Content ideas for coaches: short videos that bring clients

The closest case I can show you is a biohacking expert who sells knowledge the way a coach does. Her account roughly quadrupled to 43.7K followers in two and a half months, and the agency I worked with reported views per video moving from 3K to 10K up to somewhere between 35K and 900K. I haven't run an account for a coach in the usual sense, so read the rest as what I'd carry over from that work, plus the rules that apply to coaching specifically.

1. Naming an outcome and leaving out the person

"Confidence," "clarity" and "alignment" describe a feeling. Nobody watching can check whether they have the problem. I'd rewrite every opening line until a stranger could say who the video is about.

Your sales calls are the script library. After each call, write down the exact sentence the person used to describe what's wrong. Use their wording, including the awkward parts.

2. Posting conclusions when your product is a conversation

A quote card tells me what you believe. A client is paying for what happens when you ask them a question they've been avoiding. So film the question. "The first thing I ask anyone who says they're burned out" is thirty seconds of coaching. The viewer answers it in their head, and that's the moment they find out what working with you feels like.

Three formats do this well: the one question you always ask, a wrong assumption you hear every week and what you'd say back, and a small exercise someone can try before the video ends. Talking to the phone in one take is fine. On the expert account I mentioned, we cross-posted between TikTok, Instagram and Shorts, so each idea had more than one chance to find its audience.

3. Telling client stories without paper

People tell a coach things they haven't told their spouse. A story with the name removed can still be recognized by that person's boss, especially when you add the industry, the city and the job title. I'd get written permission for each story, covering where it will run and for how long, and I'd let the client read the script. If you want to show a real session, film one with a client who agreed in advance and can veto the cut. Saying "a client told me" about something that never happened is the version I'd never allow in a script.

4. Promising income or transformation you can't back up

If you coach people on business or money, this is the mistake that can end the business. It's general information and not legal advice, and it's focused on the US. The FTC has pursued coaching programs for years. In its 2023 action against Lurn, the agency pointed to ads saying people could "Fail 98% of the Time & Still Be Able to Make $11,453 Per Month," said the company had no information to support such claims, and reached a monetary judgment of about $14 million, partly suspended. In January 2025 it proposed extending its rules to "money-making opportunities" such as business coaching. Check where that proposal stands before you publish anything about earnings.

Testimonials carry the same problem into short video, where a client saying "I doubled my revenue" is a very natural clip. Under 16 CFR 255.2, when an ad shows someone's result on something central to what you sell, viewers are likely to take it as representative. If you can't substantiate that, you have to disclose what people generally achieve. The FTC dropped the old safe harbor for "results not typical" back in 2009.

In a script I'd replace the number with the work: what the client changed, how long it took, what was hard, who this approach didn't suit. That version also holds attention better, because it has a plot.

5. Borrowing a clinician's vocabulary

A life or wellness coach who says "this will heal your trauma" has moved from coaching into something a licensed professional does. I'd keep treat, heal, diagnose and therapy out of the scripts unless you hold the license, and I'd ask a lawyer in your state where the line sits. Be just as careful in comments, where someone may describe a crisis to you in public. Decide in advance what you reply and which resource you point them to.

6. Judging the account by views

A video can reach 900K people and book nobody. The number I keep coming back to from local work is smaller: a vocal studio in Miami went from 110 followers to about 3,300 in two months, and the owner counted 12 children who came into the program. A coach usually sells to fewer people at a higher price than that studio does, so a few hundred of the right viewers can matter more than a viral clip that reaches the wrong ones.

• Discovery calls booked, and the first video each caller remembers. Ask on every call.
• DMs that describe a specific problem, separated from compliments.
• Sends per video, since people forward coaching content to the friend who needs it.
• Watch time on the first three seconds, to compare openings of the same idea.

I'd give this about 60 days before changing the positioning, and I wouldn't change the niche at all on the strength of one post.

7. Making the next step too large

A viewer who met you 40 seconds ago won't sit through a 45-minute webinar. I'd pin one video per problem you solve, then add one small step: a keyword they can DM for a worksheet, followed by a real question from you. When the reply comes back, a human answers it. You'll learn more from those exchanges in a month than from any analytics screen, and they feed straight back into the first mistake on this list.

If you'd like someone to work out the positioning and direct each video with you, here's the account growth service.