5 Highly Effective Ways to Market Your Therapy Group Practice
As a therapy group practice owner, you have a lot resting on your shoulders. The responsibility falls on you to make sure that all of your therapists have enough clients to make the money they need and it’s profitable for them to work for you.
The reality is that you need a more constant stream of clients coming into your practice than when you were practicing on your own. This means you need to be more selective about where you use your marketing energy. It needs to be effective.
Of course, the easiest way to keep your staff full is to take insurance. But everyone knows the difficulties that come with insurance, and you might not be able to fill up your interns this way.
While insurance increases your practice’s accessibility, private pay takes fewer resources and requires less staff. In the long run, private pay opens your practice up for a sliding scale if you’re using fewer resources to get paid.
No matter your business model, getting more private pay clients through your doors is the way to go.
But how do you attract those clients into your practice? And how do you make sure they are the clients that are the best fit for your therapists?
Getting your marketing on point is the best way to get that long coveted steady stream of private pay clients into your group practice.
When to Market Your Group Practice
As a group practice owner, it’s tempting to swing back and forth between two extremes. Either you only market -and market frenetically- when client numbers are low or you market full throttle all the time even when you aren’t in a growth period or when no new clients are needed.
The truth is, marketing a private-pay group practice requires balance so that you can keep a steady stream of clients coming in but you don’t burn yourself out overworking.
Marketing your group practice is like tending a garden. There is a lot of work upfront, and while the work does eventually slow down it never goes away completely. Some marketing activities are always happening like maintaining your website and relationships and keeping your social media profiles active.
Consistently doing these activities creates a stable in-flow of clients and keeps your practice visible. Basically, it keeps all of your work from going to waste like watering a garden.
But like gardening, there are times when you want to put more work in. Like when you are getting ready for a growth period (a new therapist) or when client numbers are low.
You may have certain seasons where you put more work in just because it has been historically slower.
On the other hand when you are full or have a healthy waitlist, that is when it is time to just focus on your baseline marketing activities which never stop. You might also use this extra time to be extra helpful to your community partners in order to increase your visibility.
The key is to develop a balanced marketing system that you can adjust based on your group practice’s needs.
It’s easier to maintain momentum to build it when there is a sudden drop in numbers,
Keeping up with your practice’s metric around client inquiries can help you know when to put in more or less effort. Speaking of data…
Tracking Your Group Practices Data Can Help You Identify Your Best Marketing Strategies
Before we dive into the top 5 marketing strategies we need to discuss something that seems boring but is essential to really getting your marketing figured out. Tracking your data.
Your data is like a map that guides you towards the strategy that is working best for your business. Without keeping track you are basically throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping it will stick.
When you keep track of things like your website traffic, where your consults are coming from, and what content is getting the most attention. You can make decisions about what marketing strategy to put your time, energy, and money into and where you need to make changes.
Look over all of your data at least quarterly- monthly if you aren’t getting as much traction as you would like.
This also helps you to make decisions about what strategy to let go of when you see it isn’t working.
Now on to the 5 most effective ways to market your practice to private pay clients;
A Killer Group Therapy Practice Website-
Your website is your most effective and important marketing tool. Even if your SEO isn’t bringing clients to your website on it’s own it‘s often still your f
first impression on prospective clients.
When they get your name from a doctor or colleague, prospective clients will most often look you up to learn about your practice and who you are. So
having a website that connects and converts your ideal clients is important.
If your SEO is doing well your website is also a client attraction tool. Your prospective clients will find your practice website when they search for the
help that they need.
If your copy is on track, your clients will see themselves in it and know that you are the right therapist for them. You want to write how you speak so
that they know what you are like in person and they can tell if you are the right therapist for them.
Don’t forget that even in a group practice we can’t serve everyone well. Your copy should not only attract the right clients for your practice but should
also deter the clients that aren’t a good fit for your therapists. The more specific the better.
Be upfront with the personality of your practice and make sure you show it in your branding.
2. Consistent and Connected Blogging
Blogging isn’t just about building traffic and getting people onto your site but also about building connections with your clients. It’s about helping
them get to know you and your practice better.
Reading more about what you treat and how you work helps prospective clients learn more about you. It helps them to know if you are the right
therapist for them.
