Coaching marketing
How people
choose a coach.
People choose a coach on two things: whether they can trust you, and whether they think you'll work well together. Because coaching is unregulated, anyone can call themselves a coach, so careful buyers look for things they can check: training, a clear process, how fees work and a code of ethics. Then they decide on a conversation. The research backs the second part, with a twist: the relationship matters, but mostly at the start.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.No register
to check.
A plumber has a licence number and a doctor has an Ahpra listing. A coach has whatever they choose to show. CHOICE puts it bluntly: anyone can call themselves a life coach.
So careful buyers do their own checking. CHOICE suggests looking at qualifications, whether the coach belongs to a body with a complaints process, their experience, and whether they specialise in your kind of problem. The Australian Psychological Society's list of red flags includes no contract, unclear fees, marketing built only on the coach's own story, and claims to cure.
That's a gift for a coach who's prepared to be checked. Most coaching sites don't make it easy.
What the research
says matters.
Coaching works, on average. Meta-analyses have found positive effects on goal-directed behaviour, coping and wellbeing, and in workplace coaching on skills, attitudes and individual results.
The relationship matters too. A 2020 meta-analysis of 27 samples found a correlation of .41 between the working alliance and client outcomes, and a stronger alliance went with fewer negative effects.
But two findings complicate 'just trust the chemistry'. A 2008 paper on how executive coaches get matched called chemistry an unreliable indicator of a successful coaching relationship. And a later study found the alliance tracked effectiveness mostly at the start of coaching, not across later sessions. A good first impression is necessary. It isn't the whole decision.
A good first impression is necessary. It isn't the whole decision.
Sometimes the client
isn't the buyer.
In the ICF's 2025 study, more than half of coaching clients had an employer paying. Then there are two decisions: the person being coached judges fit, and the person paying judges whether it's legitimate and worth the money.
For executive and business coaching, that second person often wants things a personal client never asks for: credentials, how progress is reported without breaking confidentiality, insurance and a clean contract. The LinkedIn page has a map of who signs off.
Can a stranger
check you out?
The fastest win for most coaching sites is making the checkable things visible, so the fit call is about fit rather than 'are you legit'. Tick what your site shows today.
Proof gap check
Can a stranger
check you out?
Anyone can call themselves a coach, so careful buyers look for things they can verify. Tick what your website shows today.
Your site shows
0 / 8
Add first
Do credentials
matter?
Not legally. To buyers, increasingly. In the ICF's 2025 study, 73% of coaches said clients increasingly expect a credential, and the ICF's 2023 study found Oceania had the lowest share of credentialed coaches of any region, at 76%.
ICF credentials step up by training and coaching hours: ACC, PCC and MCC. Other training counts too. What matters on your site is that it's named, explained in a line and checkable, not buried in a bio.
What I see most often
What I see
on coaching sites.
- 1
Credentials hidden in the bio
The training is real, but it's in paragraph six of the About page, with nothing to click.
- 2
No word on fees
Not even a starting point, so price-anxious visitors leave without booking a call.
- 3
The process is a mystery
No sense of how many sessions, how long or what happens between them.
- 4
A fit call with no agenda
'Book a free chat' with nothing about what the chat covers, so people aren't sure it's not a sales call.
The honest bit. Better proof won't fix a weak fit call or a coach who's wrong for the client. It just means the right people get to that call more often.
Questions
people ask.
How do I choose a life coach in Australia?
Check their training and who it's with, whether they follow a code of ethics with a way to complain, how fees and the process work, and whether they specialise in your situation. Then have a short call. CHOICE has a checklist.
Does a coach need to be ICF certified?
No, coaching isn't regulated. A credential, ICF or otherwise, is one checkable sign of training. Ask what it involved and look it up.
What are red flags in a coach?
The APS lists no contract, unclear fees, marketing built only on the coach's own story, claims to cure, no insurance and no code of ethics.
Does the relationship with a coach matter?
Yes. A meta-analysis found a correlation of .41 between the working alliance and outcomes. But choosing on rapport alone is weak, so check the basics too.
What's the difference between a coach and a psychologist?
A psychologist is registered and regulated, and the title is protected by law. A coach isn't. Coaching focuses on goals and change, not on treating mental health conditions. A good coach says when they'd refer you on.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
search audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.