When you think about marketing your practice, what feelings come up?
Excitement and joy? Or worry, uncertainty, and frustration?
Knowing your strengths and passions is vital for therapists in private practice. It's crucial to stick to them.
Your feelings about this reveal so much. They guide your marketing strategy. I suggest starting with identifying your passions.
Entrepreneurial therapists face an eternal temptation. They want to do everything themselves. But this leads to burnout and poor results.
You need some kind of marketing plan for your practice.
But if you aren't passionate about it, those tasks will become a chore. You'll burn out.
One way to combat this is to identify your strengths and passions in running your practice. The other solution is to outsource your marketing.
There are so many skilled people in the world whose strengths and passions align with your needs. It’s worthwhile if you want to keep your sole focus on your clinical work.
If you don’t love marketing, but still try to do it yourself, the content you put out will start to reflect that.
It's tough, but we must accept that we can't do it all. You can and should outsource some parts of private practice.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Marketing
It can be tough to spend money on delegating tasks in your private practice. But in the long run, the expense can pay off in many ways.
Consider it an investment in yourself and your business.
Most of us didn’t get into private practice because we love sales and marketing.
For many, marketing is a dreadful chore.
But you need to get noticed to keep your schedule full. Outsourcing your marketing to a pro can help you fill your caseload with ideal clients. Clients who will stay. They can use their skills to target people who are a good fit for your practice.
Outsourcing marketing can save you time and money.
It can make your budget work smarter, not harder. A skilled marketer will know how to spend every dollar to get the results you want.
So how do you do it? How do you find an individual or a company that cares as much about the success of your practice as you do?
To find the best marketing support for your practice, you have a couple of routes to take. But you must do some homework first.
What You Need to Know Before Outsourcing Marketing
If you decide to hire a marketer, it's best to know your practice's marketing needs. But, it's not a dealbreaker if you don't. After all, one of the huge draws of hiring a professional is getting their expertise on your strategy.
That said, here are a few questions you should ask yourself first.
1. What are your goals?
You should have an idea of what you want to achieve with a new marketing strategy, even if you don't know how to get there.
Do you want to increase local awareness for your practice? Do you want to reach a new client goal? Or hit an income target, or boost visitors to your website?
The clearer your goals are, the easier it will be to find someone who can help you achieve them.
2. What have you tried already?
List things you've tried in your marketing. Include those that worked and those that didn't. This will help your marketer target their efforts from the start.
3. What’s your brand identity?
Who are you? What makes your practice unique? What’s your mission?
These answers are vital to any business. Without them, your marketer can't attract your ideal clients. It’s also never a bad idea to make sure you and your team have clear answers to these questions, too.
How to Find the Right Marketing Support
Once you know your outsourcing goals, you can search for a marketer. This can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to start.
Here’s a breakdown of where to find your marketing professional. It also lists what to look for in each candidate.
1. Hire from within.
If you run a group practice, it’s possible that the best person to handle your marketing is already on your team. This might be one of your clinicians or someone on your administrative team.
I was lucky to hire an amazing pre-licensed therapist. She has an MBA and worked in marketing for years before joining my practice. We were immediately excited about working together and the possibilities it offered.
When hiring for your practice, find someone interested in marketing.
On-paper qualifications matter less than a passion for the craft of marketing. You can always fill in gaps in knowledge, but you can't fill in gaps in passion and interest.
Focus on employees who have taken the initiative with marketing projects. They should also enjoy implementing their suggestions.
This option might be good if you're on a budget. It works if one person can do many jobs as you ramp up your practice. If you take this route, watch this person's workload. Track progress to determine when a level upgrade is necessary.
2. Hire a contractor.
As a solo clinician or group practice, you may lack the resources for your marketing needs.
In those situations, you can explore hiring a marketing contractor. There are a multitude of skilled freelance marketers who can help you at a reasonable cost. Some of them already have experience in the mental health field, which is a bonus.
When you look at potential freelancers, check their past work. Make sure their style and skill level are a good match for your practice.
Check their reviews and testimonials as well. You want someone who has been working in marketing for a while and has proof of high-quality work.
You’ll also want to focus on freelance marketers who have done work for other private practices. This experience will be helpful as they create materials for yours.
3. Hire a marketing company.
Depending on the size and needs of your practice, you might need to pull out all the stops.
A marketing company with a dedicated team can help you. It will support your practice goals. I've worked with a local marketing company for several years. I've had great results, especially with their SEO and Google AdWords services.
This is a big decision to make, so make sure you do a thorough vetting process before making any final decisions.
Look at how they market themselves, and how that aligns with what you want for your practice. Do they come across as fun and interesting, or serious and professional? The way they market themselves says a lot about the style they will bring to your marketing.
Ensure they specialize in the marketing services you need. This could be SEO, social media management, digital ads, or web design. If their specialty doesn’t match your needs, keep looking until you find one that does.
See what they’re like to work with, and what other people have experienced with them.
You can use user-generated review sites like Yelp and Google Reviews for this. The recommendations of your fellow therapists can also be invaluable.
One excellent resource is our business directory, the Productive Therapist Business Directory.
A pro from a directory like ours will know what private practice needs. This will save you time in getting them up to speed.
How to Budget for Marketing Services
A key part of outsourcing marketing tasks is ensuring you can afford it.
A good place to start is to budget about 4-8 percent of your gross revenue for marketing services. This is money invested in nurturing your practice, yielding valuable returns.
If you can't afford this now, take a look at some ways to make it possible. Could you cut some spending? Or could you offer new services to boost your income?
Many digital marketing companies offer hourly or project-based options. They may fit your budget better.
You can also outsource part of your marketing to start. For instance, your social media. If that service is cheaper, use it. Then, as your practice and budget grow, switch to a full agency.
Marketing your practice can feel intimidating and daunting.
But, with the right person by your side, it can be exciting and effective. It can let your ideal clients know about you and your services.
Good marketing will help you grow your practice and achieve your dreams.
