Ideas for Adding Helping into Your Online Marketing Strategy

Common advice given to psychotherapists in private practice when it comes to their websites and their broader online marketing strategy is for them to really “sell” their services. And by that, it usually means make some type of value proposition about the benefits of therapy. For example, you might read something like, “Therapy will help you overcome stress.”

But solutions alone can feel empty. How can someone trust that your solution will work? How will someone know that your particular approach will be right for them?

The complementary, and perhaps necessary, action to providing descriptions of the solutions you provide is also to give help.

Help instead of sell.

So the question isn’t, “how can I sell myself,” but rather, “how can I give more help?”

Here are 10 ideas for adding helping into your online marketing:

1. Write valuable articles or blog posts for your website.
2. Curate content for your ideal client. What articles exist on the web that might help your client with their problems?
3. Write for a non-profit or a health or wellness blog that also serves your ideal client.
4. Post videos on YouTube and embed the videos on your site giving resources and techniques that your clients and potential clients can use in their lives. Two minute mindfulness tips? Yes. Please.
5. Share your website and expertise with journalists so they can turn to you for expert opinion in articles they are writing.
6. Write and share a small e-book. Give it away for free and include a call to action for signing up for your email list.
7. Hold a webinar – which leads to word of mouth referrals and builds trust.
8. Share links to resources with a links page. EX. If you’re a therapist working with sexual assault victims, then link to RAINN.
9. Create a well-thought out FAQ that helps your clients.
10. Start a podcast that provides usable advice for your clients.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some ideas that came to my mind. How do these ideas sound to you? Have you tried implementing helping into your digital strategy for your practice?

Helping is a natural extension for therapists! It should be second-nature but what barriers exist to helping? Is it technical? Like is it too hard to figure out how to set up a blog for your website? Or perhaps recording videos is intimidating? (It is intimidating, I’m working up the courage to do this myself right now!)

Let me know what you think by contacting me or tweeting me anytime. I would love to hear from you.