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The Secret to Effective Content Marketing for Mental Health Therapists | Pleasant Media

Are you looking for ways to market your mental health therapy practice?  Content marketing is a great way to reach potential clients. In this post, I will discuss what content marketing is and how you can use it to promote your counseling services for free. I’ll also provide some tips for creating effective content and go over common content marketing tactics. Read all the way to the end and I will cover the #1 secret to making your content marketing strategy work for you! So, let’s get into it. 

What is Content?  

Often, you will hear this word thrown around without much context. “Content is king”, “push out more content”, “content! content! content!” But what does content actually mean? It’s pretty simple…. Content is anything – post, blog, video, podcast, live, etc… that you publish for the public.  – I know, pretty profound, right? But there it is. 

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a branch of digital marketing. Compared to traditional and digital marketing concepts, most experts look at content marketing as value added marketing. The objective here isn’t to make sales but to provide education, information, and value to your audience. This helps foster deeper connections, builds your authority, and engages your audience. 

Content marketing includes using long and short form content to offer information. Long form content is essentially content that comes in long form such as blog posts, podcasts, YouTube Videos, articles, e-books, and more. This blog/podcast is an example of long form content. 

Using long form content, you can write or talk about your area of expertise that offers valuable information to the audience. The benefit of using long form content is you can essentially market your practice for free minus website domain costs. When someone searches for something on the internet, website crawlers will scroll your content to see if it matches what the inquirer is looking for. You can ensure your website is found by using a solid SEO – or Search Engine Optimization –  strategy in your blog. I will go over how to properly write for SEO in future content. 

Short form content is shorter versions of content like social media posts, reels, TikToks, voice clips, short videos, etc… 

PRO TIP! Save time in your content creation by using a content marketing strategy that dissects your long form publications and turns them into short form content!

Why is Content Marketing Especially Important for Therapists? 

Content marketing is especially important to those in the mental health industry because people typically do not buy the service, they connect with the provider. 

“Potential clients are less interested in buying therapy and more concerned with finding the right solution to their problems. After all, therapy is an intimate experience. The individual must feel connected to the person they see on a webpage or posting on social media” (Sutton, J. PhD, 2021). 

Some benefits to using content marketing as a mental health professional include: 

  • Building your trust and authority within your niche
  • Connecting with your audience
  • Generating relevant leads
  • Helping you reach more clients who are looking for you and your services

The old way of finding a therapist by looking in the Yellow Pages for mental health providers, calling for an appointment, driving to an office for the first session, and spending needless amounts of time and money to find that the provider and client are not compatible are gone. – Thank goodness! I might be showing my age here but I definitely remember those days! 

Consumers are looking for new therapists on the internet. It usually starts with a Google or Social Media search. Once they find someone they think offers the types of services that can help them, they will often look at the types of content that has been published by or about that provider. Meaning, if you do not have content that demonstrates your expertise in the area the potential client is looking for – you are missing out on an opportunity to connect and provide services to that client. Since 82% of decision-makers want informational content and not ads (WebFX, n.d.), you could be missing out on a very big portion of people who want to connect with you if you are not using content to establish trust, authority, and connection. 

The types of content that builds authority, trust, and connection are: 

  • Educational – What can you offer that teaches someone effective strategies? 
  • Informational – Content that provides correct and relevant information around the services you offer 
  • Inspiration – offer some quotes or infographics that inspire your niche.

An added benefit to content marketing for therapists is increasing your reach and normalizing the need for mental health.  Unfortunately, there is still a heavy stigma surrounding mental health in our society. By pushing your expertise and content to the public, you are helping build on the movement that mental healthcare is healthcare and taking care of mental health is just as important as taking care of physical health. 

Market Research and Your Niche

How do you know what types of content will resonate with your ideal clients? The answer – Market research. 

Market research is where you gather information about your ideal client such as demographics, consumer activities, likes and dislikes, and other preferences. Market research is essential in all marketing for all businesses. You need to identify who is receiving your content and who you want to receive your content and ensure those align with each other. 

