I’ve often said that marketing for therapists can be a little tricky. Getting clients into your practice can feel like a bit of a beast when you have so many issues to contend with.
I’m talking about professional quandaries like confidentiality, non-disclosure, and ethical concerns about marketing.
Not to mention the time thing. You became a therapist so you could help people who need your support most. You didn’t start your own practice so you could spend hours marketing every week.
In this post, I’m going to show you 10 proven ways you can get more clients into your therapy practice now, without feeling super icky doing it or spending all your time glued to social media.
1. Identify your ideal clients
This is pretty much the cornerstone of marketing for therapists. Why? Because it helps you hone in on exactly who you are trying to attract and create messaging that is specific to them.
I’ve often said that messaging that speaks to everyone is messaging that speaks to no one. Marketing to your ideal clients means knowing their pain points, problems, and dream outcomes inside out.
Right about now you might be asking yourself: Okay, but how do I get to know my ideal client inside out?
Easy peasy! You can use my Ultimate Client Clarity Cheat Sheet. It includes 15 client clarity questions and will take about 10 minutes to run through. Oh, and it’s free!
Download your Ultimate Client Clarity Cheat Sheet
2. Share visibility content on social media
Social media is a key part of marketing for therapists. After all, nobody can buy from you if they don’t know you exist.
That’s why it’s super important to create content on social media that increases your brand awareness.
Social media can be tough to navigate as a therapy business owner (or any business owner for that matter!) because its algorithms are ever-changing and often keep your content hidden.
However, if you want to create content that is seen by a much wider audience, you should aim to create posts that…
- Educate
- Entertain
- Inspire
Not sure how to do that? This next section will help…
Marketing for therapists: How to come up with viral ideas
Brainstorm some ideas that come to mind when you ask yourself these questions. (Try not to overthink it!)
- What little-known but super-effective tip, trick, or hack could I share with my audience to educate them?
- What funny or relatable struggle could I share with my audience to entertain them?
- What hopeful message or quote could I share with my audience to inspire them?
Coming up with content ideas is not easy. Here’s my advice: Follow bigger mental health and therapy accounts on social media and hit ‘Save’ on their posts that perform well.
When you’re stuck for ideas, go into your ‘Saved’ folder and think about how you can create similar content for your audience.
3. Include activation content
Activation content is content that taps into your audience’s emotions and motivates them to take a specific action.
It usually does four things…
- Educates your audience on the problem they are facing
- Creates a sense of urgency so your audience feels compelled to solve their problems now
- Make your audience aware of the solution you offer through compelling case studies and reviews
- Positions you an expert
Be sure to make activation content a key part of your therapy marketing strategy!
4. Start a newsletter
Fancy a fast fact? Newsletters offer five times the conversion rate of any other marketing medium. That’s because newsletters (also known as marketing emails) give you a direct line to your ideal clients.
You’re able to chat to them without competing with hundreds of other posts as you do on social media.
Don’t have the first clue to begin? My course, Emails To Earnings, will help. It’s the only email marketing course for health and wellness professionals.
Click here for more info on Emails To Earnings.
5. Write blogs with a little SEO magic
Blogs are a great tool for therapists like you to educate, connect with, and attract their ideal clients.
A well-written blog allows you to share your expertise, address common questions, and build trust – all while boosting your website’s visibility on search engines like Google.
The biggest mistake I see therapists make when it comes to blogs? Using blogs as a bit of a brain dump. They put all their thoughts down on the page while paying very little attention to SEO.
SEO, if you aren’t familiar, stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it’s an important strategy in marketing for therapists.
Here are a few things you can do to make your blogs more SEO-friendly…
How to write SEO-friendly blogs as a therapist
- Connect your site to Google Search Console
- Use Keysearch to discover what keywords you should be focusing on
- Write content that thoroughly and accurately answers your ideal clients’ queries
- Aim to include your keyword in a natural way around 10 times every 1,000 words
- Write a meta description that sums up what your blog article covers
- Add Alt Text to all of your images
Click here for more blog writing tips.
6. Show up on camera
Not every therapist is going to love this one, but showing up on camera on your social media channels establishes the know, like, and trust factor.
And that’s super important considering just how intimate the relationship is between therapist and client.
