Mental health branding is necessary to promote your treatment center, but what does this process really entail? Your brand is your identity, guiding how your behavioral health center looks and how you interact with prospective patients.
As one of the most pliable digital marketing mediums, social media should be a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy. Social media platforms let you cultivate your brand and present your mental health center to leads in a relatable way. You can share content from testimonials to articles and videos, all while engaging your audience in a meaningful conversation.
And if you don’t think social media is needed to market your mental health treatment center think again. The work you do is sensitive and sometimes even stigmatized. Social media is a wonderful tool to diffuse this negativity and encourage more patients to seek treatment.
5 Steps to Improve Your Mental Health Branding
A successful mental health treatment social media strategy connects with and converts new patients. But creating an excellent social media account isn’t as simple as uploading your logo and occasionally sharing a few helpful anecdotes. The mistake some marketers make with their organization’s social accounts is treating them the same as a personal account.
A carefully considered social media marketing strategy provides a great opportunity to build and share your mental health branding. Today we’re sharing five steps to grow your brand on social media.
1. Share Frequently Asked Questions
When looking for information, most prospective patients start online. Your website should be optimized to appear at the top of the search engine results for your target SEO keywords. Your audience most likely uses social media every single day. So, you should also optimize your social media accounts for the same search terms. Ensuring your pages are a valuable source of mental health information bolsters their appeal to curious users.
Your social media can be an excellent tool for answering patients’ most pressing questions. This is also the place to add clear calls to action (CTAs) to encourage patients to take the next step. Highlight your contact information, the types of mental health services you provide, and other basic information about your treatment center.
2. Write Helpful Articles
A trustworthy blog is one of the most effective mental health branding tools, but your articles will only have an impact if your audience can find them. Sharing articles on social media is a surefire way to grab attention.
And the best part about articles is they help with so many aspects of digital marketing. For example, websites with blogs boast 97% more backlinks—a critical SEO ranking factor.1 The more high-quality, helpful articles you write, the more likely patients will find you, whether through social media or Google.
3. Create Storytelling Videos
Video content has emerged as one of the most effective ways to hone your mental health brand. Social media is a great tool for posting and promoting the video content you work so hard to create.
But to have an impact, your videos need to tell a story. So, make testimonial videos with actual patients, film personal introductions with your staff, and show a day in the life of a patient at your center. Put the human element first in every video you make. Just remember to get written permission from patients before sharing the videos publicly!
4. Add Hashtags
Choosing the right hashtags for your posts can help your center’s social media strategy. When used correctly, hashtags let you contribute meaningfully to conversations, boost your organic reach, and improve your behavioral health branding.
Hashtags are still an important part of any social media strategy and key to how users navigate social media platforms. They help users explore trending topics, connect with content creators relevant to their interests, and even research their healthcare options. Conduct hashtag research for each of your posts, regardless of the content. The right hashtag highlights relevant ideas, thought leaders, and communities your audience cares about.
5. Combat Misinformation
As a mental health treatment provider, building trust with your current and prospective patients is paramount. That trust building begins from the first time your audience interacts with your mental health brand. Regardless of whether you’re connecting in person at your treatment center, on your website, or your social media accounts.
But all the work you put into building and growing trust with your target audience will be wasted if you’re not guarding against posting misinformation.
About two-thirds of Americans say they’ve found fake news on social media. Even more distressing, one in ten users admit to sharing these stories.2 Make your center part of the solution by using your platform to correct misinformation and provide accurate and helpful resources for users. You’ll build trust with your audience and grow your mental health brand authority.
A successful social media strategy can elevate your mental health branding, increase your audience reach, and support your marketing goals. Whether you need to optimize your accounts or are building your first social media marketing plan, Dreamscape can help. Contact us today at 888.307.7304 to schedule a discovery call and learn more about our full suite of mental health digital marketing services.
For a list of references, please contact us.