Researching your market takes time but it’s one of the best investments you can make in your practice to increase your impact. I will cover more about how to effectively conduct market research in the coming weeks. So be sure you subscribe to this blog to get those updates when I post. 

Using market research and your own area of expertise, you can create your ideal client profile and then create content that talks directly to them. You probably have a specialization in your practice. Some therapists specialize in anxiety disorders, PTSD, eating disorders, or family and marriage dynamics – the list goes on. Using that specialization, you can identify your niche – people looking for that type of service. From there, really dig deep into your ideal client and determine their needs. Keeping the end user (your ideal client) in mind will help you create meaningful and impactful content that resonates with your niche. 

Content Marketing Tactics

There are many different ways you can create and publish content. 

Written ContentVisual ContentAudio Content
Blogs
Website
Articles
Guest publications
Journals
Magazine Contributions
LinkedIn Articles and posts
Captions on photos on social media
Social media copy		Videos
Graphics
Photos
Infographics
Soundbite videos
Animations		Podcasts
Voice overs 
Interviews
TikTok/Instagram Sounds

It’s important to note that the content tactics you should use are based on your market research and where you know your audience typically lives online. Once you know what tactics you are using, you can create a schedule that suits your life and business that allows you to publish consistent content. It doesn’t have to be every day – it just needs to be consistent. After this, you can move on to the #1 secret to making your content work best for you. 

The Secret

The Next Steps or Calls to Action

I’m sure you have heard the saying going around in the marketing world that content is king or content is key. I’ve even said it earlier. However, I don’t 100% agree with that. While I do agree that content is the first step in getting the attention of the individuals that you can serve. It certainly is not the end all be all of content marketing.

Let me explain:

You have just published a blog that offers tips for calming social anxiety. You’ve created quotes and graphics using the blog information, you’ve recorded a podcast, you’ve pushed out the social media postings. You’re done, right? So, now you wait, and you wait….. And wait. And wait some more. Where the heck is everyone? Why aren’t you getting calls, emails, messages, comments, etc.?  You got so caught up in all this content creation that you forgot to tell your audience what to do after they’ve consumed your content. Call to actions! 

Call to actions is the secret to making your content strategy work for you. It’s great that your ideal clients are consuming your content by visiting your website, reading the blogs, and liking the posts. But that’s not going to bring them in the door. People need to be told what to do. Adding a call to action on your content that aligns with the goal of why you’re posting is essential.

Here are some examples of CTA’s (Call to Actions) that work well:

Email subscribersWebsite VisitsComments/Messages
Subscribe to my email list to learn more about “topic” 

Download this free “downloadable product/content” about… XYZ		Click here to learn more:

Read the full article here: 

Check out my latest blog/podcast/etc.. here:		Drop a YES if you agree

Let me know in the comments if…

Leave a “relevant emoji” if you can relate… 

Shoot me a DM if…. 

You get the idea…

Always provide your audience with a next step to get them into your funnel because visibility is the first step. 

Wrapping Up

Content marketing is the process of building awareness around your services, fostering connections, and establishing trust and authority with your ideal client. Paired with actionable items like call to actions, content marketing is the first step in getting your potential clients into your overall marketing funnel. From there, you will need to continually foster those relationships to engage and offer value to move these contacts down the funnel and ultimately sign a new client and increase your positive impact. 

Thank you for reading today! As always, if you need help or have questions feel free to shoot me an email, send me a DM on my socials, or fill out the contact form below. I look forward to hearing from you! 

If you’d like to effortlessly plan the next 30 days worth of social media content, grab this FREE content planner! 

The 30 Day Social Media Content Planner That Will Make You Feel Like A Pro

  • Get your social media content strategy organized in just 30 days.
  • Stop wasting time trying to come up with new ideas.
  • Reach more of your ideal clients!
  • Finally have a plan that will help you grow your business on social media.
  • Feel excited and motivated to start implementing your content plan.
Grab your FREE Social Media Content Planner

References:

Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. (2021). Marketing for Therapists. Positive Psychology. Retrieved August 19, 2022 from https://positivepsychology.com/marketing-for-therapists/

WebFX. (n.d.). 7 Digital marketing strategies for your campaign. WebFX. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/actionable-digital-marketing-strategies.html

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6 Ways to Avoid Burnout when Marketing Your Mental Health Private Practice | Pleasant Media

No matter how much you love your work, marketing can be a challenge—especially when it feels like you’re spinning your wheels with no results. It’s easy to get burnt out when all you see are demands for more content, more leads, and more sales. But with a few simple tweaks, you can avoid burnout while still keeping your marketing efforts fresh. 

