How to Build Your Brand as a Mental Health Professional

July 7, 2019
Anna Jankowska, LCPC

By Anna Jankowska, MA, CEAP, SAP, LCPC

Anna Jankowska is a mental health, addiction, and substance abuse counselor with over 17 years of experience and has specialized training and skill in working with individuals, groups and communities to improve mental health outcomes. NPI number: 1598843526

Building a brand and a positive professional reputation for yourself or your business is no longer restricted to mega corporations today. Instead, developing a brand is optimal for almost any professional, entrepreneur, or company owner looking to increase their reach, visibility, and marketability. If you are working in the mental healthfield with your own private practice, you likely already know that branding can be extremely important in a highly competitive industry. Implementing a few tips and tricks can help your private practice while you grow business opportunities and the impact you are able to have online.

What Do You Offer?

Before you begin branding to grow business for your private practice, it is important to determine what it is you have to offer professionally to those who visit your website or read the content you share. In order to successfully go about branding to grow your business, it is imperative to have a clear idea of the image you want to have for yourself both online and off.

Once you have a niche in mind, branding becomes much easier in a sea of millions of mental health-based websites and blogs. Having certain topics to dive into deeper helps to avoid promoting generic content that is skimmed over by your followers and potential clients or patients. With the right niche, branding is possible in less time allowing you to gain more exposure without investing in a marketing budget and to help with the promotion and distribution of your content and the information you wish to share with your online fans and followers.

Focus on Specific Niches to Appeal to Online audience

Focusing on specific niches to appeal to an audience online is ideal to grow business for your private practice while making a professional name for yourself. When you focus on specific niches in your industry and the type of work you do each day, branding becomes much easier.

When you have a few niches in mind while working on your building your brand consider the overall demand and popularity of each individually. Research keywords and phrases using tools such as Google trends for more insight into the areas in your field that are most talked about and require additional content. Comparing keywords and phrases throughout different months of the year is also beneficial when you are new to maintaining a professional reputation online and with the use of social media as a professional mental health counselor.

Get Creative with a Unique Name

Branding requires more than simply sharing top-notch quality and information with your followers. Instead, choosing a creative and unique name to represent yourself and your brand professionally online is highly advisable if you want to grow business and attract new potential clients to your own private practice.

Launch a Modern and Professional Website and Blog

Even if you run a successful private practice locally, it is possible to grow business and increase opportunities using an online presence using a modern and professional website or blog. A modern website or blog is ideal when building your brand, especially if you are interested in connecting with other professionals in your field while gaining the trust of your followers, readers, patients, and customers. Using a website or blog while working on your brand is possible by covering specific topics you research or work with each day while also sharing your own opinions, advice, and input in each unique and individual piece you publish.

Create Professional Social Media Pages

Social media is an absolute must for branding in the online world. Because of the rising popularity of health-conscious pages available today, standing out from the crowd of competition is necessary in order to truly have an impact as a professional mental health counselor when reaching others online.
When you use social media to help with branding, you are able to do so by developing professional pages to represent your work, website, or the blog you want to grow online. Using social media helps to also boost the SEO, or search engine optimization of your website, so it appears higher up in search engine result rankings.

Consistent Updating is Key

Consistency is key to managing a brand and professional image of any kind, regardless of the market or industry you work in or represent. When you are building your brand, updating consistently with a schedule in place helps to keep followers from becoming disinterested or desponded when reading your updates and the content you share.

It is always important to avoid posting too much when updating any of your online platforms. When you are posting too frequently for your followers, you may notice a quick decline in the overall engagement or the number of followers you have. Posting too often is a way to quickly become labeled as “spammy” or “annoying” by users who prefer to have a variety within all of their news feeds each day. Keep your updates short, informative, and engaging to keep your users interested in what you have to say without feeling overwhelmed or bombarded by the brand or image you are creating for yourself.

Use Relevant and Trending Keywords

Use relevant and top trending keywords when developing your brand using social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Always stay updated with the latest trending keywords and phrases that are most relevant to the sector of mental health you work in or write about when sharing content online.
When boosting your brand image, selecting the optimal keywords that are relevant to the topics you cover or the areas of expertise in is extremely helpful to receive only visitors who have a genuine interest in reading what you have to say. In order to effectively and efficiently go about building your brand, your keyword and phrase targeting are extremely valuable to keep in mind at all times.

Communicate Directly with Followers and Customers

Grow business with ease by directly communicating with your followers and loyal customers using your website, email support, and your social media pages. Attract new potential clients and leads to your private practice by getting to know your followers and customers more personally and on an intimate level. Inquire about their opinions, wants, and needs that are relevant to the services you provide or the topics you cover when sharing updates on your website, blog, and social media platforms. Having a strong connection to your followers and customers ensures longevity in your private practice while allowing you grow the business.

Also consider the type of tone, style, and voice you use anytime you are publishing a new piece of content or updating all of your fans and followers on social media. Set yourself apart by avoiding the “corporate” or “robotic” update voice, and instead remain authentic and communicate directly to the individuals who follow you. The more open, honest, and relatable you are as a mental health professional, the easier it becomes for strangers and digital followers to gain trust in you and the content or services you have to offer.

Learning how to develop your personal brand is essential for mental health counselors and any professionals working in the mental health field. While it may seem overwhelming at times, implementing the right tips and branding strategies help to boost your brand and the overall success of your private practice.

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