When I talk to therapists about marketing their practice, most people believe that therapist marketing involves diving headfirst into buying Google ads, promoting yourself on social media, and getting the word out that you exist.
Not so fast!
Before you do anything else to market yourself as a therapist, you absolutely have to understand your brand story first. In this article, I’ll explain how your brand story is deeply connected with therapist marketing, and offer 3 steps to get you started building your brand story.
By the end of this post, you’ll have clarity not only on your brand story but a path forward on how to market your practice.
Why a Brand Story Matters for Therapist Marketing
First, what is a brand story?
Your Brand Story is where your personal passions and your therapy specialties overlap to create a picture of who you are as a therapist and what you’re about.
In other words, your brand story clarifies how your own personal story, passions, and interests influence the way your run and present your business to the world.
Without understanding your brand story, it can be easy to lose sight of the “why” behind your practice. Marketing yourself as a therapist might start to feel like a grind rather than a life-giving process.
By having a clear brand story, not only does it make it easier to know how to focus your therapist marketing efforts, but potential clients can sense that you’re presenting your authentic self in your marketing materials and they’re more likely to build trust with you. Basically, everybody benefits from your brand story!
My Therapist Marketing Story: How I developed my Brand
I always find it helpful to hear examples of other people’s stories in order to understand how to apply a concept to my life. Fortunately, I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Kate and Katie of The Private Practice Startup to share my own journey of developing my brand story.
You can have a listen to the full episode here:
You can also check out all the podcast details and show notes at the Private Practice Startup website: Create Your Brand Story with these 3 Questions
Build your Brand Story in 3 Steps
So let’s break down the steps, shall we?
As a preface, I suggest you allow this to be a journey – a process that unfolds organically over time. I like to revisit my brand story every year or two and make updates as needed. As we change and grow as humans, our businesses can change with us. Pretty sweet, right?
Therapist Marketing Step 1: Identify Your Passions
Be comprehensive here! What REALLY gets your juices flowing more than anything else? What keeps you up at night? What are you willing to get up at 4:00am for? What aspects of life would you be completely devastated to lose?
These questions are general, not necessarily specific to your role as a therapist. We’re trying to get at the core of YOU and not just you as a therapist.
Example: I’m most passionate about helping people live their best lives by fully leaning into their strengths, gifts, and passions.
Therapist Marketing Step 2: Identify Your Transformations
What stories of transformation have you seen in your own experience that have fueled your passions? Often there are huge wins from our lives or huge losses that have shaped our passions. Reflect back on those sources of your passions.
Example: I felt like I learned how to do most of life the hard way. I’ve since felt like I learn how to do most things on my own, including getting started in private practice.
Therapist Marketing Step 3: Identify how You Want to Transform the World
Dream big here! If you could funnel your passion to change the world in one way, what would it look like? Then, consider how you could direct that passion into transforming the life of a single person: if you could change one person, family, or couple’s life, what would you transform about them?
Example: I would like to use my passion to transform the world by offering to help others so they don’t have to learn things the hard way like I did.
Free Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Brand Story
Want more guidance with this process? I have a free step-by-step guide to walk you through each of these steps and compile them into your private practice mission statement.
This mission statement will be the guide for every therapist marketing decision you make going forward – your messaging, fonts, colors, and general “vibe.” Trust me, having this mission statement handy clarifies the rest of the marketing process for your practice.
Ready to access the free guide? Find it here: FREE Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Brand Story
I hope you find these tools helpful as you develop your therapist marketing strategy. And until next time, from one therapist to another: I wish you well!
-Marie
Photo by J. Kelly Brito on Unsplash
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