But first, let me tell you a story.

Recently, I went into a hole. I was dealing with some serious life altering issues and was just simply unable to maintain any work outside of my immediate basic needs like food, water, and shelter. In addition to my life issues, I found that the amount of content I was absorbing had a direct impact on how I was feeling mentally and emotionally. I felt the need to compare myself to those who were more “successful” than I was so I thought I had to do all the things. In doing that, I completely shut down and avoided everything. Procrastination and avoidance, in my situation, was directly fueled by comparison and feelings of overwhelm. I was plain and simply burnt out. 

It’s time to pick up my chin and remember what makes me happy. This business and providing mental health providers value and assistance offers me great fulfillment. So my message today, above all else, is that it’s okay to take a step back and let some things fall. 

So, here are my top six tips that I have started utilizing for my own mental health – hopefully they will resonate with you as well!

1. Take a break.

Whether you need a few minutes, hours, days, or even weeks – it’s completely normal and necessary to step away from your work for a little while to regain your sense of self and composure. While I was on my break, I really dug deep to rediscover my why. But it doesn’t have to be super big – it can be just a 10 minute walk down the street to breath and take in some Vitamin D. Any break is a worthy break. 

2. Set boundaries with clients and colleagues. 

Another thing that I did was to make myself unavailable sometimes. You don’t always be available to others. You are 100% allowed to say no, back out, decline an invite or partnership, etc… There is no requirement for you to be present in all of the things, all of the time. Not only is it sending a message that you are there at others’ disposal but it’s simply not sustainable. Set working hours and determine when you will not be available at all and use that to your advantage. You can set away messages and emails providing another point of contact. You can add these boundaries to your contracts and mention your working hours in your first session(s) to make it clear. Remember, boundaries are as much for your clients, friends, coworkers, and even family as they are for you. 

3. Delegate tasks whenever possible.

This is a hard one for me, and perhaps you as well. I have to feel in control so delegating tasks to others seemingly takes that feeling of control away. But something that I did was sit down and have a brain dump of everything that I needed to do in a day, week, and month. I then really looked at these and decided which ones I would be okay with delegating to others – specifically the tasks that I simply do not enjoy doing. Things like cooking dinner, checking and sorting mail, cleaning, errands, and laundry. Once those things are freed up from your plate, don’t think about them. Trust that whomever you gave that task to is competent to complete it and move on. This will definitely help lessen the overwhelm. Remember, don’t try to do everything yourself. While it may feel like you need to do it to remain productive, trying to do everything yourself is a fast track to burn out. 

This includes your marketing efforts. Creating content, deciding on where that content will go, when, why, and how often is exhausting – especially for folks who do not have a lot of experience or know-how. You can delegate or automate that as well. Interested in learning more? Let’s talk. 

4. Stick to a simple schedule.

Using the list that you created in your brain dump, prioritize the left over tasks that you did not delegate or automate and create specific times for them. Maybe you create an admin day where you do not see clients and only focus on the business side of your practice. Maybe you’re most alert and productive in the morning, schedule out a few hours a couple times a week in the mornings to get some of these tasks done. Remember to leave wiggle room for breaks, one off tasks, etc…

Also, understand that you’re not perfect and there will be times where you go completely off schedule. Give yourself compassion and grace and jump back whenever you are ready. 

Sticking to a schedule is important to avoid burnout because it is predictable and less overwhelming. You have everything that needs to get done mapped out and you know what is happening next. 

5. Connect with other therapists online and in person.

Networking can help rejuvenate you and put you in a space of likeness with another person. I am going to go out on a limb here and say most therapists or mental health providers experience or are close to experiencing burnout at one point in their career. Connecting with like minded individuals will help you gain inspiration, connection, and a sense of community.  I have a Facebook Group that might help. Let me know if you’re interested.

