Therapist Marketing Strategy
Therapist Marketing Alignment Checklist
Someone joked recently that they should have just named their practice "Therapist Near Me." Save everyone the trouble of a branding and identity decision. Just be the literal answer to the search bar. Hilarious, but also a decent summary of what goes wrong in marketing strategy for most therapists.
The thirst for visibility is creating an alignment gap between what gets said and who it's actually meant for. Everything is designed to chase the elusive algorithm across multiple channels. I made the therapist marketing alignment checklist to provide a quick assessment for those wondering what they're doing wrong.
Being found is a huge part, this much we can agree on. Everyone is trying to say all the right things, and frankly it's all blurring together. Another homepage opens with "you don't have to handle this alone" (trust me, I'm not copying from your website, you're certainly not alone in this one).
But how about being found by the right person? This requires projecting a version of your practice that matches across the places they would be looking for a therapist, and reflects not just what they are looking for but the support you are primed to provide. This therapist marketing alignment checklist runs through ten quick checks to see where that alignment is holding and where it's slipping. Most take under a minute.The Therapist Marketing Alignment Checklist
Search your own name plus the word "therapist."
Open an incognito window and look. Does what comes up sound like you, specifically, or could it be describing any practitioner with your credentials?
Read your homepage's first line out loud.
Does your opener say something only you would say, or would it fit on the next ten homepages you visit too?
Check the opening sentence of your directory bio.
Credentials first, or the client's experience first? Profiles get skimmed fast. The first line either makes someone feel addressed or it doesn't.
Compare your specialties across every platform you're on.
Website, directory, Instagram bio. Do they say the same thing, or has each one drifted into its own version of you?
Look at your last five posts.
Could any therapist in the country have posted them, word for word? If yes, that's not a content problem. That's a specificity problem.
Time how long it takes to find your contact button.
Load your site on your phone. Under 20 seconds to a visible way to reach you, or buried three clicks deep?
Check when your Google Business Profile was last updated.
This month, or over a year ago? A dormant profile reads as maybe-not-taking-clients, which is the opposite of what you want a prospective client to assume. Google's own profile guidelines are a free place to fix this in under 15 minutes.
Would the wrong-fit client self-select out?
Specific copy does this work for you automatically. Vague copy invites everyone, including the people you're not the right fit for. Be brave, let go of attention that doesn't serve either party.
Check if you rank for something more specific than "therapist near me."
Try a search like "[your specialty] therapist [your city]." That's the search from someone who already knows what they need. Are you there?
Ask someone unfamiliar with your practice to describe what you do, using only your website.
If they can't answer specifically, a prospective client scrolling through on their phone definitely can't either.
If two or three of these felt shaky, that's normal, but plan to fix them before your next post or your next marketing campaign.
If five or more did, don't just post more. It's time to get your marketing aligned around the same person, everywhere they look.
For the long version: How Clients Find Therapists in Canada
For how much of this you're actually supposed to be doing: What Enough Marketing Actually Looks Like
If the checklist turned up more misalignment than you expected, I'm impressed by your honesty. You should talk it through with someone who does this for a living.
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