You've been running your therapy practice or coaching business for some time now, and you want to grow, perhaps even expand your business and hire more therapists/coaches. In order to achieve this goal, you need to get more bookings and clients, ideally without investing too much time in looking for them. You've heard about SEO, Instagram Ads, and perhaps some other marketing tools and strategies. Which are effective? What should you focus on? Let's have a look.
The truth is, you can do a lot of stuff when it comes to marketing your therapy practice. However, there is one proven formula for therapist marketing that works no matter where you are. And this formula consists of just three (four if you have more time) steps that will lead you to your desired place. A place where bookings are coming in on auto-pilot.
Because that's what you want, right?
A quick overview of marketing strategies for therapists and coaches
First off, we want to talk you through some of the most popular marketing strategies out there. And we need to make this absolutely clear: None of the strategies listed below is bad or ineffective.
But we assume that you want new bookings quickly without investing in things that look good but do not necessarily bring new clients through your door, correct?
Facebook and Instagram Ads
Here, the story is short: Both of them are great. They can be immensely effective, but there is one condition you have to meet: You must already have a big audience of people interested in your services or you must offer your services to people with specific characteristics.
Here's an example: Suppose you are a coach who works with marketing agency owners. Almost every marketing agency owner in your country is most likely a good fit. In that case, Facebook and Instagram ads are right up your alley! That's because both FB and IG (Meta owns both) allow you to target such people, just like in this ad:
As you can see, this guy is actually targeting marketing agency owners and coaches with his offer, and this ad got almost 300 likes, 65 comments, and 9 shares, which is great.
LinkedIn Ads
They can be very effective, too, provided your target audience is on LinkedIn, and you can actually verify this fact by browsing through search results. LinkedIn targets your ads by profession, company (size and type), location, and several other factors. Just like in the example below, where the advertiser is trying to target Canadian start-ups:
So, when can you use LinkedIn ads? When, for instance, you work with C-suite managers or work with HR managers working in large companies - in such a situation, this tool is for you.
SEO
SEO is, without a doubt, a fantastic tool that improves your visibility in organic search results. With a good SEO strategy in place, you can grow organically for years. However, you must be aware that SEO takes time.
You need to invest some money and time first in order to see the first results. It's a bit easier when it comes to local SEO (local-intent keywords are, e.g., "anxiety therapy Ottawa" or "EMDR therapist Calgary"), but you still need to be ready to wait a little to see the first results.
Email marketing
Lastly, we have email marketing but in order to benefit from this strategy, you need a large enough database of emails. You can't send out mass emails to strangers; not only it's not effective, it's also illegal. And the truth is the majority of therapists, psychologists, and coaches, they don't have extensive email bases, right? So, it's likely a no-go...
OK, so now the question is, what should you focus on? We asked ourselves this question a few years ago, too. And we've come up with a simple, three-step formula that gives us (and now our clients, too) a constant stream of new bookings.
Let's see how it works:
A 3-step marketing formula for therapists and coaches
When we were starting our own therapy practice some time ago, we wanted to create a simple, no-brainer marketing strategy that would give us a constant flow of new bookings. And this is what we came up with, and this is how our clients succeed as well!
Step 1: Get a really nice website
Effective marketing always starts with a good website. This means that your website should:
Be designed according to modern UX and web design trends
Clearly say who you help and how
Have copy that attracts the right audience (you must speak your clients' language and focus on their needs and interests)
Build trust in you as a therapist/coach (showcase your experience and show yourself at work)
Meet all the Google requirements (especially mobile friendliness and core web vitals)
Have at least one lead magnet (in this sector, it's usually a free initial consultation)
Have a booking calendar and provide an easy way of booking a therapy/coaching sessions with you
When you check all these boxes, your website is probably ready for marketing activities. After all, even if you have the best ad in the universe, people still need to go to your website first before they book with you, right? And if they are disappointed by what they see, it's just a lost potential...
People must feel good when they are on your website.
They must feel that you are empathetic, knowledgeable, and willing to help them cope with their problems or achieve their goals.
We know this sentence can mean different things to different people, but you should strive to do whatever you can to achieve this goal and implement improvements when necessary.
Step 2A: Google Ads
So, why Google Ads? The answer is very simple: Because when people are looking for specific products and services, they usually start with Google. This refers to psychotherapy and coaching services as well. If you provide services that are strictly of a therapeutic nature, you can never know who is currently looking for such help or is willing to start therapy, right?
But we promise you a lot of these people use Google to find solutions to their problems. And if they see your ad as a result of their search, they may want to find out more and start therapy/coaching sessions with you!
This thinking worked for us, and it works for our clients. In many cases, Google Ads is all you need to get your business off the ground and build a steady stream of new bookings.
Step 2B: Local SEO
This activity is very closely related to Google Ads, as here you also advertise your business on Google. Create a Google Profile (formerly Google My Business) so that your business can be visible on Google Maps and integrate it with your Google Ads account - that's the most effective combination. And then there are other SEO-related things, such as:
SiL keywords on your website
Local backlinks
Updates and photos on your Google Profile
Positive reviews from your clients
Accurate and unified NAP data, etc.
Step 3: Grow and optimize!
With a good website, an effective Google Ads campaign running, and good visibility in the area, you're good to go and grow your business for many weeks and months to come. And once you earn enough money to expand your reach even more, you should add full SEO to your strategy so that your website can grow organically on Google.
This is also a good moment to add Facebook and Instagram ads to your strategy, because you're no longer desperately looking for clients, and you can devote some time and resources to building your visibility on social media.
Step 4: Build your personal brand
We put this additional step as a fourth one because you most likely don't have much time to do everything, right? Although building a personal brand is incredibly important and also boosts your lead generation efforts, it's also a long-term game, just like SEO.
So our advice is to start doing so as soon as you start to getting at least some of your time back, e.g., because you hired additional therapists and coaches who work with your clients and you simply have more time for other activities.
Wrapping up: Opt for successful marketing for therapists!
Put our three-step formula to work, and you'll see how your business grows. Of course, there are other things to consider that we didn't mention in this article, but this is the big picture of how this strategy works.
If you want to see what results it produced, feel free to see our success stories!
And what if you don't have time to manage your accounts and learn Google Ads? This is where we step into the game :) We help therapists and coaches get clients on auto-pilot without the headaches of learning new skills or managing an in-house team.
Would you like us to help you grow your business? Schedule a free consultation with us, and let's explode your business!
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