MHP Institute – Therapist Marketing

Welcome to MHP Institute Blog. Our aim is to offer mental health professionals valuable marketing tips and psychotherapy news, helping them stay updated and ultimately draw in more clients. Would you like to enter to win a one year MHP License click on "click to enter" top right hand side.

“You Are What You Eat” is a very interesting Lunch and Learn held last month by Wellness Factors our sister company. “You are what you eat” is proving to be more than just a saying, as new research reveals the enormous impact of nutrition on the brain. This month’s tele-lunch-lunch & learn features Dr. Gary L. Wenk, Phd., a leading expert on the neuroscience of food, who discusses how everything we put into our bodies has a direct consequence on how we think, feel, and act.

We received another great comment on my attention grabbing post on Twitter. Tamara G. Suttle (AllThingsPrivatePractice.com) wrote:

“Hi, Kelly. Thanks for addressing this topic. Elizabeth and Juliet have it right here (in the comments section). I think you are confusing the tool with the necessary skills to use it.

Yes, therapists need to have a marketing strategy on and offline . . . but mental health professionals also need to know how to use the tools of social media if they are going to use them effectively.

If therapists have a tiny following or fail to develop a purpose, message, and strategy on Twitter, the tool is useless at best and damaging at worst. But, that is not about the usefulness of the tool; it’s about the user not knowing what s/he is doing. Using Twitter for personal use is not the same as using Twitter for marketing.

I do not recommend that mental health professionals use Twitter to reach potential clients. However, I recommend using it to extend your practice’ branding by targeting potential referral sources instead. By establishing your brand on Twitter as a resource for your niche, you are likely to drive more traffic to your website to learn about your services.”

I agree with most of what Tamara wrote but from the comments I have received I feel like I was not as clear as I could have been (not the first time) regarding  Twitter for Therapists.  (more…)

Our last post “To tweet, or not to tweet, that is the question!” examined whether Twitter was an effective tool for therapist marketing. We received feedback both supporting and disagreeing with our points. In this therapist tip we go right back to basics and look at first impressions. As it has been said “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”

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Alex sent us a great comment on Twitter 10 Psychological Insight that I wanted to address here:

“Great article but I don’t think it gets to the core concern: how can it be used to boost my practice?

I can tell my client all that everyone is on Twitter and we should be Tweeting, but I can’t pinpoint why. Why would anyone listen to us?

A better statistic would be what percentage of users search for things they are looking for on Twitter…That will give Twitter instant credibility and bump up its importance in the SEO world because now we know people are searching for our services on Twitter. I do not have that statistic, do you?

I have an increasingly hard time trying to justify our Twitter efforts without showing some return on investment.”

This is exactly the question I approached in Experiencing a Client Shortage? THE SEQUEL.  My view could be best summed up by: “If a tweet is tweeted and no one opens it, is that really marketing?”  (more…)

In “Experiencing a Client Shortage?” our most watched Therapist Tip video, we examined the increasingly complicated therapist marketing world. The solution to all the clutter was surprisingly simple. If you haven’t watched this 2 minute video yet you can watch it at Therapist Marketing Tip #7. So when any movie or video is popular what always happens next? That is right “Experiencing a Client Shortage? THE SEQUEL“.

In this 2 minutes video we again rise above the marketing noise surrounding SEO, Twitter, PPC, link building and so on to provide you a clear starting point for all marketing. Also like all good sequels there is a shocking plot twist.
Are you considering any new marketing efforts? Feeling pressure to jump into social media? Before you do anything we suggest you take a step back from the clutter of tools (LinkedIn, Twitter, Yellow Pages, Radio, Networking and so on) and ask yourself these 2 questions:
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What should you do if you are experiencing a slowdown in your practice?  Are you continually seeing unbooked appointment times?   Is your schedule not filling up as far ahead as it used to?  What should you do? Should you be searching out the latest internet marketing guru? What about a complete website overhaul?  Should you spend money advertising on the radio?  Organic search? PPC? SEO?  Overwhelmed?  Click on (more…) to watch this 2 minute video for a simple solution that may surprise you. (more…)

In an excellent article called “Build your digital footprint in a hub and spoke model” Drew McLellan suggests everyone needs a hub that all their online and offline content point back to. He explains how using a hub/spoke model will increase your visibility on the web. A therapist being found by new clients on the web and with Google is now accepted as a critical factor in the development of a successful practice. When I apply this principle to therapist marketing the hub is the place where you ultimately want people to land when they are looking for a psychotherapist.

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All the keys to captivating online marketing are found in Danny MacAskill – “Way Back Home” bike trials video. A bike video may seem like a strange place to find the ingredients to outstanding marketing. However this video truly succeeds in capturing peoples interest and then ultimately their loyalty. The primary online contact point for therapists is a website. Therefore, capturing first the interest, then the loyalty of your website’s visitor has to be your focus. So sit back, relax, make the video full screen, turn up the volume and enjoy 8 minutes of inspiration!

 

Here are the keys to successful online marketing using your website as illustrated by the video “Way Back Home”: (more…)

Have you ever found it clunky or awkward to direct a client to helpful resources on the portal or have them complete the outcome (ORS) or session (SRS) rating scale? Does it often seem easier to just give them a Wellness Resources card or have them complete the paper-and-pencil versions of the scales instead?

At Mental Health Pros, we’re very aware of the obstacles mental health professionals face in putting the 21st-century tools and processes of our practice management system into everyday use.

When our development team first heard of the iPad, we immediately saw it as a potential solution for therapists who only had a desktop computer and were uncomfortable having their clients come and sit at their desk to complete the ORS and SRS. We ordered one, tested it out, and soon came to the realization that the iPad would revolutionize the way our tools and processes could be integrated into therapy. (more…)

Therapist Tip #3 pointed out you how you should consider adding a newsletter sign-up form to your website.  As this video reveals, you could gather numerous addresses but not immediately get new clients. (more…)