What is inbound marketing and why is it important for mental health professionals?

Inbound marketing is when the clients find you through a variety of channels. Social media, SEO, and blogs are all forms of inbound marketing. 

Why is this a good strategy? Because it attracts clients organically. Outbound marketing (think ads) is useful, but not always the best way to market yourself. With inbound marketing, you’re creating connections with potential clients and showing them how you can solve their problems.

It’s important, like with any kind of marketing, to have an inbound marketing strategy. Enter your mental health copywriter.

What’s the Best Form of Inbound Marketing?

There are several forms of inbound marketing. For your inbound marketing strategy purposes, I’m going to focus on social media, SEO, and blogs because those are the most beneficial.

With social media, it’s as important to engage with others than it is to post content. You also need to post on a regular basis. Some businesses post daily, or even multiple times a day. As a mental health professional, you don’t have time for that, unless you’ve hired someone to manage your social media for you (which is a smart move). 

It’s not enough just to post. You need to have stories and tag other relevant accounts. You need to engage on social media, meaning you’re commenting and liking and DMing people. Hashtags are important too, as they attract people to your posts.

Inbound marketing for mental health professionals looks different than inbound marketing for e-commerce. But you’re still working for the same result: more clients! With social media, you can connect directly with your potential clients and promote your services and offerings.

I mentioned SEO. Some of you may not know what it is, which is fine, that’s why I’m here! SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s how Google ranks you in a search. If you have a website that is well SEO-optimized and contains consistently updated blogs with relevant keywords, you’ll rank well. Keywords are what people type into Google searches. You need to  make sure you’re using relevant keywords and what are called longtail keywords in your copy. A longtail keyword is a phrase that someone types into a Google search, like “LGBTQ therapists in Philadelphia.”

SEO is extremely important for your inbound marketing strategy. If your website isn’t optimized, you won’t rank. Well-optimized websites aren’t just about the keywords. Optimization includes things like meta descriptions, which are the summaries of your webpage that show up underneath the name of your website in a Google search. Each page needs a different meta description.

Well-optimized websites also include pages that are longer than just a few paragraphs. You don’t want to write for the sake of having a high word count, though. You need to make sure that everything on your webpage is there for a reason. But you want a high enough word count so that Google recognizes your site.

Another important inbound marketing strategy for mental health professionals is having a consistently updated blog. This is another tool that will rank you higher in a Google search and boost your SEO. The key to successful blogs is consistency and relevancy. I’ve talked about this before because it’s important.

Blogs are multifaceted marketing tools. Yes, they boost your SEO, but they also provide your audience with resources. That’s why you want to make sure you’re writing blogs that potential (and current) clients need to read.

From an SEO standpoint, blogs need to be a certain length. Google doesn’t recognize any blogs that are under 1,000 words at least. You’re aiming for 1,000-1,200 minimum. Also, I mentioned consistency. Google rewards those who write blogs on a regular basis. Weekly blogs are a great place to start, although some people write multiple blogs a week. If you’re going to do this, make sure you can sustain that amount of content every week.

Inbound Marketing for Mental Health Professionals

Michelle Domonkos, a copywriter for medical professionals, wrote a great blog about inbound marketing for doctors. She points out that most patients, and in your case clients, find their doctors (or therapists) online. 

It’s true! When I’m searching for a therapist, I turn to Google and Psychology Today, which is another great inbound marketing strategy for mental health professionals. I’m looking for someone with whom I can connect and who earns my trust through their website. If they don’t have a comprehensive site with a blog and lots of information about what their services are and who they provide them to, I’m out.

The thing about an inbound marketing strategy is that it’s not just about new clients finding you. You want to keep a relationship with your current clients and keep them coming back. You want them to refer their friends and share your social media posts.

It’s a Marketer’s World Out There

I know that for some of you, marketing feels “icky.” As a mental health professional, you don’t see the need to market yourself. I’m here to tell you that you must put time and money into marketing. That’s why you hire a mental health copywriter, like me, to take the marketing off your plate so you can focus on what matters most: helping your clients.
If you’re ready to take the leap and hire a copywriter who understands inbound marketing for mental health professionals, contact me to set up a free consultation call. Happy inbound marketing!