If the thought of showing up on camera feels overwhelming, try this to make it easier and more effective…
1. Start small
Begin with short, informal videos. A quick introduction or a “hello” in your stories can help you ease into it.
2. Use a teleprompter app
If you’re worried about forgetting what you want to say, you can use a teleprompter app. (My fave is Teleprompter Pro.)
The text will move along the screen as you’re filming.
7. Use storytelling
Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your audience. What is it exactly, you ask?
Storytelling is about sharing experiences in a way that resonates with your audience. And like the plot of any good book or film, the stories you tell in your marketing will have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The most common – and effective – way to tell stories in your therapy practice marketing is through client case studies and testimonials.
(Don’t worry, you can keep these anonymous or use imagined scenarios so you aren’t breaking client confidentiality.)
Your therapy storytelling will look a little like this…
- Where your client was before therapy with you (Their challenges and struggles)
- What you did to help them work through that
- Where they are now (How do they feel now that they’ve solved this issue? What does their life look like?)
Sharing these stories with your audience allows them to see just how transformative your services are – and the difference you could make in their lives.
8. List your therapy practice in directories
These platforms are often the first place people turn when searching for therapists so they’re an important part of your marketing strategy.
Just remember not all directories are created equal. You might like to check out Psychology Today, TherapyDen, and GoodTherapy.
How to stand out in a therapy directory
Whichever platform you choose there will likely be hundreds, if not thousands of other therapists on there, so how do you stand out?
- Make sure your bio is focused on the problems your ideal client faces and how you solve them
- Use keywords related to your niche or speciality (where appropriate)
- Write an attention-grabbing headline (Pro tip: Write a headline that speaks to the transformation you offer. For example: Helping busy professionals overcome anxiety and reclaim balance.)
9. Repurpose your content regularly
If it feels like you’re repeating yourself, you’re doing it right! Research suggests that it can take 10 or more interactions with a brand before someone makes a purchase.
When you repurpose your content, you’re giving your audience multiple opportunities to engage with your message.
Plus, it’s a massive time-saver. That means you’ll spend less time creating content and more time serving your clients. A win-win!
Top tips for repurposing your content as a therapist
- Set aside a dedicated time every week or month to repurpose content
- Turn long-form blogs and emails into reels and carousels
- Turn old reels into carousels and vice versa
- If your blog/email includes tips, turn each one into an educational reel
- If your content includes statistics, turn each one into a single image post
- Pull out 2-3 inspiring quotes from your old content and turn them into single-image posts
Remember, not everyone sees your content the first time, so repurposing your posts is just good sense.
10. Create a freebie
Freebies (also known as lead magnets) are an essential part of marketing for therapists. Why? Because they encourage people to join your mailing list where they’ll receive your newsletters.
And as I mentioned earlier, that’s good news, because newsletters are five times more effective at turning your audience into clients compared to any other marketing platform.
To grow your mailing list subscribers, you simply share the link to your freebie on social media. (You can also mention it on your podcast if you have one or put a pop-up form on your website to encourage sign-ups.)
Ideas for freebies/lead magnets for therapists
- eBooks and guides
- Cheatsheets
- Quizzes
- Workbooks and journals
- Progress trackers
- Masterclasses, tutorials, or webinars
Marketing for therapists: FAQs
Isn’t marketing just manipulation?
You might have asked yourself if marketing for therapists is ethical. Marketing is just about building relationships. And remember, you can’t help anyone if they don’t know you exist.
By helping people discover you and the solutions you offer you’re actually doing them a favour. They need your help, and you’re helping them find it.
My client list is full. Do I still need to focus on marketing?
There’s no guarantee that your stream of clients won’t run dry. Marketing is safeguarding the future of your business.
There will undoubtedly be times when business slows down – and successful marketing means you won’t have to scramble for clients.
But I don’t have time to market my therapy practice…
Trust me, that’s a common concern. Effective marketing really does take time, no matter what the online gurus tell you. It’s not something that can be rushed or crammed into an hour a week.
And that’s why getting the support of a professional can be so useful!
I’m a copywriter for health and wellness business owners and I offer done-for-you marketing for therapists just like you. That equals more clients and hours saved in your week. Click here if you’d like more info.
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