How to Reach Success as a Climbing Coach in the Digital Age
It’s time that we face the facts of the climbing industry. Our beloved fringe sport that was a world unknown to so many is no longer just that. We have all seen this happening over the past five or ten years. Gyms have popped up left and right and when you pull up to your favorite crag, you’ll likely find a mile long line of cars parked down the road. Many climbers are embracing this growth and some may resent it-- but regardless, it is undeniable.
According to IBISWorld the indoor climbing industry in the US is now a $530 million dollar market! This statistic (although projections may be potentially affected by Covid-19) was projected to keep growing exponentially. By 2021 the indoor climbing industry in North America alone has been predicted to break the billion dollar mark in revenue.
While this rapid growth holds controversy among some climbers, it holds immense opportunity for many businesses and individuals. As a coach for climbers you already know that the demand for your services has reached an all time high. But do you know how to seize and make the most of this opportunity?
Climbing Coaches Are Finding Success Online
You see it everywhere now, from the gyms to Instagram and Facebook, climbing coaches are sharing their knowledge and pitching their services. And why not? Our sport is dynamic, adventurous, and exciting… It makes great content.
But as a coach offering your services to climbers you have likely already worked your butt off specializing in your craft. You’ve likely put time into receiving coaching certifications from USA Climbing or have worked to become an accredited personal trainer. You have developed training programs to grow strength, master mentality in climbing, for hangboarding, to increase power endurance, the list goes on. And let’s be honest, your job is physical. You’re busy with group and one on one coaching on top of it all.
Unfortunately, finding success as a climbing coach in this growing industry requires more than the long hours and hard work you’ve already done. With a slew of other coaches emerging, it takes knowing how to market yourself online to stand out. If you are not making the most of your online presence as a coach you are missing huge opportunities for growth that others have taken advantage of.
A Copywriter is to a Coaches Business Marketing as a Coach is to an Athlete’s Performance
Establishing a well respected online presence as a coach means many things. You may have already found yourself beginning to face this beast and feeling downright overwhelmed. The demands of this task include having an understanding of SEO (search engine optimization), knowing how to utilize content marketing, email marketing, social media, and how to generate leads. This means so many more skill sets you have to learn!
I’m here to bring you the good news that may change your life as a Climbing Coach.
You don’t have to go learn all of these skills. That is not your job.
This is the job of a Copywriter.
It is not your job as a coach to know how to create SEO content.
A coach needs a copywriter to market their services and bring their ideal clients to them. I’m sure as a coach, you can understand this. It is like the dynamic of a strong, talented athlete hiring a coach to refine and direct their training efforts. It is an athlete’s job to be willing to train and perform but it is your job, as their coach, to know how best to train your athletes.
It is your job to take care of your clients, to train them and support them and to help them find success. It is not your job to know how to create search engine optimized content and effectively market yourself online.
3 Ways a Copywriter is Key to Helping Launch Your Coaching Business to Success
According to Hubspot.com's Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2020 78% of all companies have a team of 1-3 content specialists. This is because content marketing is a potential goldmine that requires a specialized skill set and knowledge to make the most of.
At this point, you might be thinking, “I know how to use Instagram.” or, “I already have a website and a business Facebook page. I can do this on my own.” But I’m about to give you a heads up as to why this mindset is holding you back.
Properly utilizing content marketing yields 3 times more results than paid ads.
So, no, that one time paid ad on instagram you invested in is not doing you justice. Copywriters study consumer research and are versed in SEO. This allows them to understand what kind of content your consumers are searching for online and how you should be producing content in a way that your ideal client can find it. Copywriters know the value and art of regularly creating long standing SEO content such as blog posts, webcopy, ebooks and social media posts. This increases your website’s traffic and ranking in Google and builds trust with your audience.
Bringing on a copywriter to do this for you saves you valuable time and energy. Furthermore, it assures that the content you put out is being seen and is working for you.
Copywriters know how to improve your CRO (that’s conversion rate optimization). Are potential clients clicking to your page and… leaving!? If traffic to your website is only sticking around for a minute before they move on, this likely means your bounce rates are high and your conversion rates are low. In layman's terms, a lot of potential clients are walking out the door without making a purchase.
How do you solve this? Maybe design an effective landing page that offers your website visitors a valuable piece of content. Landing pages are the least utilized sign up form by online marketers. Although, according to Hubspot, landing pages have the highest conversion rate at 23%. The fact that landing pages are so effective and still so often not taken advantage of is a testament to the amount of value being overlooked in content marketing!
It is a copywriter’s job to pinpoint these missed opportunities in your online marketing strategy and to increase your conversion rates by implementing them effectively.
Copywriters work alongside you to help you reach your particular goals. Online marketing requires developing a strategy. This strategy varies depending on where you are as a business and where you aim to be. When you hire a copywriter, they meet you where you are and develop an individualized plan to meet your potential. A copywriter’s goal is to see your online presence gaining traction and your business succeeding. This means you’re hiring someone whose job is to design a strategy to enable you to grow to where you want to be.
Hiring a Copywriter is Investing in Yourself
Unless you are employed to work in a particular gym, many climbing coaches are working for themselves. If you’ve read this far I’d imagine you’re one of them. It is up to you to source your client base and determine how you can best be of value to your clients. In this case, you are not just a climbing coach… You are an entrepreneur.
What makes a successful entrepreneur is that they invest in themselves.
Hiring a Copywriter to market your services online is investing in yourself. It is you giving your business the opportunity to flourish. And it’s returning you to a time when you could come home from a long day’s work and not stare anxiously at your website or Instagram wondering what to post.
