Your Followers Aren't Buying Because of This
Marketing For Fitness Coaches Podcast with Kandace Dickson | CoachRx Podcast Network
The funnel is a thing of the past. Today, buyers binge content, then they decide. They don’t want to be pushed from step to step. They want control, and they want to feel sure before they reach out.
I’m Kandace Dickson, CMO of OPEX and Coach RX, and I’ve been marketing for over 20 years. What matters now is simple: your content has to warm people up and help them pre-decide. When your message connects, people keep watching. When they keep watching, they start trusting. And when they trust, they message you.
Why the funnel doesn’t match how people buy coaching anymore
A funnel assumes people move in a neat, predictable order. Awareness, interest, decision, purchase. That’s not how it feels on the buyer’s side anymore, especially with coaching.
Real buyers scroll, save, watch, share, and circle back. They might watch three videos in a row at midnight, then disappear for two weeks, then come back and DM you like you’re already friends. They aren’t “falling through” your process. They’re building confidence in their own timing.
That’s why I focus on a buyer-led content binge instead of a funnel. I want someone to be able to find me, watch a few pieces of content, and quickly get a real sense of:
What I believe
How I coach
Who I’m best for
What results I’ve helped create
What to do next if they want help
No squeezing. No chasing. Just clear content that makes it easy for the right person to move closer.
Watch time is the trust metric that actually matters
Likes are nice. Views can help. But if I had to pick one metric that tells me whether trust is forming, it’s watch time.
Here’s why. Anyone can pause on a Reel. Anyone can tap like on a carousel. But when someone stays with your content, especially long-form content, they’re giving you something valuable: their attention.
Attention leads to familiarity. Familiarity leads to trust. Trust leads to conversations.
That’s the chain I care about.
So if you’re trying to figure out why your followers aren’t buying, don’t just ask, “Am I posting enough?” Ask, “Am I giving them enough time with me to trust me?”
The buyer-led client decision model: 3 phases your content needs to serve
Even when buyers binge, they’re still moving through a decision process. It just isn’t linear, and you can’t tell where someone is when they find you.
I use a simple buyer-led client decision model with three phases:
Problem aware
This person feels the pain. They can name the struggle, or at least feel the tension. They may not know what’s causing it, and they’re not sure what to do next.
Your content here should help them feel seen. You’re putting words to what they’re already experiencing.
Process aware
This person is starting to look for solutions. They’re comparing methods. They’re asking, “How does this work?” and “What’s the right approach?”
Your content here should show how you think and how you coach, without hiding the ball.
Payoff aware
This person is thinking about outcomes. They want to know if it’s worth it, if it can work for them, and if you’re the right person to help.
Your content here should help them picture the results, and believe those results are possible.
I can’t control where someone starts. But I can create content that serves all three phases, then connect the pieces so the interested person can binge their way to belief.
The 7-Eleven rule: how much content people need before they reach out
If you’ve ever felt like, “My content is good, why aren’t they booking?” this is part of the answer. People need more time with you than most coaches think.
The 7-Eleven rule blends two research ideas:
The seven comes from Dunbar’s work on relationships. The takeaway that matters here is that people often need four to seven hours of time with you to feel like they know you. That applies in real life, and it applies in parasocial relationships (when someone watches you, listens to you, and feels connected even if you haven’t met).
The eleven comes from Google’s ZMOT research, which suggests buyers need about 11 interactions with your content before they’re ready to make a purchase decision.
Put those together and you get a practical lens: people tend to need around 7 hours across about 11 pieces of content to move from “who is this?” to “I trust this person enough to take a step.”
That’s one reason short-form-only marketing feels like it stalls out. It’s hard to rack up real watch time on 15 seconds at a time.
The simple ecosystem: Instagram grabs attention, YouTube builds trust
I like using Instagram and YouTube together because they play different roles.
Instagram is where I capture attention while someone scrolls. It’s fast. It’s snackable. It’s perfect for raising a hand and saying, “Hey, this is for you.”
YouTube is where I earn watch time. It’s where someone can sit with me and get real coaching depth. It’s where trust stacks up.
In practice, I think of it like this:
Short form creates the spark.
Long form gives them the full meal.
DMs turn interest into a real conversation.
And inside that system, I build my week around one key asset.
My weekly workflow: one long-form magnet video, plus hand-raisers
As a coach, your job is delivering for your clients. You don’t need a content plan that eats your whole week. You need something you can repeat.
My weekly workflow centers on one long-form magnet video.
This is a fresh take on a lead magnet. Instead of making a PDF nobody reads, I use a video that does the heavy lifting. It creates watch time, builds trust, and points people toward the next step.
Then, every week, I create short-form “hand-raiser” posts that direct people toward that magnet video, usually through a DM keyword.
