The Truth About Mental Health Practice Social Media Marketing: How to Know if it's Actually Working

Understanding mental health practice social media marketing doesn't have to be difficult. I know it can FEEL overwhelming when you think about SEO optimization, content creation calendars, and all of the social media platforms. In this podcast I explain how to make the entire process much easier by defining goals and key performance indicators. This will help you create content AND know which content is actually leading to more business.

TCCBB Episode #17 The Truth About Mental Health Practice Social Media Marketing: How to Know if it's Actually Working

Mental Health Practice Social Media Marketing: Where to Start?

Approaching social media marketing the same way you approach social media entertainment is not going to work.

You've got to decide WHY you are incorporating social media in the first place by defining WHAT you hope to achieve. Remember, I'm defining social media as not only posts on the typical platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok) but also blog posts and podcasts.

The three goals I recommend you start with are:

Positioning yourself as an expert in your community
Increased sales/purchases
Building your email list

Key Performance Indicators

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is data that will help you understand if something you do in your marketing is actually helping your practice.

It takes you out of ‘dream language' (I want my practice to grow/I want more clients/I want to add couple intensives) to SMART language. Remember SMART goals are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and trackable.

So KPIs might look like:

Increased post engagement that leads to increased phone calls
Increased product sales or booked appointments
Increased number of emails in your email list

Once you decide on goals and KPIs, you can plan your content weeks (or even months!) in advance using a content or editorial calendar. This will help you stay organized and coordinate your email with your social media marketing efforts.

Calls to Action

No goal is complete without a call to action (CTA).

You've got to tell the person engaging with your post, reading your blog, or listening to your podcast to DO something. Lots of people look at the data like a popularity contest. They measure insights, look at the number of people who clicked on their blog and see their Google rankings and think, “I'm doing great!”

In truth, if those folks never buy/call/opt-in – in other words if they don't make a dent in your KPIs – they are never going to positively impact your goals.

Here's how to change that.

If you are trying to use post engagement to position yourself as an expert in your community, your calls to action might look like, “Share this post with a friend!” “Like and follow for more great info in your feed.” “Have questions? Know someone who could use the info? Click here to schedule a 10 minute consultation.”

If you are trying to sell a product in your Etsy store or tickets to your next parenting workshop, you'll tell post engagers to “Grab a ticket while they last!” “Click here and get your shirt.”

If you are selling a big ticket item like a twice-yearly couple retreat, you might want to offer an incentive. “Interested in the couples retreat? Sign up for my email list and get the ‘5 Rules for Couples to Fight Fair' and you'll be the first to know when tickets go on sale.”