Advertising for therapists can be very accessible as long as you know where to start. This guide will walk you through the most essential, basic ways to drive potential new patients to your therapy practice.
The majority of these recommendations will be digital strategies for therapist marketing. But do not let that scare you off. The ideas below are super simple and could be implemented within the course of a week.
Sometimes simple ideas are the best ways to grow your practice with new patients.
Advertising for Therapists
Social Media
Why Therapists Should Use Social Media
Every industry has learned the incredible benefits of social media. It is where all potential customers are located. All a business needs to do is make a profile on their desired social media platform, fill in their information, and they are then on their way to direct communication with their customers.
For therapists, this process is no different. Creating a business account for your practice is a free way to engage directly with potential and current patients. Social media allows clients to feel more comfortable with you as a therapist and your practice.
Therapy is a very intimate situation. Craft a social media persona that allows potential new patients to feel like they know the therapist personally. Meeting and talking to a stranger about intimate, personal information is extremely difficult for many potential new patients.
That’s why you have to make sure they feel comfortable before they even schedule their first appointment.
Using social media for your therapy practice is something anyone can figure out, regardless of your technological skill. It’s a free tool that does not require any expertise to utilize, just well-thought-out planning.
With the use of a social media calendar, it allows you to plan out what you want to post and when to post it. Planning ahead will take the guesswork out of the process. Curating your social media posts and content will allow therapists to gain high-quality leads for potential new patients. Therapy marketing should always include some sort of social media use, especially on Facebook.
Effectively a second website, Facebook is great for listing similar content. Therapists are able to create a business profile and list hours of operation and other business information like a phone number for their practice.
Having this information available is great. This way, potential patients do not need to find your website to learn more about your therapy practice.
Facebook also has the added benefit of being a “billboard” for your practice. When a potential new patient stumbles across your therapy practice profile, be sure you have a way to capture their interest.
Therapists will want to include a URL on their Facebook profile to direct potential new patients to a sign-up page on their website. Garnering interest is a wasted opportunity unless you have a way to convert this interest into new patients.
Therapists can also use Facebook for easy direct communication with potential or current patients. Encourage users to leave comments or questions. This way, you will not need to answer the phone constantly every time someone has a simple question.
Plus, people are more likely to type out and leave a comment on Facebook rather than spending time calling a medical practice. Use this to your benefit.
When you feel like your Facebook profile is complete and ready, try running an Ad on Facebook. Paying to have your posts show up for the target market you want is straightforward and can be very helpful.
We can help you utilize Facebook to its fullest capabilities.
Instagram and Twitter
Both social media platforms offer some useful tools when for therapists looking to market their practice. For example, your practice can use Instagram to share calming, positive pictures and caption them with words of encouragement. This type of content is easy to consume for Instagram followers and even easier to create for therapists.
Twitter is useful to share your thoughts and directly interact with users who will comment on Tweets.
Remember, it is much easier to answer social media comments than to answer a phone. You do not need to Tweet consistently for Twitter to be useful. Any exposure is good for your practice.
Therapists can also utilize AMAs (Ask Me Anything) focused on specific topics related to their field. An AMA is particularly useful on platforms like Instagram and Twitter to drive interactions and increase your follower count. Show off your expertise while also gaining new followers.
You will be able to advertise your practice organically by just posting, commenting, or sharing content that will end up on people’s feeds. Do not worry about constantly cranking out new posts on social media platforms. A little goes a long way.
Just be sure to stay active with comments and questions from potential and current patients.
Website
Why Therapists Need A Website
When a potential new patient is looking for a therapist, chances are they will Google it. One of the most common searches for the medical field is looking for a professional in the searcher’s area.
A potential new patient is going to be searching on Google for a therapist near them. If your website is updated with the correct information and you are utilizing Google My Business, your practice will show up in search results.
Google My Business is a service offered by Google that allows you to easily advertise your therapy practice on Google Maps and in search results. Having a professionally made website that is well-optimized will allow your Google My Business results to shine.
Having a professionally made website allows you to capture new patients right when they are looking for you. If your website is showing in the search results, 99% of the time that means a potential new patient is trying to schedule with a therapist that meets their needs.
Most people want to schedule online or submit various forms digitally. Give potential new patients those options on your therapy practice website.
An updated, optimized website with various content will show well on Google search results. The better your website looks and feels, the higher it will show up.
When marketing your practice, the website needs to include call-to-actions, services offered at your practice, scheduling tools, contact information, and a biography page for the therapist. Those basic elements on your website will start you in the right direction.
Need a professional to develop your website?
Content On Your Website
Speaking of content, be sure to spend some time and put your best work on your site. Hire a professional to make an eye-catching website, or utilize services like:
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Weebly
- GoDaddy
These website builders make it very user-friendly when creating your own custom site. Check out each service, and find one that works for you.
A template is provided, and you just need to customize aesthetics like colors, fonts, and content you want to be displayed. This process takes some time if you want it to look professional, so be prepared to work on it. But the end result will definitely pay off.
Potential new patients will not take you seriously if the face of your practice, your website, look unprofessional. Therapists need to include the services they offer at their practice. Patients do not want to guess what type of services they are receiving from their therapist.
