How strong is this evidence?
Weaker than the other properties we publish, and you should know that before you plan anything around it. This is the page to read first, not last.
The short version
There is no study of coaching marketing spend. The 2026 Coaching Business Report says so explicitly. Every cost-per-acquisition figure on this site therefore comes from practitioner reports, community surveys and calculated estimates. 9 of 9 channels are labelled that way.
Retention and client-load figures are stronger. Those trace to the ICF Global Coaching Study 2025, which is the profession’s census and a real study with a real sample.
Email benchmarks are cross-industry. They come from GetResponse 2024 and are not coaching-specific. Coaching lists are typically smaller and more engaged, so treat those numbers as a floor rather than a target.
Some funnels have no published rate at all. 3 of 11 carry a documented structure and no conversion data. Those pages say so rather than inventing a number to fill the column.
What a single documented case is worth
The Google Ads figure on this site traces to one documented case: $2,800 of spend, 43 booked calls, seven clients, $17,500 of first-month revenue. That is a 6.25× return and it is genuinely encouraging.
It is also one case, with a defined niche, a landing page converting at 17%, and a strong call process. Published case studies are selected for being good. Treat it as proof the channel can work, never as the rate you should expect.
Every source
Primary study
- ICF Global Coaching Study 2025The profession’s census. Headcount, revenue, credentialing and client-load figures trace here.Year2025Sample—
- Mordor Intelligence coaching market forecastSource of the forward market-size projection only.Year2024Sample—
- GetResponse Email Marketing Benchmarks 2024Cross-industry email benchmarks, not coaching-specific.Year2024Sample—
Salary aggregator
- PayScale coaching salary dataSelf-reported compensation. Skews toward employed and hybrid coaches.Year2025Sample—
- Salary.com coaching compensationYear2025Sample—
- ZipRecruiter posted-role coaching salariesPosted roles, so it under-represents self-employed practice income.Year2025Sample—
- Glassdoor coaching salary reportsYear2025Sample—
Verified sample
- Coachful verified life-coach session ratesPublished session rates collected directly. Small sample; treat as illustrative of spread, not of the population.Year2026Samplen=18
- Coachful verified business-coach session ratesPublished session rates collected directly from 60+ business coaches.Year2026Samplen=60
- Career Contessa published coach ratesPublicly listed rates from a single marketplace, so it reflects that marketplace’s positioning.Year2026Samplen=35
Community estimate
- Coaching community data and practitioner reportsPractitioner forums, community surveys and calculated estimates. No large-scale public study exists for these figures.Year2026Sample—
Citing this
Quote anything here, and please carry the estimate label with it where one exists. A figure that arrives in someone else’s article stripped of its uncertainty is how practitioner guesses become industry facts.
Have real data that contradicts any of this? Send it. Measured beats estimated every time, and we will say where it came from.