If you’re struggling to engage with your clients online and reach out to new clients, it may be that you aren’t offering the right content to your audience. Content marketing is an essential element of digital marketing and it needs to be refined and perfected so you can explain and promote your therapy services in the best way. Here are our top tips for creating engaging content for therapists…
1. Content is not just about promoting your services
If you think the content on your website, blog and social media pages should always be promoting your services, you may be causing potential clients to look for therapy elsewhere as they feel your content is too forceful and sales focused. Ensure you don’t come across as too pushy in your digital content and think of a potential client’s needs outside of your own services.
2. Offer something of value to the reader
Every piece of content you release or promote on your online platform should offer something of value to your audience. For example, you may wish to publish a blog post about breathing techniques, industry news or promote therapy success stories. By offering your audience something valuable for free, you will appear as an expert in your field and will begin to form a relationship with the individuals who feel they have been helped by your content.
3. Look at your analytics
If you are struggling to see what content will best engage your audience, look at the data produced by your online platforms. For example, if a particular page of your website has a high drop-off rate it may be that the content on this webpage is confusing or off-putting to potential clients. Similarly, if a social media post has been received well online, you may want to start a social media series on the topic/in the format your audience has enjoyed.
4. Don’t let SEO overpower your content
SEO is essential for all therapists hoping to have a strong online presence. It should not, however, dominate your content. SEO must be used to enhance texts, rather than texts being created exclusively for SEO purposes. When content is created solely for SEO, the content is often un-engaging and can actually do more harm to the search engine ranking of a business than good.
5. Use your content to solidify your marketing
Think of your current digital marketing efforts and the clients you are trying to attract, your online content must support these efforts. For example, if you are hoping to offer your therapy services to teenagers and young adults, the content you release and promote must support this.
6. Solidify your brand
Therapy is a sensitive subject for many people to deal with, but this does not mean you have to produce generic, bland content that will bore your audience. Let your company brand and personality shine through your content, this will ensure potential clients get a good sense of who you are and whether you offer the right therapy services for them.
7. Think beyond the written word
When you hear the term content marketing, you may immediately think of web pages and blog posts. Content, however, goes much further than the written word. Consider making a podcast about therapy or filming a video series about your company, this allows users to engage further with your services and get to know your company on a deeper level. This will also attract clients who find reading a large amount of information boring or difficult.
8. Don’t over-exaggerate the benefits of therapy
Today, online users are increasingly media literate and can identify when a statistic has been tweaked or a story has been credited to an unreliable source. Don’t try to over-exaggerate the success of your therapy practice, or therapy in general, as this can make you look dishonest and unreliable. It may also cause an individual to have unrealistic expectations of therapy.
9. Never leave your audience asking ‘what next?’
When a potential client finishes reading a blog post or watching a video about your services, never leave them being able to ask the question, ‘what next?’ You should always include a clear CTA (call to action) at the end of a piece of content to ensure you can naturally control a users movement on your online platforms. For example, you may want to link the reader to the next blog in a certain series or link them to your contact page.
Do you think you could benefit from better content and digital marketing for your therapy business? Contact HealthHosts today.
