While the right message is vital, meaning that it must resonate and connect with the person in need, it is only useful when it is placed in front of those people who can benefit from it. So, where is the best place to do that?
There are a few considerations in order to make this decision easy for you.
- Is there a group of people who are more likely to take action?
- Men vs Women?
- A specific age range?
- Any interests that help reach people?
In my case 70% of therapy clients are women. In my area, women are far more likely than men to seek help and change a problem. So it makes sense that I need to ensure that sufficient numbers of women are engaging with whatever outlet I use to broadcast my message.
I also find that the age group 24-44 are the largest users of my service, so obviously I need to make sure that this age group is engaging with the outlet I choose. For example, advertising in a magazine for the retired would miss most of these people.
For therapy, there is no interest I can point to that will be common to my client base, but if I was looking at business coaching then 'business' would be one such interest. A physical therapist might help more people interested in 'sport' than any other area and so on. If there is an interest that allows you to identify ideal clients, this can be hugely useful in cutting your advertising costs, targeting your clients better and helping a lot more people.
As we look at our options, we need to keep these points in mind.
We also need to consider how much space it takes to really connect with our ideal clients. If what we do requires some explanation or space to resonate with the client, we need to make sure we can accomplish that within any limitations of the options we use.
Right, here are the options compared:
Newspapers -
One-off adverts yield little and adverts that look like adverts are very low rate of return for therapists and coaches. However, we do great with editorial pieces. Often, when buying adverts, you can get editorial space. It is a comparison of a successful advertising campaign across different platforms using editorial space, that is analysed below.
Twitter -
The maximum of 140 characters is a huge limitation in connecting with people. It is possible, but obviously not as easily as when more space is available. Using images with text on them in a tweet can expand the option here, as can video.
Linkedin -
For business-to-business, Linkedin is very useful. However for reaching the general client in the street, it is limited in the extreme. If offering a solution into businesses – consulting, coaching, stress reduction etc. it can help a lot.
It does however, require more time and effort on two-way communications, to achieve success than on a standard social media approach. While reaching people can be relatively affordable, the rate of return on that is higher on Linkedin than many other options.
Facebook -
Facebook allows as much info as you want, pictures, videos, etc. so can be very effective. More people spend time on Facebook than any other Social Media platform and there are huge numbers of people on Facebook in most parts of the world.
YouTube -
Much more difficult and expensive place to build a following than on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Many people are less comfortable using video than writing so this also limits the appeal for some. However if the advertising system is understood well, it allows amazing options in who to show adverts to. Overall not an easy option for Therapists and Coaches.
There are many other social media outlets: Instagram, Tumblr, Vimeo, Pinterest, Google Plus, and so on, but they are all small fish compared to the options above. So lets look closer at the main options that allow text and image/video posts:
TV and radio are usually prohibitively expensive and are too untargeted to be of much help to a local therapist/coach. If you can get on as a pundit/expert for free they can help a lot at no cost, but other than that I don't recommend them.
What does it cost comparatively?
As you can see some options cost a lot less to put your message in front of people. That doesn't mean they will notice it or act on it but it is a good comparison.
You can also see that the social media options allow us to try for small money to get used to the system and see what results we're getting rather than paying out a lot at the start. In general these let us pause an advert easily and let us control budgets much more easily too.
What are our options for connecting our message in different ways?
Let us look first at the number of Characters allowed in the Text of each platform:
Secondly, we should look at what Image and Video options each is capable of, bearing in mind that the more varied our posts, the more people they will connect with:
As you can see there are huge differences in how much we can say. Long posts are often more effective than short ones. The common maxim of 'keep it short to win on social media' is rubbish if you're writing or posting on topic and giving good content.
Video allows us different ways to reach people and pics give more options too so these can make it even easier to reach more people. Some people like text, some people prefer to watch a video, others like pictures. The more options we have, the more people will notice our message and connect with it in various ways.
How good are different options for targeting ideal clients in our area?
If you offer a service from a physical location, then more people close to you are likely to take action than people far away. My local newspaper covers an area with people over an hour's drive away making up a good percentage of the audience so it's surprisingly poorly targeted for the city I work from mostly.
If you're in Ireland, note that Twitter doesn't let you target town, city, country etc, the way it does in the UK, USA, and more. This is a big limitation unless you're offering a Nationwide service.
It is possible to get some clients on every platform, but some let us help a lot more people than others do. Overall taking all these factors into account and looking at where it is easiest to succeed here are the results:
We can help more people, for less time and money, and with more control on Facebook.
Facebook's huge audience, makes it easy to find enough local people to enable a constant flow of people you can help, coming in your door for little cost. The ability to put your message in front of ideal clients, is greatly helped by the targeting options.
In short, when you are picking where to put your message out consider these factors and compare with the options available:
Are there many people engaging with the platform?
Do people spend much time on the platform?
Can you make sure it is seen locally for your practice?
Can you specify who to show it to (people likely to take action = age, gender, etc.)?
Is it affordable for you to advertise on this platform?
The less time and effort you have to put into finding clients, is more time and energy you have to help people and enjoy life.
Get your message out where it counts most.
Please keep sharing your help.
Have a great week,
John Prendergast
A Happily Booked out Therapist & Coach
Founder, Therapy and Coaching Success
If you would like some help getting your message out there you can get 3 Free Training Videos and more to help you reach those who need your help at: www.TherapyandCoachingSuccess.com
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John Prendergast is an award-winning Success Coach and and Psycho-Trauma Anxiety Therapist.
He is also the Founder of Therapy and Coaching Success that specialises in helping Therapists, Coaches and other Wellness Practitioners, connect with those in need, build their diaries and earn the income they need.
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If you are:
Starting a business in the Wellness industry and have trouble finding clients
A Therapist who wants to help more people, but are struggling to fill your diary
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A Wellness Practitioner who has done all the usual industry training on marketing and social media, and find that nothing has really worked
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Hi John I really enjoyed the article,I have recently set up up a business brianbarneshypnotherapy.com,and I find your articles and blog posts very informative and a great help!I work full time as a Nurse,so I am finding reaching out to clients a challenge,but I will continue to get the word out to as many peopkle as i can!
Keep up the good work,
keep in touch
Brian
Hi Brian, Thanks for the comment. Always lifts my week to know people find this valuable. I appreciate you getting your help out as much as you can! Every extra person helped is a bonus and makes the world one bit better, so keep doing what you can and every best wish for success. John
Hi John, love your articles. I just started my own business while working full time and finding it difficult to get my business out there. I really appreciate the advice you offer.
Many Blessings
Cullen Alternative Therapy
Hi Laura, Thanks for the positive comments and every best wish for success as you build your business! I see a lot of people being successful when they build part time from a position of strength and then move more full time as it goes. All the best, John