Marketing for Therapists: 7 Ways to Market Your Practice When Starting from Zero
Are you wondering why you’re struggling to find clients for your therapy practice? You’ve put in the work discovering your brand identity and dream client, so why aren’t you getting more bookings?
The answer is probably your struggling marketing strategy — or lack of one altogether.
With the rise of teletherapy services, global competition is increasing, which means you need to have a plan to market your practice if you want to win more clients. And while creating a marketing strategy from scratch can feel intimidating, it doesn’t have to be!
Here’s everything you need to know about marketing your therapy business from the ground up.
Marketing from the Ground-Up
First things first, ditch the overwhelm. Understand that you can’t do everything — and recognize that you don’t have to. Your leads aren’t going to dry up just because you aren’t utilizing every marketing avenue available to you.
Instead of trying to do everything, figure out what your goals are, and then prioritize based on those goals. Consider your own personality and needs as well as your target clients, then sit down and make a plan that aligns with both.
But First, Brand Building
Before you market, you’ll need a homebase to send people to, AKA your brand and website. Branding and marketing work together, and without a homebase, you won’t be able to convert as many leads as you probably hope.
Along with a website, here are a few other things you should consider:
Business cards
Pamphlets and anything you’ll need in office
Social media pages
Brand photography
When you put in the work upfront to build a solid homebase, you’ll encourage brand awareness and loyalty, which are the foundational pieces of a good marketing strategy.
7 Marketing Ideas for Therapists
So you have a knockout brand, business cards made, and your therapy website prepped and ready to go. Now it’s time to build out your marketing strategy, and I’ve put together seven ideas to get you started.
1. Opt-Ins
If you’re looking for a way to exponentially grow your client base, reduce your time spent on marketing, and make your life as a service provider a whole lot easier, you need an opt-in!
An opt-in is a freebie that you offer on your website that gives potential clients a taste of your services, the mission of your practice, and how you can help them. It could be a checklist, a step-by-step plan, a video tutorial, or even a workshop. Whatever it may be, the goal of an opt-in freebie is to help you generate leads while reducing your time spent looking for them.
2. SEO Through Blogging
Blogging boosts your brand awareness by speaking directly to your target audience. As you’re creating content, try to picture what your dream clients are struggling with in their lives and speak to that.
When you publish content that provides value, you’ll build credibility with potential clients. And with some forethought and a little bit of optimization, you’ll be able to generate traffic and leads for your business from search engines. SEO might seem overwhelming at first, but it can be made simple with the use of free tools like:
3. Guest Posting
Guest posting simply means writing content for someone else’s blog or website. I know what you’re probably thinking — “Why should I invest time writing for someone else’s blog rather than my own?” For one, contributing to other sites in your industry allows you to naturally build authority in the space. Plus, it opens up another pool of potential traffic (and leads!) that wouldn’t be available to you otherwise. Sounds like a win-win, right?
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the best ways to nurture leads and turn them into clients. Ever heard the phrase “the money’s in the list?” When someone opts in to your email list, they’re asking to hear from you. They WANT to learn more about you and what you do, which means it’s the perfect opportunity to warm them up to the services you offer. If you’re stuck on what you should write, you can start by sharing uplifting and encouraging messages or simply repurposing your existing blog posts.
5. Social Media Video
If you’re naturally an introvert, the thought of showing up on camera can be nerve-wracking. But with the rise of social media content like TikToks and Instagram Reels, there’s no denying the power of video.
If you really want to form a genuine connection with potential clients, one of the best ways to do so is by speaking directly to them. Sharing short video messages that provide guidance or encouragement helps you nurture that relationship before you even meet.
6. Guest Speaking
Speaking engagements are another way to build your authority, credibility, and expertise as a therapy professional. The best approach is to choose one or two topic areas that you’d like to focus on that you know you can give a lot of talks on. Then look for opportunities to speak to groups who would benefit most from these topics.
When done right, guest speaking can be a great way to effectively capture your ideal clients. There’s also the opportunity for paid speaking gigs once you become more established as a speaker.
7. Guest Podcasting
Similar to guest blogging, making a guest appearance on someone else’s podcast can be a fun way to share your expertise and grow your brand awareness. Podcasts are on the rise, and mental health shows are particularly popular, so it’s the perfect opportunity to build authority in your industry. Most podcast hosts give you the chance to plug your services, so it also opens up a fresh pool of potential clientele.
If your therapy practice is struggling for clients, you likely lack a solid marketing strategy that will propel your business forward. Creating a marketing plan from scratch can be overwhelming, but once you do, your life as a service provider will be made easier, and your client pipeline will run itself like a well-oiled machine.
