Have you ever heard someone say how you need a ‘marketing funnel’ in your private practice? If you’re confused as to what that means, please read on.
In this article I’ll break down what it means to have a private practice marketing funnel and how it can be applied to your business.
The Private Practice Marketing Funnel Explained
When someone talks about having a marketing funnel, they’re actually referring to a series of steps a website visitor would take to go from a general prospect to becoming your next client.
For example, someone who doesn’t know you may land on your website for the first time.
Then, perhaps they join your email list and receive some more information from you.
They get to know you over time and get more familiar with you.
Then they click a link in an email and schedule that first session with you.
That’s it! That’s what a marketing funnel may look like in a private practice.
To help you visualize, here’s a great depiction of a marketing funnel:
Source: Vendasta
Let’s break this down a bit, shall we?
Lead Attraction: Increasing Traffic Made Up Of Potential Clients
The first phase of any marketing funnel in your private practice starts with attracting new potential clients, or leads.
These are folks that are new to your world.
They may be doing a bit of research for a therapist so they visit your website and view your content in an attempt to learn more about what you do and if you can help them.
So your first step in creating a marketing funnel is to provide content that serves your ideal client.
This could be in the form of relevant blog posts on topics your ideal clients are concerned about.
It could also be an informational page on your website that focuses on your areas of expertise.
Whatever it is, it should be jam-packed with helpful info that speaks to the type of client you want to attract, as that’s your best way of growing more traffic from those most likely to work with you.
This type of content can help you grow your SEO potential too, which can increase traffic to your private practice website over time.
So, once all that traffic shows up to your website, then what?
Let’s continue.
Lead Engagement: Turning Traffic into New Leads
Ok, so you’ve got some great content on your therapy website and people are showing up to read it.
The next step is to give your visitors a chance to go a little deeper with you and receive even more value from you.
This is where you ask them for their email address in exchange for some high-value content related to what they’ve already read on your website or something you know would really benefit your clients.
What this does is it allows people to put their hand up and say they want to learn more from you.
It serves your potential client in a deeper way.
On your end, it gives you a chance to follow up with them later via email.
Think of some extra content you can create that would help a potential client solve a specific problem.
It could be a PDF guide or maybe a link to an instructional video on YouTube.
This is what people call a “lead magnet”. You may have heard the term.
Most email service providers, like Mailchimp, allow you to create a form you can paste into a page on your website where people can put in their name and email address.
Then, once they sign up, you can send them the free special content.
Here’s an example from another CMTW blog post:
Once someone fills that form out, they’ll get an email confirming their subscription and giving them a link to download their free checklist.
Onto the next phase!
Lead Nurturing: Staying Connected to Potential Clients and Converting Them Into Paying Ones
Ok, so someone has visited your website and decided they’d like more from you so they join your email list, then what?
Well, the first step is to welcome the new lead (potential client) to your email list and deliver the content you promised.
If it’s a PDF, you’ll have your email service provider send out a link to the file so they can download it.
Your next goal is to stay connected to this person so they not only get to know you but – if they’re your ideal client – educate them on how you are uniquely qualified to help them overcome their challenges.
They showed enough interest in your work that they gave you their email address so let’s not take that lightly. You want to serve them well!
You’ll want to continue to provide them with great content on a regular basis to keep your practice top of mind as they’re deciding whether to work with you or not.
A great way to do this is to create a sequence of emails that continues to provide valuable content.
This would be your “welcome series” or “onboarding” email sequence.
Here’s some ideas of the types of emails you can send them, starting with delivering your lead magnet:
- Welcome them to your email list and give them the link to your PDF download or other free content you promised
- Send an “about me” email that tells your story and how/why you help your clients get results in their lives
- Expand upon the free content by diving deep into how they can apply it to their situation
- Send an email that showcases your best blog posts
- Use your most-visited blog post as content for an email
- Send an email that reminds them of the services you offer
The number of emails you send is up to you. I’d recommend not overwhelming the recipient with too many emails though.
Space them out a bit and give more time in between emails as time goes on.
What’s great about this method is that you can send 6 emails over the course of 3 months, which allows you to serve your ideal client, educate them on your services and get to know you on a deeper level.
Going Forward: What To Do With Your Email List
Beyond sending an onboarding or welcome series of emails to your email list you’ll want to keep in touch with them consistently over time.
If you’ve got upcoming workshops, classes or webinars that you’re offering, you can send an email to your list to let them know.
Maybe there’s a book that you’ve seen greatly impact your clients’ lives. You can write an email about it and send them the link.
Or maybe you’ve found or created other great resources that may help your clients. Share that with your email list.
If you’re writing blog posts on a regular basis, you can use that as a way to send new and relevant content to your email list.
If you’re on the CMTW email list, you’ll often get emails that let you know about new articles to help you with your private practice website.
This approach is great because you don’t have to come up with ideas for both blog posts AND emails to send.
Remember: your services and content CAN help people. Use your email list as way to generously give to your ideal client.
Do this and you’ll hopefully remain top of mind so that when they’re ready to start therapy, you’ll be the one they call.
Conclusion
Creating a marketing funnel for your private practice can be a great way to serve your ideal client beyond just visiting your website.
To recap, there are three main steps to any marketing funnel:
- Lead Attraction is where you get traffic to your website by writing great content aimed at your ideal client
- Lead Engagement is where you offer that traffic some extra valuable content, such as a PDF
- Lead Nurturing is where you continue to connect with your potential clients by sending them relevant emails
Since many people may not reach out to you the first time they visit your website, having them go through these steps is a great way to stay connected.
You can use a marketing funnel in your private practice to serve your potential clients so that when they ARE ready to begin therapy, they’ll be able to respond to your emails and get started right away.
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