Learn how online therapy can help you reach more clients and grow your practice. Discover the benefits of virtual counseling, including increased accessibility and convenience, and explore strategies for expanding your client base. Read on to find out how to leverage the power of technology to take your therapy practice to the next level and reach more people in need.
Being a therapist, you likely already know that more people than ever before are seeking mental health support. Reports have shown the Covid pandemic witnessed a 25 percent increase in depression and anxiety rates worldwide. But with everything else on your plate, it can be challenging to figure out ways to improve your marketing strategies for your business.
The dilemma is that most therapists don’t see themselves as a marketing expert. But they need to learn to market their practice to attract new clients and keep their business rolling.
To get more insights into the online therapy industry, it is projected to reach 8296 million by 2030, growing at 14.27%.
Online therapy means help is available at your fingertips 24/7. We have all relied on technology for shopping, learning, socializing, and much more. Our ability to access therapy online is another valuable service at our fingertips. Wherever and whenever we want. But not just for lockdowns, the growth of online therapy is predicted to grow even post-pandemic. When lockdown forced life and therapy online, research shows that online therapy is as effective as in-person and comes with a whole host of additional benefits.
Choosing the Right Online Booking Solution
Even when not in the midst of a pandemic, everyone wants convenient options to access therapy services. Whether your clients work from home or in an office, they will not always have time to drive to the clinic. Their breaks aren’t long enough for the commute and attending the session.
Offering an online booking solution will allow your clients to be incredibly flexible with the appointment, making it convenient for you and your client. In addition, you won’t have to worry about renting a place and can also set the time that works best for you. If done incorrectly, scheduling meetings can become a hassle with tons of back and forth, canceling, and rescheduling. Not to mention the manual spreadsheets and regularly calling the patients to remind them of their booking, adding a meeting scheduler to this equation can take a lot of hard work off your shoulders. If you’re unsure where to start, Picktime is a cloud-based simplified appointment scheduling software.
Picktime is free to use with a user-friendly interface. It can help therapists keep track of their schedule, patients, appointments, staff, and events within a few clicks. Without any extra installations, Picktime is a one-stop solution for any business that needs to increase its efficiency and maintain hassle-free bookings. Using Picktime, users will get a customizable booking page with a unique URL and a “Book Now” widget for your website.
Appointment Reminders
With its automatic SMS and email reminders you can reduce the chances of no-shows and last-minute cancellations. Instead of calling your clients every time, you can also set in advance reminders for their upcoming bookings. Plus, its auto timezone conversion feature can automatically detect your client’s timezone and let them view appointments in their time zone only.
Streamlined Payments
Picktime software takes care of much more than arranging meetings; it can streamline nearly every aspect of your online therapy practice. You can keep track of all contacts, refunds & advance payments, invoices, intake forms, or contact merge and spend quality time with your patients without worrying about administrative tasks.
Picktime seamlessly integrates with popular payment gateways such as PayPal and Stripe, enabling therapists to accept partial or full payments in advance. By collecting payments upfront, therapists can significantly reduce the no-show rate, ensuring a more efficient and effective scheduling system
Reports & Dashboards
Picktime offers a powerful reporting feature, to help you understand and act on your data. Where Dashboards are the graphical representation of all the collected data. Be it any - regular bookings, revenue, staff & services, or upcoming events you can view all the business activities at your fingertips with Picktime.
The human brain tries to convince itself not to do something if the work is too hard to make an action happen. Online scheduling can help businesses overcome this difficulty and makes setting up an appointment easy. Using Picktime you can see a significant decrease in admin workload depending on your current caseload.
Marketing Strategies for Therapy Practice: Why You Need One
According to surveys, approximately 50% of people with mental illness do not seek help, and the reason can be anything from not knowing where to go for treatment or ignorance. And this is where marketing for therapists comes into the scene. With increasing mental health awareness around the globe, marketing for therapists has become an important part of building their practice. Gone are the days when you could place an ad in a newspaper. To stand out from the crowd, you need to have a comprehensive marketing strategy with a resounding business plan.
