I can't share on social, my work is confidential"
As a coach or consultant, telling your story on social media can be tricky. That’s because any specifics will fall foul of client confidentiality agreements and even anonymised stories might feel too recognisable.
At the same time, visibility matters more than ever. Your content plays a key role in helping people understand how you think, how you work and whether you are the right fit for them. The goal isn’t to share everything. It’s to surround your audience with content that builds trust and gives them confidence in what you do.
Four ways you can still be visible and build credibility
1. Focus on the how and why, not the what
One of the main aspects of marketing yourself as a coach or business consultant is convincing prospective clients to trust you and be prepared to discuss their vulnerabilities.
If your content focuses on how you work and why you get the results you do, it will convey just as much as sharing details of sessions. You can show your values, authenticity and trustworthiness and then address any specifics when you first engage directly with potential clients.
This is the kind of content that helps people build a picture of how you think, without needing to share confidential detail.
2. Group your experiences and talk about trends
It’s key for you to make any accounts of individual sessions anonymous. One way of doing so is to collate lots of different stories to ensure nothing is traceable.
However, you can take this a step further by discussing common trends and their outcomes. By taking this approach, you delink details from individual clients but can still share your experiences.
Discussing themes and trends, such as burnout, more generally still enables people to recognise their issue in your content and identify with you as a potential solution.
3. Share 3rd party curated content and comment
When you share ‘curated’ content, you build additional credibility for your own opinions and skills. Doing this is a good way to showcase an important or common issue and discuss the impact it can have on people. Then, if your audience identifies with your content, they are more likely to engage. Finally, by adding your own comments, you show your own authentic opinion and approach. This is also a great way to stay visible and relevant without needing to create everything from scratch.
4. Demystify your skills
A common concern for prospective clients could be their apprehension at the thought of being coached.
Your content is a powerful way to bust some myths, showcase the way you work with clients and give them examples of the sorts of outcomes they might expect.
Again, these examples can easily be generic plus you give yourself the opportunity to shine a light on your individual coaching style. This approach helps people feel more comfortable and builds trust before you ever speak to them.
Maintain trust and build credibility
When you create your content, set yourself a goal of selling the aspirational outcome to your audience. As people consider whether to work with you, they will be looking to see whether you are authentic, trustworthy, capable and even ‘safe’. These qualities can be conveyed through thoughtful, consistent messaging. Importantly, you can protect the confidentiality of your existing clients and leave your prospective ones in no doubt as to what you can do for them.
Over time, this kind of content builds a body of work around you. It allows people to understand you before they ever speak to you and helps you stay visible in a way that feels considered and appropriate.
And the one game changer which will guarantee business growth is to surround yourself with content that speaks for you, builds trust and shows how you work, long before a conversation ever begins.
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