6. Find an outlet outside of work that relaxes you and makes you happy.

This can be literally anything – whether it’s reading, hiking, or spending time with friends/family, your life does not and should not revolve around your practice and marketing that practice. 

I would like to challenge you to take a few small breaks throughout the day to do something only for you. Evaluate this over the course of 30 days and tell me how you feel. Do you feel less overwhelmed? Happier? I promise that by doing something each day that makes you happy, you set yourself up for peace. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and like you can’t take another step, know that you’re not alone. The good news is that there are things we can do to help avoid marketing burnout and protect our sanity (and our businesses). We just have to be proactive about it. So let’s talk about how I can help you take some of this pressure off with your marketing efforts. As a marketing coach, I can teach you simple tactics to get the best results for your strategy. We can brainstorm solutions that will best work for you. Whatever the case may be, don’t hesitate to reach out. I want to see you succeed both in your life and your practice. Have a wonderful day! 

Set up a FREE call today!

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  • Goals
  • Target Analysis
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Six Things to Post as a Mental Health Provider | Pleasant Media

As a mental health professional, you are likely always looking for new and innovative ideas to share with your audience to make a positive impact. Here are six ideas to get you started that will help establish trust and authority as well as engage your following. Each of these topics can be explored in more depth through social media, blog posts, articles, podcasts, or even workshops and trainings.

Before we get into the ideas, let’s quickly touch on why it is important to establish trust and authority with your audience. It’s hard to think of your services as a business but it is. You are exchanging services for funds. Consumers rarely make a purchase based on logical reasons. Typically, they will decide they want to buy using their emotions and then use logic to justify the purchase. A client will decide to use your services first based on the emotions you bring out of them. Clients are more likely to connect with you if they trust you and your knowledge and expertise in your area of focus which is considered your authority.

Even if you are not accepting new clients, you are still trying to make a positive impact. To do that,  you still need to establish trust and authority with your following because more people will find your content valuable if they trust you. 

Okay, here are six types of content that will help you grow, engage, and build trust with your audience.  Happy posting!

Share your personal experiences and how they’ve helped you become a better therapist

By sharing something that makes you vulnerable you are helping to build trust and connection with your audience which is super important in marketing. Think about your own experiences as a consumer – are you more likely to want services from someone you relate to and trust? The answer is always yes. 

You can share your own story and how you got started. Be sure to sprinkle in some information about how you are using your learning and experiences to grow as a provider and how that helps your clients. Be sure to end the post with a call to action the invites engagement. An example call to action would be “Drop a <3 in the comments if you’ve experienced similar growth” 

Offer advice and tips for people who are struggling with mental health

This idea helps your audience understand your authority in the industry as well as offers them valuable information they can use. Keep it simple and general with your tips or advice. Offer quotes, helpful tips, or other areas that can provide value to your audience. Try to avoid getting too involved in the details of treatment options and such. Be sure to also keep this aligned with what your specialty is so you are staying on Brand and building trust. 

Share case studies or client stories to help illustrate your services

Case studies are always a good idea to foster connections and build trust with your audience. However, this is an understandably difficult endeavor in the world of mental health. Being sure not to violate any ethical or legal practices, you can share a review or story (with permission) from a client that talks about how your services helped them. In addition, you can take this a bit further by sharing a follower story of growth – with permission, of course. 

Write about current events or hot topics in the mental health world

Another great way to establish your authority and help your audience see your knowledge is to share what’s happening in your industry. We all have to keep our finger on the pulse of industry news, current events, and various hot topics surrounding mental healthcare. It would benefit your following to share some of this information to help keep them informed. You can, and should, put the verbiage in terms that all can understand if possible to avoid lack of comprehension with your audience. 

Link to helpful resources, such as articles, books, or online courses

Do you have a resource that you think would help your audience? Something that has helped you in your own personal experience and growth? Share it. Link to it and provide instructions for use, if applicable. Free resources are preferred but some low price items would be fine too. This helps connect your audience to self-help tools that will help them grow. From a marketing perspective, this helps establish your authority in the topic of mental healthcare. 

