Therapist Marketing: Growing a Group or Solo Private Practice
You are beyond starting your private practice and now in the building and growing phase, still needing the phone to ring, to fill up caseload(s) to and find some sort of steadiness in the flow of your work. The spark of it all being new has long burned away, but there is still within you a desire to keep doing this work and to create an income that truly works for you and your needs.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, you don’t have to do ALL the things to be successful in private practice. But we believe you do need to be consistent with what is aligned with who you are, your strengths and energy and the needs of your future clients. So how do you get your marketing into a flow and alignment that actually works? Assuming you’ve done the things that we mentioned in the Starting a Private Practice article, we want to help you explore what is needed now in your marketing to grow your private practice, whether it’s group or solo.
And as a fun bonus, we go into some great case studies and deeps dives of marketings plans with this brand new Marketing Plan training HERE.
Therapist Marketing Part 1: Review the Data
Before you start laying the plans for what is next, we want to encourage you to review what you have done, what worked and what didn’t. In our Business School for Therapists we have an entire marketing analysis that will help you track the numbers that matter most and interpret the data for you to make better decisions moving forward.
But for now, here are some of the things you want to look at:
1. Inquiry tracking - Every email and phone call should be tracked so you know how many calls per month you are getting, who referred or how they found you and the outcome of the call. If you have a lot of calls that don’t convert because they aren’t a good fit, then you might need to look at your messaging or where you are marketing to make sure you are speaking to the right kinds of clients. If your calls are a good fit but they don’t convert then you want to evaluate your consultation process. If you are getting too few of calls but they are converting, then you want to explore expanding the marketing activities you are already doing.
2. Website Data - Time to look and see if people are finding you online and how they are finding you. Check out your website data for how many unique visitors. This will tell you how many people are seeing your message. Look at how many forms or contacts you get from your website. This tells you the conversion rate of your website. So if 1000 people come to your website and you get 10 contact form submissions you would have a 1% conversion. Pay attention to the top pages that people are looking at, how long they stay on the pages and if the continue to dig into your website from there or move onto something else. This will let you know what content is relevant and if people are staying engaged. Look at how people come to your site. It might be from a google search or your social media posts. This lets you know if your marketing in other places is working as well. Lastly, you want to pay attention to what keywords you are ranking for and if you are on the first page of google for any keywords as part of your search engine optimization (SEO). Being found on google because you are the first page for keywords that your ideal clients use to find a therapist is key.
3. Marketing Analysis - Be honest with yourself and reflect on how much time you are giving your marketing. Even if you are full at some times, you want to still market on a regular basis so that you don’t fall behind or stop being visible to those who need you most. If you haven’t been consistent, consider putting 1 or 2 hours per week into your schedule to do some nurturing of your business through marketing. Did any of your marketing activities lead to more clients? Were there activities that drained you? lit you up? It’s really good to evaluate the past so you can make a plan moving forward without burnout. Remember - you want to align your energy with the marketing that is most relevant and connecting for your ideal clients.
While you need to be consistent with your marketing, you want to focus on the tasks that move the needle most. That means in your analysis, if you find something isn’t working, give yourself permission to try something else. Pivoting based on knowledge and data is a GOOD thing. It’s a skill any therapist will benefit from as a business owner. The stuff that maybe you don’t have the tech knowledge of or don’t love doing but you know works, you can see what you could give to someone else to help you with or use software to help you get tasks done. You don’t have to do all the things but you do need to do something.
Therapist Marketing Part 2: Online Marketing Strategies
There are endless possibilities when it comes to what you can do online for marketing your private practices. You’ll notice we don’t talk about paying for ads or shelling out more cash to be seen. We want to focus on the easy peasy steps you can take right now to grow your solo or group practice.
Blogging - Keep your website fresh and relevant with regular blogging. We have helped many a business schooler get to the first page of google with this strategy, even in some of the most competitive areas. Targeting keywords that people use when searching for a therapist in your area, your blogs can be what gets you seen on google while also helping people make a decision if you are the right therapist for them. It’s an opportunity to let your personality shine and to serve your community through education.
Directory Listings - If you are on directory listings, be sure you have a message that is compelling and converting - that stands out from the crowd. If the directory listing hasn’t provided clients to you, you may want to consider other tests with directories or list serves in your niche. Make sure our profile is complete and relevant to who you want to attract into your practice.
Website - Update your website to have pages that speak to the different niches you serve with frequently asked questions so clients can really get to understand how you help. You want your website to be easy to use and accessible so make sure that on every page of your website, it’s easy to contact you!
Social Media - Do you have to do social media? Absolutely not! But a lot of you out there are on it, use it and love it. So we are here to say, why not take something you are already doing to connect with others and to get your message out into the world. In our Business School we teach how you can use social media not just for making posts about you, but for making new connections and building referrals. Think of LinkedIn and all the professionals out there in your area that you could connect with. You can get your blogs and website seen on Pinterest, another place people are searching for help for their mental health. You can do live videos and collabs with other professionals on Facebook or Instagram. So many options - but what matters most is your authenticity and consistency!
Therapist Marketing Part 3: Offline Marketing Strategies
Even introverts need a break from online marketing, so get out from behind the computer and start building relationships in your community. Of course, you can start with the people you already know but you also want to branch out and meet other professionals who are working with your ideal client. Making solid connections usually comes from a place of being of service. This isn’t a convo of “Nice to meet you! I am have opening in my private practice if you know of anyone who needs therapy.” Scratch that - you want to see how you can support. “Nice to meet you! Tell me about you. Who is a good referral for you? Who do you not want referred to you? Are there any ways I can be of support? I offer education, training and consultation. How can I be of service?” Social media and google can be a great way to search for new people you want to meet, while also asking your current connections if they can make an introduction for you.
You may prefer to be in a crowd when meeting people. If that’s the case, consider looking at local networking groups or your local association meetups. You might find that being a part of a community is less isolating and actually energizing!
Therapist Marketing Part 4: Converting Conversations
All your marketing falls flat if people call and you can’t get them to schedule as a client. Part of your marketing plan needs to include a consultation process - building trust with the potential client, aligning the marketing message with what you do and how you show up, and making it easy for a person to know if you are the right fit for them. In our Business School for Therapists we have a whole BONUS on Consultations that Convert. The key is to make sure every person that calls or reaches out gets the same care and that when they have their consult, it matches with the messaging that you’ve been putting out there. Your consultation process should include brief questions that really help you determine if you can help the person, an explanation of how you work and what to expect in terms of time and investment.
Conclusion
Does this cover everything? Nope! There is always more to learn and do. You are in this business for the long run and marketing is going to evolve over time. We cover all things marketing in our Business School for Therapists, an online program used by thousands of therapists, just like you who are starting or growing their practices without burnout.