Marketing for Therapists: How to Get Started
Marketing your private practice is how you bring in a consistent caseload of clients, whether you’re just getting started or looking for a change. Private practice marketing lets people who visit your website and social media profiles know what services you offer, how you’re different from therapists in similar niches, and whether you’re a good fit for their needs.
Today, we’ll go over what you should know about marketing your private practice and share some free resources if you’re looking for additional support.
How to Create a Marketing Plan as a Therapist
Understand Your Ideal Client
The first step to creating your marketing plan is to ensure you understand your ideal client. What common struggles do they have (ex: difficulties being their authentic selves in their relationships with family and friends), and how can you help them? What’s their age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious background, location, income? Do you want to work with clients online, in-person, or a hybrid model? Whether you already have experience helping people you love or are still figuring it out, it’s essential — for your business AND for your clinical outcomes — to know who your ideal client is and what they need from working with you.
And, once you know who you want to serve and how you can help (your niche), it becomes a LOT easier to speak to their needs (instead of trying to talk to everyone but reaching no one). You’ll get a lot more details about this in our Identity and Values worksheet, which helps you ensure your business is aligned with who you are and what you have to offer.
Choose a Website Builder
Now that you understand your ideal client, you want to make sure you have a website where they can find and reach you. We personally recommend Squarespace, which starts at only $16/month and goes up to $49/month. There are other options like WordPress, but as a private practice owner, you want to spend your time on what really matters: creating a life and business that brings you joy and getting clinical outcomes that transform clients’ lives.
Squarespace keeps the therapist website-building process simple. And you won’t have to spend countless hours trying to figure out how to make basic changes or keep your website protected from security risks and hackers. The interface is simple, Squarespace takes care of the security, and there are even built-in search engine optimization (SEO) features to help you get found!
Get Basic SEO Done on Your Website
There are plenty of SEO resources out there, including Google Keyword Planner, Moz, SEMRush, and Keywords Everywhere to see what your potential clients are searching for on the internet. And if you’re using Squarespace, here’s an SEO checklist you can reference.
Add Your Business to Google My Business
Google My Business is one of the most common local business directories on the internet, and you don’t want to miss the opportunity to add your private practice to it! Once your profile’s been verified via mail, your business shows up on the right-hand side of a search engine results page when someone searches for your practice.
Here are some suggestions on creating a Google My Business profile:
Ensure all information is accurate, updated, and spelled correctly.
Complete each section — you don’t want to leave anything blank!
Choose an appropriate category for your business.
Add photographs of you and your office (if you have one!).
Quick Marketing Tips for Therapists
Network
When you’re first starting out in private practice, take some time to introduce yourself to your community. Attend local events, visit local businesses, reach out to other therapists online, and share information about your practice.
Add a personal touch to your marketing efforts
As many potential clients are less concerned about finding a therapist and more concerned if you’re the therapist who can help them, putting a personal touch on your marketing is a great way to stand out as a business. Whether you’re creating new blog content or website pages for your ideal audience, remember to focus on language and situations your clients connect with.
Get featured in your local newspaper
See if your local newspaper is looking to highlight a new business in town and would be open to including yours. You might have to pay for a space in the paper, but this is also a great opportunity to share your story with your community. Plus, you might even find some new clients who finally felt heard and understood after reading your message!
Free Marketing Resources
Take advantage of free marketing resources for therapists! There are therapists who’ve already done the work to determine tried-and-true marketing strategies.
Do you know how to market your business? Do you have any idea where to begin? Check out our free Private Practice Trainings Library for 15+ hours of free trainings for therapists.
Learn all about marketing authentically and creating value for your clients!
Marketing Masterclass for Therapists
Do you want additional marketing support? Register for the FREE 4-part Marketing Masterclass (eligible for 3 CEs with the APA and NBCC), where you’ll learn how to bring in ideal clients and employees to your practice through authentic marketing that speaks to their wants and needs!
