanted to go deep rather than wide with aligned members. I decline members daily because it’s more important to me to have aligned members and not just anyone in the online world. Just know that you can always pivot or change directions with intention.

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More Mindset Shifts…

You do not have to sing, dance, or be a tech guru to have a successful organic online marketing strategy. With each of my clients, we start with their strengths to choose platforms that will allow them to highlight their zone of genius in a powerful way to connect to their ideal clients. So if that fear of visibility has been holding you back from making a decision, release it knowing that you have options that do not require you to show up authentically.

People are going to judge you. Period. They’re going to judge you for starting a business. They’re going to judge you for not starting a business and bitching about your corporate job. They’re going to judge you because you’re pretty or too thin, heavy or old or too young. They’re going to judge you no matter what you do. The sooner you accept this, the faster you can decide that their judgments are not going to define the decisions you make for your life or business. Their judgments will not pay your bills or provide you with the lifestyle of freedom you desire. So know that they are judging you and that your happiness is of greater importance than their judgments.

The reason this is so impactful for picking your platforms is that fear of judgment may be stopping you from choosing the platforms that will be most aligned for you. Maybe you have a secret desire to dance on TikTok and spread your message about self-care but you feel like you’re too old or that it’s ridiculous for you to be doing that ‘at your age’. Maybe you have an amazing gift to articulate your message powerfully but can’t stand the way your voice sounds so you choose not to start the podcast because you think no one will want to listen to your annoying voice. Other people’s opinions are none of your business. They are entitled to their judgments and in most circumstances we are making up these assumptions in our mind about what other people think of us.

In the words of Elsa, let it go! I know this can be easier said than done which is exactly why there are coaches like me to support you through the limiting beliefs that are holding you back. And that’s why I have my own coach, nobody is immune to this!

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How to leverage your platforms like a champ to start building momentum in your business

It’s important to remember that your platforms are one piece of the puzzle to signing clients. This is where you are building that know-like-trust factor. Converting your audience into clients will require additional action which is going to come in the form of engagement, direct messages, and a call-to-action to bring them off the platform and on to a value or discovery call, into your membership or on to your mailing list.

Understanding the options and opportunities on the platforms that you choose will best support you to leverage them. Instagram went from being a picture app to a creator platform, to short-form video and now carousels and pictures are back. Instagram decides how to prioritize your content and understanding that is important so you can maximize your efforts on the platform.

There’s a difference between understanding the algorithm and hopping on trends. Everyone and their mother started doing those pointing videos on Insta and maybe for 15 minutes that got you some additional reach but it was the reel and sound that was pushing out the content, not the pointing. Now everyone has a broadcast channel but how many people are posting on it regularly? Inviting your audience to enlist on your new broadcast channel and then never posting may cause distrust. This is why I emphasize having a strategy behind what you’re putting out there so that you can measure what’s working.

It can be fun and lucrative to try a new trend and I always encourage testing and measuring, but don’t feel like you need to do the ‘latest thing’ to stay relevant but do understand what the platform is doing to maximize your efforts. The point of organic marketing is to make new connections and nurture them to get them to take an action. You don’t want to endlessly pump out content that doesn’t lead to a connection, collaboration or sale.

How you engage and connect with your audience is just as important as the content strategy itself. Focus on going deep instead of wide while not ignoring that growth will need to be a part of your ongoing strategy. Unless you are selling a course as your main source of income, you don’t have to have thousands of followers or sales to have a successful coaching or consulting business. There are influencers on social with 10k plus followers who are not making any money. Likes and comments do not necessarily equate to conversions.

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I hope you have found this article insightful in helping you choose an aligned platform for your coaching or consulting business.

If you are:

• New to business
• Feeling overwhelmed in the process of marketing and getting clients
• Frustrated with your current business results

I invite you to schedule a complimentary discovery call to learn how enlisting my expertise and support can move you toward the results you desire faster and with greater ease.

Book your Discovery Call here!​

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About The Author

Stephanie Ritz is a business strategist and mindset coach who empowers her clients to tap into their strengths, skills, and desires to build a coaching or consulting business alongside their full-time job. Her unique approach combines mindset coaching with business strategy to help corporate professionals create a profitable and sustainable business that they love so that they can make the transition into full time entrepreneurship with confidence.

Stephanie developed her coaching and mentoring skills through training as a Certified Coach and an NLP Master Practitioner and drawing on her own professional experience. Starting as a single, teen mom, she put herself through school and went on to corporate leadership roles in multiple industries while starting two successful businesses.