Defining Your Online Coaching Content Strategy

Hi Coaches! I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of 2025! It’s a great time of year, especially for business owners, to spend some time reflecting on what went well over the past 11 months and what you want to do differently in the year ahead. 

If publishing online content for your coaching business is an area you plan to work on in 2026, this email is for you. 

Below, I’ll share the fundamentals of creating a content strategy, including channels, types of content, and publishing cadence. Plus, you’ll find a few tips to make this process simpler — because creating and publishing content for your coaching business shouldn’t eat up all of your time. 

Take what you need, leave the rest, and make great content!

- Kimberly, founder of Running Lifestyle Media and Content&Cadence

Your coaching business is your brand. And with any brand, a clear content strategy is important. Instead of posting whatever comes to mind on your online coaching platforms and social media channels, it’s much more valuable to take an intentional approach. 

Why It Matters: For your clients and potential clients just getting to know you, the content you publish says everything about your coaching personality, philosophy, and approach. What your audience sees from you helps them form their perception of what kind of coach you’ll be like to work with.  

That doesn’t mean you should be cautious about publishing any content or choose to post very little. It just means that taking a strategic approach to your content is critical to position your expertise, ensure you’re perceived the way you intend, and increase the likelihood of reaching your ideal clients. 

How to Get Started: If you don’t yet have a content strategy for your coaching business, carve out some time to brainstorm and develop one. Consider these three parts: 

1. Online Channels: You don’t have to be everywhere. Lean into three online channels and invest your time in building your audience on those. Ideally, these channels should complement one another in terms of the types of content you publish on each. For example, longer-form content on a blog, video content on YouTube, and short posts or video clips on Instagram or TikTok. When determining your channels, consider your ideal audience and what channels they’re more likely to engage with. For instance, if your coaching clients are in their 20s, TikTok might be the right choice; but if they’re in their 40s and 50s, Facebook might be a better bet. 

2. Content Topics: What are your coaching specialties? Who is your ideal coaching client? Let’s say you generally coach first-time marathoners who are goal-oriented yet recreational, and you specialize in designing training plans to fit with other life commitments. Ideally, at least two-thirds of the content you create and publish should relate to these areas: marathon training for first-timers, goal-setting, life balance, etc. Other content you incorporate into your calendar could be timely or seasonal, related to current promotions or programs, or other coaching areas you’re interested in developing.

3. Publishing Cadence: Without defining a publishing cadence, it can be difficult to establish consistency on any channel. You don’t need to post every day on social media. I strongly believe that posting when you have something to say and something of substance is much more valuable than posting daily. Consider a cadence that you can keep up with. Maybe it’s one blog post per month, two YouTube videos per month, and six social media posts. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every piece of content. Your social media posts, for example, can feature parts of your blog post in infographic or quote form, or clips from your YouTube videos. 

Pro Tip: Defining your content strategy is the easy part. Putting it into practice can be trickier, especially as the days get busy and posting content falls to the back burner. To stay ahead and make your online content a priority, consider designing a quarterly content calendar outlining what you plan to publish — blog posts, email newsletters, videos, social media posts, etc. — and when. 

Looking for more content marketing development guidance?
Book a Content&Cadence Consulting project!

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Write a blog post or email newsletter on one of the topics below, record a short reel with your reactions to the content, or simply reshare something you find interesting with your audience of endurance athletes! 

An interesting article citing a report on the effects of climate conditions on marathon running: “86% of the 221 global marathons reviewed are less likely to have ideal weather on race days by 2045 because of climate change.” (ABC News) 

Average half marathon times in the UK, broken down by age groups and gender, based on data from RunRepeat, plus what Women’s Health editors define as “good” times. (Women’s Health) 

For the full marathon distance, here are the average 2024 marathon times among runners in the U.S., broken down by age group and gender. Plus, the median finish times for these age groups and genders, top 25% quartile, top 10%, and so on. (RUN)

A collection of “All the ways running a marathon can wreck your body” — and an opportunity for coaches to advise on how to avoid some of these scenarios. (New York Post)

In a seven-year study of participants 50 and older, researchers found that those who spent more time sitting — despite meeting weekly exercise guidelines — showed greater cognitive decline. (The Manual)

A recap of topics discussed at the Female Athlete Research Meeting (FARM) at Stanford University earlier this month. (The Stanford Daily)

Distinguishing between early signs of overtraining and tiredness, and the heart rate data to pay attention to. (Canadian Running Magazine) 

In a study that surveyed 425 recreational runners, researchers found that, for poor sleepers, injury risk when running increases by 68%. (Science Daily) 

More research on sleep: Researchers at The Ohio State University tracked collegiate athlete sleep data over five years and found that practices beginning at 8 a.m. or earlier negatively impacted athletes’ sleep and efficiency. (News-Medical.Net)

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