Let’s face it: in this digital era, you must establish an online presence for your business to flourish. Marketing is an essential element, especially for a therapist seeking new patients.
According to research, more than 80% of people have used the internet to find a therapist.
That significant number shows how much business you’re missing out on if you’re not visible online. If patients can’t find you in search engines or on social media, you can bet they’ll find another therapist pretty quickly.
The good news: There’s no time like the present to create a marketing strategy that works wonders.
Do you need to amplify your digital presence? This guide on marketing for therapists will provide you with 7 tips you need to know to successfully navigate the marketing world.
1. Prioritize a Mobile-Friendly Website
Were you aware that having a mobile-friendly website is non-negotiable nowadays? Just as having a website is a no-brainer for any business owner, being mobile-friendly is no longer a bonus. It’s mandatory if you want to stay in business.
There are more people using and searching the web using mobile devices now, than on desktops or laptop devices, according to this 2017 study. That same study states 52.21% of internet traffic is from mobile devices. This number is up from 42.16% from the previous year.
Many people used to view websites or search Google from their computers most of the time, but times have changed. Now, most people immediately go to Google when they’re searching for a therapist or any business for that matter.
If you have a WordPress website, you have access to thousands of mobile-friendly themes.
Your website is one aspect of marketing for therapists that shouldn’t be overlooked. It portrays who you are to potential patients, it shows your professionalism, and it allows new patients to easily find you.
Include in Your Therapy Practice Website:
- Functional design
- Simple layout
- Call to Actions
- A fast loading website
- Good SEO
- Contact forms to contact you easily
- A blog
- Patient testimonies
- Credentials, awards, etc
With an exceptional website design, you have the power to draw in new patients that wouldn’t have found you otherwise. Marketing for therapists has never been as painless as it is when you utilize your website the correct way.
2. Content Marketing
20 or 30 years ago you’d post an ad in your local phonebook and your appointment book would be jam-packed for months. But in the digital age, marketing for therapists has changed drastically.
You’ve crafted a website that’s ready to lure and convert patients; now you need to come up with a strategy to get visitors onto your website to fill that appointment book up again.
A Powerful Content Marketing Strategy For Therapists Includes:
- Addressing your patient’s pain points
- Writing blogs that address those issues
- Always produce high-quality blogs
- Guest posting on popular sites in your industry
Producing high-quality blog posts that solve your visitor’s issues or pain points will help gain their trust.
Posts that are formatted correctly are easier to skim and always should include visuals. This includes images, screenshots, charts, data, and other visuals to break up the text.
Guest posting is beneficial for your content strategy and can bring visitors back to your site in heaps if done correctly. If you’re a mental health therapist, submit guest posts popular mental health blogs. Addiction therapist? Submit on addiction niche blogs. You can also try to post on popular, authoritative sites like Psychology Today and other large websites to see a gigantic surge in visitors.
3. Local Presence
Although most modern marketing for therapists is digital, there are some effective tactics you can utilize locally to see big results.
Some Ways to Increase Your Local Presence:
- Attending local seminars
- Networking locally with doctors, other therapists, etc.
- Using local keywords in SEO
- Get on “Google My Business” for more local exposure
But when it comes to local SEO, you want to find a few main keywords that mention what you do and your location. Local SEO is robust if you learn the proper local SEO methods.
Psych Central states that networking with other therapists is actually highly beneficial, and can even help find new patients. You can also network with doctors and other professionals. You never know the opportunities that may arise.
When it comes to seminars, it’s the same idea. A quick Google search in your area will uncover loads of local seminars, workshops, and other networking opportunities that’ll help build your local presence.
Digital marketing is imperative, of course, to your marketing efforts — but so is networking and word-of-mouth. Don’t underestimate how strong establishing a local presence can be.
4. SEO
You’ve created a beautiful website, now comes the time-consuming part: getting new patients to find your website.
As a therapist, the method to increase search awareness that works the best to attract potential patients is SEO. This’ll give you organic visibility where patients are looking, which is where SIRI and other personal assistants are looking for information.
We touched on local SEO, and that’ll be your key focus if you have a therapy practice and are looking for patients in your immediate area. The only exception would be if you do online therapy, then your SEO would be broader and the local side wouldn’t be your key focus.
Marketing for Therapists SEO Basics:
- Keywords (long tail keywords)
- Local SEO
- A fast loading website
- Valuable content
- Backlinks and internal links
You want to get inside the heads of your target patient and use tools to figure out what kinds of keywords they’re typing into search engines.
Long tail keywords are crucial to your SEO strategy, as they’ll help bring targeted visitors to your website.
Instead of using a keyword like ”therapy”, narrow it down to your specific type of therapy, such as addiction therapy. Now, take it a step even further and include your location. For example, if you live in Palm Beach, Flordia you could create a targeted keyword like Palm Beach Addiction Therapy.
If you accomplish an exemplary SEO strategy, you’ll start seeing more conversions from potential patients, and that appointment book will begin to fill up.
5. Target Visitors/Patients
If you don’t know who the visitors you’re targeting on your website are or in your content, you’re in serious trouble. Your SEO efforts and content marketing strategy depend solely on how well you know your visitors and prospective patients.
As we talked about, you’ll use SEO to allure the right visitors in, as well as content marketing and other tactics. Then you’ll convert those visitors into patients.
On your website, you’ll want to tailor your content for those patients. If you’re a mental health therapist, it’d make sense to see valuable topics related to mental health. Keep in mind your content, SEO, and everything you do should always address your patient’s pain points and solve their problems in some way.
6. Focus on Your Patients
The most significant aspect of marketing for therapists is focusing on your patients. They are the absolute core of your business after all. But you know that.
Focus on communication with both prospective patients, current patients, and past patients. Find out what you’re doing right, and what you can improve on.
You can do this by conducting surveys and asking for feedback at your office, on your website, or on your social media accounts.
You can also conduct market research for your content, to ensure it’s up to snuff. This research will tell you whether your content is tailored to your patients or not.
Sometimes what we think our visitors desire is not at all what they want. So ask and find out what kind of content best suits your patients and potential patients.
Trust is everything, so ensure you’re always engaging on social media and in your blog comments with your website visitors. You never know when one of them will need a therapist or know someone who does.
7. Social Media Marketing for Therapists
As a business owner of any kind, you need to establish an online presence. A component of that is always social media. In the digital age we live in, it’s critical to have multiple business accounts for your practice.
Major Benefits of Being Active on Social Media Include:
- Connecting with your target patients
- Bringing potential patients to your website
- Developing credibility in your industry
It’s suggested to focus on a few social media platforms, at least at first, to not overwhelm yourself.
Business-Oriented Social Media Platforms Great For Therapists:
- Facebook Business Pages
- Facebook Ads
- Facebook Groups
Of course, use your discretion, but these are excellent places to start. Prospective patients are using search engines to find therapists, so without an online presence, there’s little hope of growing your business by digital means.
This’ll also aid in developing your credibility. Good reviews will help tremendously when trying to establish yourself and your business’s reputation. Don’t be afraid to ask past or current patients to leave reviews — this could bring you more leads so it’s well worth the time and effort.
Final Thoughts
If you want to start appearing in the top search engine results, establish your therapy practice online, and find more patients — it’s time to take your marketing strategy seriously. And if your content sticks with them, chances are you’ll be who they’ll call in a time of crisis.
Digital marketing has revolutionized the way we do business, especially for therapy practices who may not have been exposed to modernized marketing methods.
What type of marketing efforts do you utilize in your therapy practice? Let us know in the comments!
