As a therapist, establishing, maintaining, and running a successful private practice are just a few of the many ongoing items you have on your mind. Therapists have a number of internal and external factors to consider. While there are many layers to creating a thriving business and healthcare venture, one aspect stands out amongst the crowd — marketing.
Digital marketing is the bread and butter that exists at the core of every modern day business. This is especially true for businesses that are partially or fully digital. In the midst of a digitally evolving world, it can be difficult to stay ahead of the game and build an ideal client roster without the help of marketing.
Not only that, but marketing serves as a tool for therapists to build trust with both old and new clients and establish themselves as professionals in both the digital and physical realms.
While taking on marketing as a whole can seem like a daunting task, the rewards are well worth the work. With the right marketing strategies, therapists can establish better visibility, strengthen their online presence, and see results faster.
Wondering where to start? Here are 5 easy ways therapists can implement marketing strategies into their practice:
1. Leverage your website. First thing’s first: Make sure you have an optimized web page that loads quickly, provides the information you want prospective and existing clients to know, and offers plenty of free resources. What exactly do we mean by all this? Let’s break it down.
When you visit a website page, there are several elements that should work well. For example, loading time, readability, and design should all contribute to the usability of the overall website.
Glitches, long buffering times, and broken links can make website visitors feel frustrated and lead them to leave the page before they are able to learn more information.
Optimizing your website by speed, visuals, copy, and usability is a really easy way to ensure your website visitors stay engaged and explore your page without bouncing. When evaluating the quality of your website and testing different aspects, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are there any broken links?
- Is everything loading quickly and efficiently?
- Does my website provide useful information and resources that visitors can utilize?
- What questions would I have if I was looking at this website with fresh eyes?
Most importantly, don’t forget to include your phone number and social media links in an easily accessible part of your website page. It’s worth noting that social media marketing is an especially integral part of your overall content marketing strategy.
2. Activate your blogger status or find someone who can. In the marketing world, everyone knows that search engine optimization (SEO) is the best way to garner interest from prospective clients who are searching for therapy options. This is because SEO is the tool that helps your website or blog post land at the top of search result pages — if you play your cards right. However, nailing down your SEO strategy is not a one and done process, but instead a more organic, sometimes slower way to get your content in front of viewers.
One good first step to take when refining your SEO strategy is to determine what people may be typing or searching. A simple, free way to do this is to do it yourself. Sit at your computer and type what you’d search for if you were looking for those same things in your own time.
To take it one step forward, take a look at the results that emerge from your searches. What kind of websites are at the top, versus towards the bottom? Do you find yourself scrolling through multiple pages or stopping your search at the first page? This is what the marketing world calls search engine ranking—it can determine your overall visibility in the search process.
In addition to this guessing game, it may be helpful to utilize some keyword tools that can help you narrow down what people may actually be searching. There are plenty of great resources that can help you hone in on specific keywords for various topics. From there, you can tailor your content to those keywords to increase your search engine ranking.
3. Determine if paid advertising is right for your practice. An alternative to organic strategies, there are paid advertisements. These are the website links you see at the top of the page when you search for something, usually with the word “Ad” close by. Paid advertising, or pay per click (PPC) advertising, can be an efficient way to market your practice.
By bidding on specific keywords, you can increase the potential for your website to be featured on the first page. However, paid advertising does not always follow the same “set and forget” model that organic SEO strategies do. To get the best bang for your buck, you’ll need to run A/B tests to see what version of your website is most effective to visitors.
4. Use your networking skills. Luckily, therapists usually have daily experience connecting and engaging with people. Since most interactions in marketing tend to be digital, personalization is a critical factor that can make you more accessible to people.
You can do this by including your phone number on your website and by networking with prospective clients or fellow therapists and healthcare professionals through social media accounts like LinkedIn or Twitter. You can also invite friends and family to like your Facebook page to raise awareness and grow your practice.
Remember that people looking for therapists or therapy services are looking for a person who can help them improve their mental health, not a website with flashy designs.
5. Send regular email newsletters. Taking advantage of email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing tactics a therapist can take advantage of. This way, you’re able to write your own content and control what you want to share, while also sharing valuable resources and information with your existing clients. You can use email newsletters to update your clients on what’s new, any updates or changes in your schedule or services, resources for therapy-related solutions, and more.
Now that you have an idea of basic marketing practices you can implement into your business strategy, you can get started! If you need help determining how to best craft your marketing mix or simply need to outsource the services, Lift Digital is here to help. Contact us today to get started.