When you write your blogs you want to keep your ideal clients in mind. Not just who they are but what they are searching for when they need therapy.
You want to use their language and the questions they ask online.
When your ideal client is up in the middle of the night searching for answers, your blog should be there providing those answers in a way they can
easily understand. Make sure you are using their language and writing in a conversational tone similar to the way that you would speak in the therapy
room.
If no one can find your blogs they are pretty much invisible and you’re typing into the air. This makes the keyword research for your blogs pretty
important.
When you consistently publish valuable and helpful content not only will Google notice you but your ideal clients will be able to find you and learn to
trust you. This will lead to new private pay clients.
3. Targeted Networking
Networking doesn’t have to be boring, and uncomfortable, giving business cards to strangers who’ll never remember you. Add to that trying to sell
your practice to people who are just trying to do the same thing it can feel miserable.
But networking can and should be fun. If you are networking with people strategically, it will be much easier to connect with people who serve the
same population that you serve.
When you make genuine connections people remember you and are more likely to refer to you.
You want networking to become a way of life. Get comfortable reaching out to anyone you see online or in your community that serves the same
population as you do. Instead of selling yourself try your best to be helpful.
Honestly, I’ve made some of my best friends through this type of networking.
You are trying to find other therapists or service providers who have similar values and serve the same population. Reach out to people you will
feel good sending referrals to and hopefully, they will feel the same about you.
When you start your networking efforts set goals on the number of people you will connect with every week. This helps you to build your
networking muscles. Plus meeting up with people consistently will get your name out there and help others feel comfortable referring to your
practice.
You never know who you’ll meet.
Honestly, I’ve made some of my best friends through this type of networking.
4. Service Provider Partnerships
Creating partnerships with other professionals who service your ideal clients might be a game changer for your group practice. Think about who
these people are. Connect with them and offer to be helpful.
Some ways to be helpful include hosting workshops or creating workshops they can share with your mutual ideal clients.
This works best when you are genuinely interested in helping each other serve the same clients.
Your goal here isn’t to try to get direct referrals. It is building a strong relationship and becoming a resource in your area of expertise.
The referrals will follow.
These partnerships work because you are building a mutually beneficial relationship. They are getting a helpful resource and you are getting to
know more about what your ideal client is experiencing, getting visibility, and eventually referrals.
These connections help you to understand your ideal clients from a different angle which makes you a more effective therapist who can
connect with your ideal client on an even deeper level.
5. Increase Visibility and Stay Top of Mind (social media and
email marketing for your group therapy practice)
When it comes to social media and email marketing I know it feels like a lot of extra work. But trust me it’s worth it. Most people on the path to
seeking therapy start by seeking information and help in other ways.
They explore information that’s out there around the struggle they are having and hopefully, they come across your content. If you keep
posting or get them on your email list you have a chance to get in front of them down the road when they are seeking therapy.
You are building the know, like, and trust factor that is so important when it comes to reaching out for help. When your ideal client is in crisis
and ready to get help they’ll reach out to the person they are comfortable with first.
The best part of this is even if none of your followers or email subscribers become clients you are helping people that need information. You
are also causing a ripple effect by helping other therapists who are in the same niche. Who then might send you referrals when they are full or
looking for someone to refer to.
There are other ways to use social media like local therapist groups that can help you to network with local therapists and service providers in
your area.
Growing your Group Therapy Practice Doesn’t Have to be Overwhelming
Marketing your group practice might feel like a second full-time job. But you don’t have to do it all or at the same time. You also don’t have to do it alone.
Try to start with the marketing strategy that fits best with your practices values and who your ideal client is.
Whether it is one of the 5 methods mentioned above or something completely different-it should feel authentic to your practice and reach your ideal clients naturally where they are.
Ready to transform your group practice’s marketing strategy without stress? Let’s work together to create copy that brings in a steady stream of ideal private pay referrals. I specialize in helping therapy practices big or small grow through strategic, genuine marketing that feels true to heart of your group practice.
As a copywriter and expert marketer I love to help practices biggrow and maintain their goals once they’ve achieved them. Set up a consultation to see how I can help your group practice reach new levels and stay there.