Promote fundraising events or campaigns related to mental health

It’s natural for people who feel impacted by a cause to want to give back to it. Give your audience that opportunity by sharing a fundraising event or campaign in your areas of specialty. If you are able, give to the cause yourself before sharing it to help establish trust. 

I have created a fully customizable content calendar with ideas for you for FREE! Get yours here 👇

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The Secrets to Branding your Mental Health Practice | Pleasant Media

Mental health professionals put a lot of time and effort into their work, but what about the marketing aspect? It’s important to brand your mental health practice in order to reach potential clients. In this blog post, I will be sharing some secrets to successful branding for your mental health practice. Read more below!

What is branding and why do you need it for your mental health practice?

Most people think of branding as what the public recognizes when they see a business such as colors and graphics. However, that is just one very small part of a brand – there’s so much more involved.

A brand is the look, feel, emotion, connection, and personality an individual associates with your practice when hearing your name, seeing an advertisement, or with any sort of interaction they might have with you. 

Branding is important. I’m sure that we could all think of at least three brands right off the top of our heads right now, and how you feel about that brand. But why is it important to have a brand for your mental health practice? Well, you all have a business. You are exchanging funds for services. With that, comes the need to be recognizable, connected,  and remembered so you can set yourself up as a serious contender in a competitive market. 

As mental health providers, you are all about making connections, fostering those relationships, and impacting your clients in a positive way. Keeping your content and business on brand helps establish trust thus fostering those relationships and connections. 

How do you create a brand for a mental health practice? 

There are six components that go into creating a brand.

  • Voice
  • Identity
  • Promise
  • Values
  • Targeting
  • Positioning

Brand Voice – Think about your mission and core values. How can you best portray yourself to represent those values? Deciding on which tone and emotions you would like to use to communicate with your clients and following that will help personalize and humanize your brand.

Brand Identity – How can people recognize you? Are you consistently using the same font, graphics, colors? Do you have something unique that sets you apart? For example, say you are a fun and quirky mental health professional who has the mission to help heal adults from childhood trauma. Perhaps you can choose bright colors, funky fonts, and wholesome graphics to help people recognize and FEEL that you are a fun and quirky person.

Branding Tip:

Make sure the colors and the font style are easily read and are uniquely you. My colors for my business are turquoise and brown because I love those colors but also, blue is a good feeling color and I want my followers and constituents to feel good when they see my brand. 

Brand Promise – A brand promise is what you promise to deliver to your clients. To use the previous example of a mental health professional who teaches adults to heal  from childhood trauma – that is your deliverable. You promise to empower adults to be able to address, cope, and heal their trauma. Everything you say, do, post, or design should have this promise come through  so you are connecting well but also so people know what you do just by looking at your brand. 

Hopefully, you have created a marketing plan and have your audience and their pain points all sorted out. If not, head on over to this post to read more about creating a marketing plan. If you need help, you can download this FREE marketing plan. 

Brand Values – What are your values as a provider or a coach? Are you compassionate, honest, kind? Do you practice with integrity? Do you speak out against racism or sexism? These are your core values and they connect you with your audience. This is where you take a stand, share some part of yourself that can resonate with your ideal client. You want people to look at your brand and say – “I know that provider values honesty and is against racism. I like that because I value the same.” 

In addition to connecting and resonating with your ideal client, values also help you guide the direction of the types of clients you would like to see and keeps you on a path of fulfillment. 

Brand Targeting – Speaking of ideal clients – Who are you targeting? You should already have a persona created of your ideal client. Make sure you are speaking to this client in your marketing and communications so there is no mistaking who you are here to help. 

Brand Positioning – Where you are in the market according to your clients? Where can your client expect to see your practice advertised? Where can they expect to see your content?  How are you employing the marketing tactics you have outlined? 

So, once you get all this fleshed out, it is time to put together a branding and marketing strategy. Then, stick with it and stay consistent.

How do I stay consistent with my practice branding?

