Marketing

Video Transcription

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, so let's roll right into it. This lesson will discuss basic marketing and promotion of the business. Marketing and promotion plans will be rooted in your values and what you determine to be the best method for spending money. A good marketing and promotion plan is holistic and targets relevant clients. Different environments for marketing include three areas that will be covered in this lesson-- first, online marketing; insurance company referrals; print marketing.

Having an online presence is important for securing business and is an established trend. Having an online presence can be complex with many different options available. Some of these options can include a complete website; presence on social media, such as Facebook or LinkedIn; writing and maintaining a blog; submitting and maintaining location profiles on Google Maps, Bing, et cetera; participation in online directories.

Having an online presence may also include local advertising via services such as a Google Search or Facebook. Many benefits exist for having a website, including advertising and promotion; a place for clients to access documents, such as policies and procedures; pricing; disclosure statements; and intake paperwork. Websites can be purchased from therapy-related sites with little customization or from companies such as Squarespace or GoDaddy.com, which offer a full range of options for customization. Or if you are super tech savvy, then you can create one from scratch. You'll likely need to create the content of the site, even if you don't create the actual website yourself.

Now paying someone to create a website or blog can cost thousands of dollars. Companies who provide site-building tools have optimized these sites to be usable for just about any skill level, including myself. My therapy site is built on one of these, as well. The cost of maintaining a website ranges from a few thousand per year on up, if it's managed professionally. One important facet of owning and maintaining a website or a blog is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, of the website or blog.

So SEO is basically aimed at improving the likelihood that your listing appears more prominently in online search engines. SEO is a moderately high technical skill level, so you'll either need to learn how to accomplish SEO yourself or pay someone to do it. Online directories are a way for clients to find you.

Many online directories have monthly costs, but some can be free. Being a part of one is a good way for clients to find you, especially if you work in a niche market. You'll need to be prepared to quickly return calls or emails from online directories, as clients may be emailing several different counselors at a time.

Now a social media presence generally includes a Facebook page for the business and/or a LinkedIn profile but can extend to other social media outlets, as well. You'll need to have policies and procedures plan in place for managing all types of social media. This will be important for office manager or yourself in planning how you will deal with a range of social media situations. Ways social media may need to be managed include-- emails, texting, accepting friend requests, posting to business pages on Facebook and LinkedIn, responding to inquiries via Facebook or LinkedIn, managing blog comments. It's important that you keep abreast of your online profile via searching your name on search engines in order to manage online reviews, complaints, and comments.

One way of marketing yourself is being listed with insurance panels. You'll need to make sure your entry on all insurance panels directories is correct, meaning phone number, address, and population served. Typically, once on the insurance panel, you can make profile and demographic changes online through your account.

You may want to invest in a logo, business cards, flyers, brochures, or educational materials. There are many websites that you can utilize to create these types of printed materials. The assistance of a graphic designer may be helpful, but costly. Similar to creating content for a website or blog, you'll need to create the content yourself, even if you have the print designed. Print materials can be helpful for current clients or can be used for advertising endeavors. Many basic brochures and related materials to mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral health can be ordered for free from SAMHSA, NIMA, and the NAAA.

So here's what we covered in this lesson-- first, online marketing; insurance company referrals, print marketing.

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