We work a lot with therapists who are eager to launch their private practice into the digital sphere but aren’t sure where to begin. What matters most when it comes to your online presence? Blogging or social media? If you’ve read the title of this post, you can likely already guess that our answer is going to be both!
We are often asked about the value of blogging and of social media strategy as independent things. Social media is a great way to grow your visibility, and blogging helps boost your Search Engine Optimization. But did you know that they increase effective marketing without doubling the workload when you use them together?
Whether you’re currently operating with a single-prong content strategy or looking to better streamline the way you engage with your audience across your digital platforms, we’ve got the knowledge you need to make the most of every keystroke.
Using a content strategy that integrates blogging and social media to amplify your message means that you get more chances to say important things and be heard. There are countless benefits to having a multi-strand content strategy, but some of the key benefits can be absolutely transformational for your practice.
Are you still thinking about that one blog post you wrote at the beginning of your practice, when like 3 people were subscribed and all of them were your friends? Don’t let those early blogs slip into the nothingness that is page 1 of your blog. That valuable and passionate content can be revived through a content refresh process that allows you to reshare with new visibility.
Breathe new life into that vintage content with a new title, some keyword refreshing and a new take on your established ideas.
You can break off the most delicious bits of your more comprehensive content and create snack-sized portions for your audience. On popular social media, no one is looking for a whole story—they just want the highlight reel. Let those established and fully thought out pieces of content in your repertoire inform your casual offerings in bits and pieces. By using the catchiest or most thought provoking ideas to share on your social channels, you’re able to save time always trying to come up with something new. Beyond that, you’re consistently reinforcing the key brand messages that are central to your practice.
You can also increase your keyword reach by using single articles or content pieces to maximize a social presence over time. To do this, your longer blog post or article can be parsed out over months or weeks to separate the individual ideas into content pieces of their own. Each will highlight one thought or idea, while continuing to tie back into those keywords shared within the longer pillar pieces on your site.
When you are creating long form content for your website, newsletter or independent publication, you spend a lot of time and energy on developing those ideas. Taking them to new audiences means that more people benefit from your professional expertise.
No two social platforms share the same primary user, so even if someone is seeing content twice, there are more people just seeing it for the first time. You’ll be able to expand your reach and bring new people into your community by meeting them where they are with the ideas you already have.
In order to have a truly effective content strategy, you’ll need to have a good sense of your target audience and how they relate with material online. Spend time working with a marketing team (or yourself, if you’re a one-member wonder team) to determine the current relationship you have with your audience and how you’d like to come across. Diving into the brand voice and messages you’re delivering to your audience means engaging with it deeply, which has the surprising benefit of helping you learn too.
Thinking about long form content in this new way can help you find a fresh take to explain your current knowledge. Think of your content strategy as an investment in your ability to communicate ideas effectively, and rework and revisit the metaphors until they capture the exact meaning you intend.
While you may choose to mix and match, or alternate the way you draw inspiration from your work into your digital brand, there are two primary strategies that can help you integrate your practice into a streamlined industry leader.
For established practices looking to re-engage with your audience, you may find there are many pieces of gold in old blog posts you’re itching to polish and present once more. A blog-centric strategy can help you to inform your social media as you build that space and revisit old ideas in fresh ways. Blog-centric strategies are also great for clinicians who are working toward new qualifications and may have bodies of research they’d like to present on a regular basis, as well as clinicians who are thought leaders in their field.
Social-centric strategies are a phenomenal choice for clinicians who are already present on social and may have a moderate to large following. Focusing your strategy on what’s already working for you can help you to tap into new areas of your current market and share your practice with a broader world. This strategy will help you more deeply explore ideas you already have and give you more opportunity to do so in your own curated space.
Both strategies lend themselves well to incorporating a newsletter to make the connection clear and concise.
Combining your content strategy plans to develop a cohesive brand will help you to find new spaces to explore your practice, develop a community and expand your business. All of these are fantastic things, but how exactly do you do that? There are a few ways!
At Theory About That, we are experts in cultivating a streamlined content journey that suits your needs. We don’t believe in one size fits all. Our work is tailored to your practice and designed to help you get your business in line with your inner voice in an externally impactful way. We will work with you to make your content the best investment possible, all while relieving you of the stress of figuring out what that means.
Look around and be nosy. What’s working for your colleagues and what kind of digital presence feels most authentic for your brand? Do research by spending time on social media, reading other clinicians blogs, or even exploring our social media to get an idea of what the current mental health marketing world looks like. Then, only adopt the parts of it that feel like a good fit for your brand.
Counseling and therapy are not compartmentalized parts of your broader community. Just as your clients are parents, business people, and community members, you are as well.
Make connections with area businesses who share goals and values with you. Those connections can help expand your visibility even as you hone in on the keywords that are most impactful for the people in your community. Other businesses and professionals are often happy to make these mutually beneficial spaces into something meaningful for you both.
Connecting your content is key to maximizing your visibility and benefit. Align the ideas in your social posts with the ones you share in your blog and ensure that they are linked. For an extra bit of sparkle, you can use a newsletter to make that connection directly and invite your readers and audience into the conversation by connecting them back to social posts to leave comments in response.
The key is that you connect your ideas in order to effectively market yourself as an industry leader on the subjects and services that matter most to your practice. However you choose to do that, know that you don’t have to go it alone. We’re here to support you in all your content marketing needs, however that looks for you right now.
