Psychotherapy Practice Marketing: Tried & True Tactics
Mental health is a crucial part of overall wellbeing, and psychotherapy practices play a vital role in helping individuals manage their mental health and improve their quality of life. However, in today's fast-paced and competitive society, it can be challenging for psychotherapists to stand out and attract new clients. That's where marketing comes in. Effective marketing strategies can help psychotherapy practices connect with their audience, establish trust and credibility, and ultimately, grow their business.
In this blog, we will discuss some holistic marketing strategies that have been proven to help psychotherapists reach their target audience, build a strong online presence, and increase their chances of generating new leads and consultations. Whether you're a new therapist looking to build your practice or an established professional seeking to expand your reach, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and actionable tips to help you achieve your marketing goals.
Auditing
A strong digital marketing strategy should always start by auditing and optimizing one’s online presence, including the company’s website, SEO, social media, and Google business page. Start by analyzing your presence across all digital platforms, looking for areas you can improve design, messaging, Call To Action (CTA) placement, etc. For example, even if your website looks great, people won’t book a consultation with you if there’s not a clear, easy-to-use CTA inviting them to do so.
The goal is to build an engaging and informative digital footprint with consistency across all platforms. This is your opportunity to fix any issues that could be preventing potential patients from signing up for a consultation. So you’ll want to do this before you start investing time, money and resources on driving new traffic to your website.
Social Media
Social media marketing is an effective way to establish an active brand. It allows practices to build a strong sense of community and connectedness with their audience. Through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, psychotherapists can share valuable insights, resources, and tips related to mental health, which can help them establish themselves as trusted experts in the field. Additionally, social media enables therapists to connect with their clients on a more personal level, creating a sense of familiarity and comfort that can be especially beneficial in mental health treatment. By fostering a supportive online community, psychotherapy practices can create an empowering environment that demystifies therapy and helps people feel like they’re not alone in what they’re going through. Overall, social media marketing can help psychotherapists establish a strong and engaged online presence, which can lead to increased visibility, credibility, and ultimately, better outcomes for their clients
Long-Form Content
As a therapist, you probably recognize common topics that come up in your patient sessions such as seasonal trends, environmental factors, family dynamics - just to name a few. Unpacking these complex subjects can be challenging in bite-sized social media content. As valuable as micro-learning on social media can be, it doesn't replace long-form content such as more detailed videos on YouTube, or original blog posts. Developing long-form content can deepen the trust between you and your patients, as you help them through their challenges.
Email Marketing
After one’s online presence has been optimized, it’s time to focus on building an email list and engaging with current and potential clients. There are a number of ways one can leverage email marketing for their counseling practice. To name a few examples: design custom campaigns, such as past-client retargeting initiatives, summer maintenance campaigns, and doctor referral pitching; craft lead magnets to bring new people into the community; develop welcome series automations that nurture leads with warm, inviting, and informative content about the practice; send regular tailor-made newsletters. Through email, therapists can share valuable resources and insights related to mental health, unpack deeper and sometimes seasonal topics that therapists might notice in their day-to-day, and keep their audience informed about relevant updates such as new team members or service offerings. This helps build a sense of trust and credibility with clients, and allows them to stay connected with their network outside of sessions. Additionally, email marketing provides a more personal and direct means of communication than social media or other marketing channels, allowing therapists to tailor their messages to the specific needs and interests of their audience. For instance, an audience can be segmented into past, current, and potential clients, and the messaging can be altered accordingly.
By regularly sending authentic and intentional emails, psychotherapy practices can establish themselves as a valuable resource in the mental health community and ultimately, attract new clients who are seeking support and guidance for their mental health needs.
Advertising
Google Ads is the most effective way for therapy practices to attract new clients, but it does require having an optimized digital presence first. By creating hyper-targeted ads that appear when users search for specific mental health-related keywords, therapists can reach a wider audience and attract potential clients who may be seeking support and guidance for their mental health needs.
The reality is that there is a lot of competition out there on Google Ads, so having an experienced ad specialist managing your campaigns can be the difference between failure and success. A great ad specialist will use targeted keywords and compelling ad copy to help you attract the attention of potential patients who are actively searching for your services. They will be able to use criteria such as age, gender, zip code, and more to ensure that the leads coming to your website are truly a match for your practice. They will also track the results of these campaigns closely, regularly making adjustments as needed to ensure you’re getting the best possible Return On Investment (ROI).
By leveraging the power of Google Ads as a part of a well rounded marketing strategy, we’ve seen our clients go from having just a couple of therapists on staff with empty slots in their calendars, to having 15+ therapists on staff and a wait list.
Optimization
Consistently maintaining various marketing initiatives is a big undertaking. So the goal is to be efficient and effective. Without a data-driven strategy, you run the risk of wasting time and resources on efforts that will never help you achieve meaningful results for your practice. If you're not regularly measuring results through analytics reporting, you might not even know which tactics are responsible for the results you are achieving, or how to amplify those results. Some key data to look at is: competitor research, social media growth rate, social media click rates, advertising conversion rate and cost per acquisition, website traffic, email list growth, monthly new-patient consultations. By identifying what platforms are driving results, you can prioritize allocating time and resources to those initiatives.
We’re thankful for our psychotherapy clients who are genuinely interested in making a positive impact on the world, and we are honored by every chance we get to uplift this industry. Some of the results we’ve driven for our clients include a 32% increase in revenue, an 18% increase in monthly sessions, and a 325% Return on Investment. Want to learn how we can help you grow your practice? Learn more here or schedule a complimentary consultation below:
