Strategic Marketing for Business Coaches: How to Deliver Massive Results with the Same Budget

In this series, I’ve been sharing the 30 core fundamentals every coach needs to build a successful business coaching practice. In the last article, we began exploring one of the most misunderstood—and most powerful—areas of business growth: strategic marketing.

Today, we’re diving deeper into this topic, because here’s the truth most business coaches don’t realize:

Everything you think you know about marketing is probably wrong.

That’s a bold claim, I know. And after I made that statement in our last issue, many coaches reached out asking for more detail—especially when I mentioned that most businesses rely on tactical marketing, not strategic marketing.

Let’s clear that up.

Tactical Marketing vs. Strategic Marketing

Most businesses (and unfortunately, most coaches) are stuck in tactical marketing. They spend money on activities—social media, ads, SEO, email—but with no clear, strategic message or outcome in mind.

Strategic marketing, on the other hand, focuses on messaging that positions your client as the only logical choice in their market. It’s about influence, persuasion, and ROI—not just presence.

Let me show you what that looks like in action.

Real Example: $10,000 of Marketing… for One New Client

Let’s say you’re working with a chiropractor. They just spent $10,000 on radio ads. They hired a production crew, spent a weekend recording, ran the ads for weeks—and in the end? The phone rang only 15 times. Just one new patient came in. That’s a $1,900 return on a $10,000 investment… and an $8,100 loss.

Most businesses would walk away thinking: “Well, that’s just how marketing works.”

But what if we flipped the script?

What Strategic Marketing Actually Looks Like

Same budget. Same ad spend. Same radio station.

But this time, we change the messaging.

Instead of a generic branding message, we craft a strategic offer that addresses a specific pain point with a compelling call to action.

Now the results look like this:

• 137 calls instead of 15

• 37 new patients booked

• Each worth $2,500

• Total revenue: $92,500

That’s $92,500 in return from the same $10,000 budget—just by shifting from tactical to strategic marketing.

How Coaches Can Use This to Deliver Results for Clients

Imagine helping your coaching clients achieve the same kind of transformation with their marketing—without increasing their ad spend.

You don’t need to become a copywriter or a media buyer. You just need to understand how to shift their marketing from tactical to strategic, and how to help them leverage what they’re already doing.

Here’s how to start:

Step 1: Evaluate Current Marketing Assets

Review where your client is currently spending time and money. What platforms are they using? What’s their messaging? What offers are they making?

Step 2: Clarify Their Market-Dominating Position

What makes your client the obvious choice in their market? If they can’t answer that clearly, their prospects can’t either.

Step 3: Craft a Strategic Campaign

Build messaging around real problems and desired outcomes. Focus on offers that create urgency and demonstrate clear value.

Step 4: Track and Optimize

Test the new messaging. Track call volume, conversion rate, and ROI. Adjust and refine based on actual performance—not assumptions.

Why This Matters for Coaches

When you help clients make more money with the same time, effort, and budget, you’re not just delivering value—you’re making yourself indispensable.

Most business owners don’t realize how much profit they’re leaving on the table. They accept average results as “normal.” But when you show them that 137 calls are possible instead of 15, everything changes.

You give them leverage. You give them confidence. And you give yourself a coaching business that clients don’t want to leave.

Final Thoughts

Strategic marketing isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s a core skill every coach should develop if you want to stand out and deliver consistent client results.

In future articles, I’ll continue sharing the fundamentals that help you grow your practice and help your clients dominate their industries—professionally and financially.

Until next time,
Adrian Ulsh
Senior Executive Director, Focused.com