If you work with couples, this is your time of year! We are one month away from Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air. Your private practice can take advantage of this by offering special promotions to new and existing clients. This is a powerful way to introduce your practice to new clients, and to offer additional services to existing clients.
As therapists, we often constrain ourselves unnecessarily to a box: we do therapy. That means one hour sessions in our office face-to-face with our clients. And while that is the heart of what we do, that also limits our ability to service those that might need our help. What about expanding your view to offer additional products and services that support what your true aim is.
If you work with couples, perhaps your mission is something like: “I help high-conflict couples resolve conflict and rebuild intimacy.” Consider the possibilities that that mission statement invites. You are no longer bound by the traditional model of psychotherapy. You are free to be creative in the way you work with clients and the possibilities you create for them.
For instance, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, couples counselors could create a “Feel the Love” campaign. This might include a social media marketing component (such as a reader contest for the most romantic picture or story), a joint venture component (partnering with a local restaurant to offer a free dinner to contest winner), an advertising component (marketing a workshop or package offer), and a promotional component (offering a special package to all existing clients).
For instance, perhaps you could offer “The Ultimate Valentine’s Day Gift” that would include an intensive couple’s session, a workbook you create, guided love-letter writing, and dinner at a local restaurant. Or you could offer a one-evening workshop that’s fun and engaging, that could be followed by a special offer at a local restaurant, or even a chance for a couple’s massage from a local spa.
Now is the time to begin planning and implementing your campaign.
Psychotherapists and counselors in private practice have so many opportunities to attract new clients, and offer additional services to existing clients. Marketing a private practice doesn’t have to mean you turn into a used-car salesperson. But attracting new clients does mean that you think of creative ways to offer your services to those clients that need it the most.
