Launching an online certification for trauma-informed coaches
A growth strategy for a $1,500 program, from a full funnel audit and rebuilt campaigns to a single launch that grew revenue from $72K to $189K.
An online education company with a strong offer, and a leaking funnel.
They sell a 10-week trauma-informed coaching certification. My role: launch growth strategy, grow qualified enrollments without relying only on paid traffic.
The offer was strong. The funnel wasn't built around buyer behavior.
The campaigns were optimized for webinar registrations, not for future students.
Where the numbers stood before the launch
Segmentation by intent level
A therapist does not buy for the same reason as a coach. Cold audiences were split into three segments, each with its own message and its own trust logic.
Therapists
Licensed mental-health professionals. They buy for professional credibility: an ethical framework, structured methodology, and trust in the approach.
Coaches
Practicing and certified coaches. They buy for client outcomes: transformation, confidence in their work, and certification value.
Wellness practitioners
Somatic and wellness professionals. They buy for depth of practice, a deeper modality layered on top of their existing client work.
Ad campaign architecture
One offer, three jobs to do
Each stage of the funnel got its own creative logic, cold sells the outcome, warm opens the funnel, retargeting recovers the drop-off. * brand redacted under NDA
Inside the ad account
5 campaigns · 2,740 registrations · $8.40 cost per registration · 8.2× ROAS · $23,000 spent
Rebuilt around the moment of decision
Educational content with a pitch “attached” at the end. Value delivered, but no reason to buy now.
Eleven emails, routed by behavior
Live attendees, no-shows, replay watchers, offer-page visitors and inactive leads each received different flows, instead of one blast for everyone.
Catching the ready-to-buy searcher
Campaigns on high-intent queries like “trauma informed coach certification”. Sitelinks lead straight to key points: cohort, curriculum, “who it's for”, free webinar.
Banner for warming up warm audiences and bringing website visitors back into the funnel.
The launch funnel, finally visible
We could finally see exactly where people dropped off, and which channels brought students, not just registrations.
The funnel exploration that told us where money leaked
Before & after, across the funnel
The growth came from the system, not the spend.
Positioning
One promise, sharpened per segment and per level of intent.
Segmentation
Three cold segments, each with its own trust logic and message.
Clean retargeting
Four behavior-based scenarios instead of a single catch-all pool.
Conversion webinar
A path from problem to purchase, not a lecture with a pitch bolted on.
Behavior emails
11 email types routed by what each person actually did.
Right tracking
Events that show which channels made students, not averages.
How the sprint was sequenced
How I approach every launch
Map the full journey
From first touch to enrollment, before touching traffic, you need to see the entire buyer path.
Find the biggest leak
Registration, attendance, replay, email, offer page, tracking or positioning, fix whatever loses the most revenue first.
Behavior over broadcasts
Segments, retargeting and email are built around what a person did, not around a send calendar.
Scale last
Paid traffic amplifies what already works. Highest expected-impact actions first, scaling after.