As mentioned before, scheduling tools are immensely popular amongst potential and current patients. Integrate this tool to allow patients the convenience of scheduling an appointment at your therapy practice when they feel up to it. You never know when a patient will feel the need to schedule, and relying on phone calls for this will ultimately cause missed opportunities.
You will also need to include critical information such as hours of operation at your practice and where patients can reach you. Correctly listing your hours will help out your Google My Business, and if you ultimately want to utilize them, Google Ads. Google will scan your page to make sure the content on there is useful, so make sure these components are there.
Having an email tool for questions and comments will also greatly improve the content of your website. Make it easy for patients to reach you.
The ideas listed above are the most basic components needed when advertising on a therapist’s website. Therapists can also include ideas such as a video introducing themselves or anonymous patient testimonials, which will instill confidence in new patients. The easy way to handle video is through YouTube.
Use your smartphone and record a video introducing yourself, your practice, services offered, and a little information about yourself like where you received your degree from and previous professional work. You can then use the YouTube app and upload this introductory video. Plug the YouTube video onto your website and you just created a high-value piece of content that patients want to see.
Blogging
Benefits Of Blogging
Your website should also prominently display your blog content. Curating a relevant blog demonstrates your accessibility, expertise, and knowledge to your patients. Therapists do not need to be great writers or bloggers to create helpful content, just brainstorm topics that you would enjoy explaining to curious patients.
Ultimately, these thoughts on your blog will help your website with SEO. In basic terms, successfully utilizing SEO means that your website has a better chance to show on Google search results.
People search on Google using certain keywords. Write your blog posts to include the keywords that your potential patients will be searching for information on.
Another benefit of producing blog posts is that they can be easily shared, or attached to social media posts. When your blog content is shared, you are getting free exposure. In this sense, content is another method of therapist marketing. Shared blog posts are essentially free advertisements for your therapy practice.
When To Write
Therapists do not need to write a new post every single day. Instead, try to create a blogging calendar or schedule based on the topics that you want to write about.
Writing a blog post once a week is a great start. This will help you to steadily produce content and build up your online portfolio. When potential new patients see that you are consistently providing relevant new information, they will view your practice as reliable and helpful.
It’s ideal to make a calendar so can stay on top of your planned content. For instance, you do not write three posts in one week and then go on a dry spell and skip weeks at a time. Remember, it is critically important to produce consistent, high-quality content.
We know how to create the best blog content for your practice.
What To Write About
Blogging for your professional therapy practice needs to be just that – professional. Keep the blog curated around therapeutic topics that potential and current patients want to know more about. Keep in mind that they are your target audience to gain new patients and keep your current ones satisfied.
If you are unsure what to write about, think about commonly asked questions or general advice you most often provide.
You can always gain inspiration by checking out the digital work of other professionals to consult what they write about. It is likely that you will be covering the same type of topics as others in your field.
Ultimately, be sure you are not plagiarizing. Nothing looks more unprofessional than stealing another’s content. You have the experience and knowledge to capably produce your own work.
Community
Professional Network
Connecting with fellow professionals will open up a new source of patients. Being associated with therapists, physicians, and other professionals in the medical field will show that you are respected and have credibility with your peers.
If both parties are in agreement, you can build a network based on recommendations within your group of professional connections. Patients will place a higher value on a recommendation from a trusted medical professional than from online reviews. For instance, if you are endorsed by someone’s primary care physician, they will give that recommendation more credibility than a stranger’s Google review.
It is important to stress the importance of your network’s reputation. Be sure that you actually want to be in a network with these other professionals. You could receive negative results if other professionals are not providing excellent care.
To avoid any poor associations, it is best to be careful who you network with. Start with a very small circle of trusted peers and work your way out to meet more professionals in your region.
When you are initially laying the groundwork for your network, you will need to make meetings and informational interviews with other respected professionals. This may require a bit of effort to reach out and craft your ideal network, but it will ultimately be well worth it when you receive new patients who are already confident in your work.
As you are trying to build your network, make sure to bring up your therapy practice in conversation whenever possible. Without being pushy, encourage other professionals to reach out to your practice or set up meetings to learn more about each other as peers and on a personal level.
Referrals
Referrals are the lifeblood of growing medical practices. This will be a simple and cost-effective method of advertising.
There is also the option to pay for the recommendation of referral services and directories. This can be worth it in the end to gain exposure for your therapy practice.
Organic referrals are even better. These come from satisfied patients.
Building close relationships with patients mean they will be more likely to recommend your practice to their friends and family. These therapist-patient relationships are based on mutual trust and respect.
Make sure that patients are aware of your confidentiality policies so that they are comfortable sharing your practice’s information. You can also utilize referral programs to incentivize patients. These can be structured as patient appreciation and loyalty programs, social media-based giveaways, and other small gestures that are mutually beneficial to your patients and your therapy practice.
Want even more advertising and marketing advice?
Recap
Advertising for therapists is nothing to be afraid of. The process is very straightforward, and all ideas discussed above could be created and implemented within a week. Therapists have a unique opportunity to connect with individuals who are seeking a professional, yet familiar relationship.
Patients want to know they are in the hands of an expert, but they need to make sure it is comfortable for them.
When done correctly, a therapist can effectively manage social media, build a professional website, blog their thoughts, and build a community for patient growth. If you devote some time, energy, and creativity to advertising and marketing, you will see your practice thrive.
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