In the counseling and therapy industry, you will deal with some delicate topics that will require a sensitive form of marketing for therapists. Marketing for therapists is strangely neglected in all psychology and counseling programs, leaving clinicians to figure it out on their own.
Adopt A Marketing Mentality
Most practitioners who work in counseling are merely decent, honest, and easily approachable individuals. And for many therapists, “marketing” makes them feel like they’re trying to influence their clients. Because of this, we believe that examining the so-called “marketing mindset” will be helpful.
Simply thinking of marketing as spreading your message to those who need it is the simplest way to approach this. If you need any advice on your recent relationship issue, who will be the first person you’ll turn to, your friends & family or your therapist, or maybe both? Simply put, marketing strategy is nothing but putting a word about your business in the market. Who you’re and how you can benefit the community. A successful marketing plan can make it simple to identify and communicate with your target clientele while allowing you to reach more clients and expand your practice.
Research the Market - Who Needs Therapy Services
Trying to be everything to everyone is one of the stupidest mistakes any therapist can make - not everyone will like to buy organic soap made from peanut butter or bacon-flavored soda. So it goes without saying that researching and targeting the right market is essential. It is essential to understand who requires therapy, whether their needs are being fulfilled, and what more skills you need to learn to gain their attention. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What’s your client’s ideal age and gender?
- Are you going to offer offline therapy too?
- What are existing services already available in the area?
- How many charges can the clients afford?
What’s more? It’s important to learn that failing to understand your target market’s needs, values, beliefs, or preferences can backfire tremendously.
Specify Your Niche - Who’ll be Your Ideal Clientele
Specifying your niche and ideal target audience always go hand in hand. As discussed, it’s common to make the mistake of being counterintuitive and serving everyone ready to pay. One common mistake you can make is offering the same vague services to every client. You may not realize this initially but pursuing clients - the ones you enjoy assisting - can help your practice grow faster. It’s always beneficial to show clients you have a wide range of knowledge and expertise. But you will need sharp messaging skills to let your clients know how you differentiate from others. You can get a clear picture of your ideal clientele, by getting clear on your unique selling point.
Promote a Free Consultation Offer to Stand Out
Even if you have a warm and welcoming presence in the industry, prospective clients will still need time to develop trust in you and your services. In all this confusion, you can provide peace of mind by promoting a commitment-free consultation for new clients. Use Picktime to conduct your free consultation sessions. It’s a free cloud-based appointment scheduling software. It can handle everything from customer & team management to payments, sales, reports, group bookings, or waitlists. This move will help remove the perceived notions that may stop your clients from contacting you. By promoting such an offer they’re free to test, ask questions, and decide if you’re the right therapist for them.
Invest in Education
Teaching others the skills and knowledge that you have is one of the effective ways to move the needle. Coaching others is the wisest decision to take while growing and finding new ways to build a cash reserve. You can also start writing advice blogs and share some personal stories. Regular blogging about your work can help in nurturing relationships with clients. By investing in education you can help others make better decisions and solve problems holding them back in their careers.
Benefit from Online Therapist Directories
Online directories are websites with professional listings that help clients to discover your practice. If anyone searches for mental health support in a particular area these directories often appear with some of the best results. Directories are a great way to get your practice up and running and be immediately visible with minimal setup. In addition, directories can help build credibility by sharing with potential clients reviews and testimonials from past clients.
To be successful and run a thriving online therapy practice, you need to be strategic. You must understand that potential clients are less interested in buying therapy and more invested in searching for the right therapist. After all, therapy is an intimate experience. Your client must feel connected with what they see or read on your website or social media handles. In addition to helping others maintain a financially viable business, investing your time and resources in a well-thought-out online marketing strategy is imperative.
By offering online therapy, you can reach more clients in need of mental health services, regardless of their location. Investing time and resources into tailoring your online strategies can help you expand your practice and increase revenue, while ensuring that your services are accessible to those who need them. Start your online therapy practice today and discover the benefits of using technology to reach more clients and improve their lives.