What a magnet video is meant to do
A magnet video is long-form content that:
Coaches with real depth
Shows your process and your proof
Tees up your coaching offer
Guides people toward your hero offer video (more on that next)
Over time, those weekly magnet videos become a library. New people can binge them. Current clients can re-watch. Either way, you’re building trust on repeat.
The hero offer video (and why it belongs in your content library)
In the YouTube side of my model, there’s also a hero offer video. I’m not going deep on it here, but the concept is simple.
It’s a long-form video where I:
Introduce myself as a coach
Connect to my ideal client
Explain my unique coaching method
Share proof of real results created with that method
Present my offer with confidence
Give a direct path to start a conversation
Think of it like the clearest “start here” for someone who’s warmed up and wants to know what working together looks like.
Your magnet videos point to it, and your hero offer video points back to you.
How I structure magnet videos so they respect time and still feel valuable
I want magnet videos to be tight and packed. I respect the viewer’s time, but I also don’t want to stay surface-level. The goal is depth without rambling.
Here’s the structure I follow:
I connect to a real painful problem or tension my ideal client feels.
I explain my take on why that pain is happening.
I shift their thinking, so they see the problem differently.
I give a simple one to three-step self-assessment.
I share clear, actionable steps they can take right away.
I show proof, examples of how I’ve helped real clients with this.
I guide them to my hero offer video (link in the description).
I invite them to DM me for more help.
That mix matters. People want help now, not just theory. They also want evidence that you’re not guessing. Proof builds belief, and belief creates action.
The short-form hand-raiser posts: how I turn scrolling into DMs
Short form has one job in this workflow: create awareness, interest, and connection, then start a conversation.
I call these “hand-raisers” because they’re meant to pull a signal of interest from the right person. They aren’t meant to teach everything. They’re meant to open the loop.
A good hand-raiser post does a few things:
Names the painful problem in their words
Normalizes it (so they feel less alone)
Teases my perspective
Offers one actionable step they can use immediately
Ends with a DM keyword call to action
That DM keyword is the bridge. It turns passive consumption into a real one-on-one moment.
When someone DMs the keyword, I can:
Say hello and acknowledge what they asked for
Send the magnet video as the next step
Be helpful in the moment
Ask a couple questions to qualify fit
If it’s a match, present the offer clearly
It stays human. It stays simple. It gives the buyer control, while still giving them a clear path.
Every piece of content needs a path to you (not just “link in bio”)
The point of content isn’t to rack up posts. It’s to create connection that leads somewhere.
So I make sure every piece of content has:
A clear path to me
A conversation starter (DM keyword works well)
A simple way to qualify fit
A clear, confident offer presentation if it’s right
Buying cycles are longer now. People are more skeptical. There’s a gap between the outcome they want and the coaching that will get them there. Your content helps close that gap.
When someone can binge your coaching, they don’t just learn. They start thinking, “This coach gets it.” That’s the moment you want.
The exact plan I want you to run this week
If you want a simple way to test this and get momentum, do this for one week.
Pick one painful problem or tension your ideal client is dealing with right now.
Record one long-form magnet video that addresses it deeply.
Create three to five short-form hand-raiser posts for Instagram.
Use a clear DM keyword on each hand-raiser.
Engage in DMs, send the magnet video, and be helpful.
Follow up and assess client fit.
If it’s a match, present your offer.
That’s it. One strong long-form video, a few smart short-form posts, and real conversations.
People don’t buy coaching, they buy the coach
Here’s the big idea I want you to sit with: people don’t buy coaching, they buy the coach.
That means your job isn’t to “convince” strangers. Your job is to show up, coach through your content, and make it easy for someone to spend time with you.
When they can binge, they can build belief. When they build belief, they can pre-decide.
If you want the simple Google Doc I put together that outlines this model, including a step-by-step checklist, DM me the word “binge” on Instagram. You can reach me at Marketing for Fitness Coaches on Instagram or @mrskandacedickson on Instagram.
Conclusion
If your followers aren’t buying, it’s often not because your offer is bad. It’s because they haven’t had enough time with you to trust you. Build around watch time, give people a weekly magnet video worth binging, and use short-form hand-raisers to start real conversations in the DMs. When you coach through your content, the right people don’t need to be pushed, they’ll reach out when they’re ready. Thanks for reading, what’s one problem your ideal client is stuck on right now that you could turn into this week’s magnet video?
Next Steps
👉 Download your free one page marketing plan!
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And don’t forget, Marketing for Fitness Coaches is part of the CoachRx Podcast Network, a collection of shows designed to elevate the coaching conversation. Discover more shows in the CoachRx Podcast Network here.
👉 Have questions? If you have a question or want feedback on your lead magnet idea, DM me on Instagram @marketingforfitnesscoaches or @coachrx.app
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