Speaker A
What's up, everybody? I hope you're doing well. You don't know this by the looks of things, but this is the third time I'm sitting down to film this episode, so you're going to see me change outfits a whole bunch today. But hopefully, it makes sense in the end. Originally, I filmed an episode this week where I answered all your top questions related to marketing your private practice, and it was way too long. So I think I'm going to break it up into a series, answering just one of your top questions at a time per video. So if you're watching along, then you'll see me change outfits a bunch, but hopefully third time's a charm and this episode makes sense. So based on the poll that I put on Instagram, the category of question that was asked most often by far was, "What are the most effective marketing strategies?" What a question! I think this is fascinating because a lot of times I think it could be easy for us to think, just tell me what the most effective marketing strategy is and how to implement it, and I will do it so I can fill my practice. And though there is something to be said about that, like some marketing strategies are going to be more effective in general than others, I think it's more important to ask what marketing strategy is going to be the best fit for you and your clients, and also how do you implement that strategy effectively. For any marketing strategy out there, it's possible to do your best at implementing it and finding out that it's not working for you. It's not filling your practice. So there's more to the story than just saying, "Tell me which marketing strategies are most effective." I did make an episode a couple years ago now where I invited you all to share what your primary marketing strategy was. The top strategy folks referenced for how they filled their practice, with 53% of people responding to that poll, was through online directories. So we might hear something like that and hear like, "Oh, 53% of therapists in private practice, at least of those who responded to that poll from two years ago, filled their practice through online directories. Sign me up for an online directory and let me get my practice full." But it's not so simple. If you're working in a really oversaturated market and there's just way more therapists on the online directory than there is demand, then yeah, there's going to be at least some people who can't fill their practice through the online directory. And if you live somewhere else where the supply matches the demand a little better, maybe an online directory might be enough for you to keep your practice full. And even with that said, for an online directory, there's still a strategy to employ to optimize your online directory so that you can hopefully fill your practice even if you are in a place that's more overly saturated. So I wouldn't want somebody to hear a stat like the one I just named and think, "Oh, here's the top way people fill their practice. Let me just go ahead and do that and I should fill my practice too." So I'd like to change this question rather than asking the question of what marketing strategy should I use to fill my practice or what's the most effective marketing strategy out there for private practice. I think the most important question to ask is how. How do I utilize whatever marketing strategy I'm using? How do I use it well? This is the question that we often miss, and this is also the harder question to answer because we can't just say, "Use this marketing strategy. It'll fill your practice every time." It's whatever marketing strategy you're using, how do you utilize it well? And the answer to that question has a lot more detail, a lot more nuance, and does take work. In other words, just because maybe you see all your friends filling their practice through a certain marketing strategy, it doesn't mean that you have to go along with that and use the same marketing strategy yourself. So just to really drill this point home, here are a few questions to help you hone in on your marketing strategy. First, I'd ask, what marketing strategies do I actually like? Which strategies do I have a decent chance of maybe thriving at implementing? It's less helpful to use a cookie-cutter strategy and say, like, all these people are using this strategy, so I must use it too. Because if you don't like that marketing strategy, well, all that effort that you put into it is going to contribute to tiredness, potential for burnout, and you might also lose steam and have a lot of trouble kind of keeping up with that marketing strategy. But if there's a marketing strategy that maybe you're more skilled at, you might actually even enjoy, then there's a much greater chance that you'll stay motivated to keep up with it. You'll seem more authentic as you show up in that particular pathway, and maybe you might even find it energizing or supportive to market your practice through an avenue that you like. Okay, but it doesn't just stop there, because you might find a marketing strategy that you like, but there's more to it. So the next question I would ask is, where are my ideal clients likely to hang out at? Where would my ideal clients go if they were looking for a potential therapist? For example, if you are working with younger people, they're more likely to maybe be on the internet or social media, whereas let's say if you work with folks who tend to lean towards an older demographic, maybe they're not hanging out on TikTok as much, but they might be able to find you through some other means. So it's helpful to kind of get a sense of, like, where is my ideal client most likely to hang out at, and then bring that question together with your first question of like, what marketing strategies do I actually enjoy, and see where those two overlap. And then the third question that I think applies to every marketing strategy regardless of which one you're implementing is, how do I show up most authentically in that marketing space? How do I instill confidence in my ideal clients that I am able to help them with what they need help with? Whether you're using social media, SEO, online directories, networking, speaking gigs, any array of marketing strategies, it's really important that you are showing up as you and bringing your genuine passion about your work to the forefront and how you're communicating with other people. And then within that, we're focusing on building trust with potential clients and how we're communicating so that it's clear to them how you're able to help support them with what they need help with. I do think it's really worthwhile to spend quite a bit of time on this step if it's unclear what it looks like to be authentic to yourself and how you serve the folks you work with, well, because that's going to be what sets you apart and makes you you and not just, you know, a dime-a-dozen therapist. And then the last question, after you've kind of honed in on a particular marketing path and asked if you can show up authentically in a way that instills trust and hope in potential clients, is to ask, what aspects of the mechanics of that marketing strategy can I hone in on, can I grow in, can I get taught by somebody who knows how to utilize this particular marketing strategy successfully so that I can implement those same strategies myself? With any marketing approach, even the old-school ones, there's some level of strategy, mechanics, even technology that goes behind it so that we can set ourselves up for success. Even if we're just networking and using word of mouth, there are strategies to network well, and there's strategies that might not be as effective. So if we can find what those mechanics are, then it's going to help set us up for success. And when all is said and done, if you're just not sure where to start with your chosen marketing avenue, I would suggest getting to know peers who are utilizing that marketing strategy and just picking their brain, seeing if they're willing to share what they've learned. Again, it doesn't mean that you need to copy and paste whatever strategy they've...
