Mental health marketing is an exciting space for two reasons.
First, mental health providers make meaningful differences in the lives of their clients every day. That’s a truly awesome thing and, as marketers, we have so much respect for what you do.
Second, therapists are an innovative group of people who are always looking for ways to make things better for clients. The enormous volume of behavioral health research published every year makes this clear. But the actions of individual therapists also make a big difference.
We love helping mental health professionals grow their practices and help increasing numbers of people in their local areas. With that in mind, we want to show a little client appreciation. Here’s an overview of some of our favorite mental health marketing clients (and why we love them).
Want to get your name on this list? Tell us what you need.
Innovating in Mental Health Marketing
Marketing is a rapidly evolving field. Just because something has been working for a while doesn’t mean it’s going to work forever. For example, we know you’ve heard of a little website called Psychology Today. We also know it’s highly likely that you have a profile and that it probably drives huge amounts of referrals through to your front desk. It’s served the industry for a long time.
Our client Nancy Cowden, a licensed marriage and family therapist from San Diego, California, believes it’s time for the next evolution. She’s been working as a therapist for about 20 years, opening her own practice about nine years ago. She gets a whole lot of referrals from Psychology Today, which on paper is a good thing. The truth is, however, that she’s crazily busy.
She has no availability to help. Prospective patients are frustrated because they’ve been trawling through profile after profile, looking for someone with the right skillset, who takes the right insurance, who has the right availability to help. Nancy is frustrated because the calls and emails keep piling up and it means she has to squeeze in time between sessions or stay late at the end of the day just to call them back and tell them how sorry she is that she can’t help.
It’s more than just an inconvenience. It’s dangerous, because the majority of people are at or near a crisis point when they need help. The last thing they need is to be overwhelmed by the process of trying to find a therapist. Nancy knew there had to be a better way, which is why she started Ravel Mental Health, a platform that will revolutionize online bookings for therapists.
It uses an extensive and inclusive set of filters to ensure prospective clients can match with local therapists who are the perfect fit. What’s more, they can check your availability and make an appointment on the spot. That means no more phone calls hanging over your head. No more administration-related stress. And no more turning away people who need help.
It’s a win-win. You can see why we love it, right? And while you’re here, why don’t you go ahead and sign up for the Ravel Mental Health newsletter to stay up-to-date with Nancy’s progress.
Read more: Mental health marketing tools every therapist needs
Finding a Mental Health Marketing Niche
One of the simplest ways you can take your mental health marketing campaign to the next level is to find a niche. This allows you to target specific people with specific problems, which ensures you have the skills and experience to make a real impact in someone’s life. This is another win-win scenario, because helping your clients get their lives back on track increases the chance of a word-of-mouth recommendation. After all, this is – and will always be – the most powerful form of marketing.
Our client, Dr. Christina Zampitella, is a perfect example. She specializes in thanatology, which is the scientific study of grief and loss. Christina became interested in this field after experiencing grief and loss first-hand and realizing there was a need for specialist therapy services for the bereaved. Her practice, the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy, is the only mental health provider in Delaware that focuses on this field. It helps people recover from unspeakable loss and rebuild their lives.
Her message is incredibly positive: that healing creates hope. Having walked this path herself, her key messaging is warm and inclusive, focusing on things clients frequently say:
- I feel like I’m grieving wrong…
- I don’t know where to start…
- I don’t know how I’m going to get through this…
- I’m not sure I need therapy…
- I feel like I’m totally stuck…
Everyone experiences grief and trauma differently. Christina is committed to helping clients understand that whatever they’re feeling, or not feeling, is completely normal. She knows it takes a lot of courage to reach out and ask for help. She also knows she can help them get better.
All the clinicians working at the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy specializes in a sub-niche. That means whether you’re a grieving couple, a grieving child, a surviving parent or sibling, or someone who has experienced any other type of grief or loss, you can find the support you need. They are ready to help clients process their experiences and find meaning in what happened… but only when they’re ready to do so. Christina ensures no-one has to walk the road to recovery alone.
We wholeheartedly support the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy, both from a values perspective and a marketing perspective. There is a valuable lesson here for other mental health providers looking to help as many people as possible – choose a niche, and start small to go big.
Read more: Telemedicine is booming, so it’s time to develop your strategy
Making Change with Mental Health Marketing
The final client we’re going to talk about today is Dana Group Associates. It’s a large multi-disciplinary behavioral health service based in Massachusetts, with more than 50 providers. The team includes everyone from psychiatrists to psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed mental health counselors, and more.
America is facing a mental health crisis. About 23 million adults received mental health services in 2019, according to figures from the National Institute of Mental Health. However, even in states with the greatest access, about 38% of people are not receiving the services they need. Dana Group Associates runs on the premise that behavioral health support should be easy to access. That value is clear the moment you click on the home page, because it’s the first text you see.
This practice is interesting because it has the resources to make significant change in the lives of the communities it serves. At the time of writing, it’s offering a 12-week psychotherapy group to help COVID-19 first responders develop resilience. The program is designed to support doctors, nurses, and EMTs by helping them process what’s happening around them and develop coping skills.
Dana Group Associates doesn’t require clients to reach any thresholds before they can ask for help. They simply accept each person as they come, making it as easy as possible for incoming clients to connect with the right provider and take the first steps on their mental health journey.
Here at Beacon Media + Marketing, we consider ourselves a values-based business. It means the world to us when we partner with a company whose values we share, because it means we’re just as excited about your success as you are. We want to help you create the mental health marketing plan you need to grow, scale, thrive, and help as many people as possible.
Does this resonate with you? Schedule a free consultation to discuss.
