Even if you’re confident in your clinical expertise and your patients’ experience at your office, marketing and advertising your psychiatry practice is an essential part of growing your business. Paper ads and word of mouth may have been your best bet for this growth in the past, but these days, more and more people are going online to find doctors — and that includes mental health providers.
Digital marketing, or using the internet to promote your practice, is one way to expand your patient base while maintaining existing ones. Below, learn more about the best psychiatry practice marketing and advertising strategies you can implement to grow your practice.
Importance of digital marketing for psychiatrists
The demand for mental health services is higher than ever, so now is the time to ensure you stand out from the competition. Digital marketing strategies can make it easier for potential patients to find your practice and vet you as a clinician, whether through exploring your web content or reading great online reviews.
Adopting a new marketing strategy, while important, can be stressful. If you haven’t delved into digital marketing before, don’t be overwhelmed. You can try any of the below digital marketing strategies and, after analyzing which ones are attracting more new patients, invest in the most effective ones.
Psychiatry practice digital marketing strategies
An optimized website
Think of your website as the first impression you make on a potential patient. A nice-looking, easy-to-navigate website can set the tone for your reputation, much like the atmosphere of your office. But before someone can even land on your website, you will need to do some work to help them get there.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, can help your website rank higher. Incorporating commonly-searched keywords in your web copy and can also boost your ranking. Regularly publishing content on your blog with relevant keywords is another way to optimize your site.
Use reviews
Reviews are another simple way to market your practice, because they reflect the positive experience your patients have with you and your clinic — making it more convenient for new patients to vet you.
Encourage your existing patients to review your practice after visits so you can build up your positive reviews. Investing in a tool like ZocDoc can automate the review process along with increasing your practice’s visibility.
Use content marketing
With all the people seeking information about mental health online, mental health professionals have a unique opportunity to create helpful content. Whether you routinely publish blogs about mental health conditions or explain helpful treatments via social media, you can easily establish yourself as an expert in your field (and gain new patients in the process).
You can drive web traffic through using content marketing. When you share your content in emails or on social media, encourage people to go back to your website to learn more about you and all you have to offer.
How to use SEO
SEO and content marketing go hand in hand. With content marketing, you can plug in common terms related to mental health and psychiatry, such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- ADHD
- OCD
- Mental health
- Bipolar disorder
- Addiction
- Substance abuse
- Eating disorders
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Autism
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Antidepressants
- Anti-anxiety medication
These terms can inspire the content you create on channels like social media and emails, while creating opportunities to boost traffic to your website.
Online booking
Finding the right psychiatrist online can be difficult. Along with establishing yourself as an expert with a solid reputation, it’s key to make it easy for patients to book an appointment with you. This can eliminate time and stress from the process — increasing the likelihood someone will reach out.
Psychiatry practice advertising strategies
SEO and content marketing are important methods for reaching new people. But you can also directly advertise your practice with a few other strategies.
Buying Google ads can help you connect with people who may benefit from your care. You can determine which demographic you want to reach; for example, you might think you want to target twenty-year olds in Chicago searching online about anxiety. With a sponsored ad, you can try appearing at the top of search results.
You can also purchase ads on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Before investing in a social media ad, determine the niche you want to reach and consider where they spend their time. For example, younger people tend to use TikTok, while older individuals may be more likely to have Facebook accounts.
Creating social media accounts for your practice is another way to advertise, but at a lower cost.
Be sure to create a logo and use it consistently across platforms so people can easily recognize your brand.
As you establish yourself as a credible psychiatrist online, you’ll attract more and more patients who ideally will share your practice with others — both online and through word of mouth.