Four Tips for staying consistent with your branding across all mediums

  1. Create a brand style guide and use it. This is an evolving document that is meant to be adjusted as needed. You can go back and refer to this guide whenever you need and share it with others you may bring on to help with your practice so the brand remains consistent. 
  2. Be sure you are creating a brand kit within Canva, or whatever design software you are using. This way, when you are doing your graphics for marketing, your brand fonts and colors are readily available to you. 
  3. Use the same voice across all marketing platforms with adjustments as needed per platforms. Don’t make this voice something too far away from your own talking style so when you are speaking with a client they are not surprised. You want to be sure to represent yourself in a professional but unique way. 
  4. Have your mission posted everywhere. This will help keep it in the forefront of yours and your clients mind and helps increase brand awareness. 

How can my brand stand out in a crowded market?

Make your brand stand out in a competitive market

There is only one you. You are unique just by being yourself. You may be offering the same thing that others are offering but YOU are different because you are not them, you are you. If you can make your brand exude the unique you, you are already set apart from others. In addition to using your branding in all communication, You can also do this by taking a stand – publicly stand up against something you are passionate about. Show yourself and be unapologetically you. Be vulnerable. All this establishes trust and pushes you out against the rest. 

If you need help in your marketing or branding strategy, let’s talk! Click below to set up a FREE call with me!

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Five Different Ways to Market a Mental Health Practice | Pleasant Media

Mental health professionals often find themselves looking for inventive and effective ways to market their practice. The field is highly competitive, and it can be difficult to set oneself apart from the pack. In this post, we’ll discuss five different strategies that you can use to market your mental health practice. Read on to learn more!

Here are five ways you can market a mental health practice while maintaining ethical care.

🎯 Social Media

Choose one or two platforms that you know your audience is on and can post consistently. This does not have to be every day but does need to be consistent.

So, which social media platforms should you choose as a mental health provider? Well, that’s up to the results of your market research. Make sure you have your market research done and a solid marketing plan in place so you know who you want to target with your marketing. Then, do some research to find out which social media platform that ideal client  is mostly using. For example, if you are targeting individuals in the 35 – 60 age range, you may lean into Facebook as that tends to be where those people are. However, if your target is 18 – 40 years old, Instagram may be better. You can use both to cover all age ranges. Of course, this is just an example. You can find more detailed information regarding where your audience is in your research. 

Download a FREE marketing plan template here

🎯 Website

Be sure you have a website that is search engine optimized so that clients in your area can find you easily. Use an SEO strategy, if needed. An SEO strategy is the use of targeted and categorized content to rank your website higher than others in your industry in a search engine result page (SERP). Typically, content involves keywords that are often searched in your market. Doing some keyword research is important before creating an SEO strategy so you know what your ideal client is typically searching for and how you can position and write your content to deliver value to them. Remember, SEO is not just adding the keywords on a page – the key here is to give the audience a solution using the keywords while still making your website user friendly and easily readable. In addition, you should list your services and your specialty, any potential disclaimers, costs, what insurances you take, how clients can expect to be billed, and other pertinent information.  

🎯 Network

Get in with other professionals in your industry. Use LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with people in the mental health field. When you can get in with other professionals in your area, you can share your target with them so when they find clients that may be best suited for you, they can refer them to you. 

🎯 Email

Consider putting together an offer that gives your ideal client some value. Think ebooks or guides that you can offer for download. You can begin gathering email addresses with this offer by promoting the offer on social media and your website. Then,  you can cultivate, nurture, and email this list on a consistent basis with some of your  priced services. Remember to not just email offer promotions. You should always include something of value like an inspirational quote, a how-to infographic, or a link to a needed resource. This way, your audience will get something out of the encounter and feel more of a connection instead of feeling like they are being sold to.

🎯 Reviews

Reviews and testimonials are called User Generated Content (UGC). This is important in marketing as most, if not all, clients will read reviews before deciding to reach out for your services. How can you bring in reviews? Use your current client base to ask for reviews and post them across your marketing channels to include your website and social media. Your clients can maintain full privacy as you do not need to use client information to post reviews. 

Need help? Book a FREE consultation call with me to discuss your practice and how to effectively market yourself.

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Marketing for Mental Health Providers and Coaches – My New Focus | Pleasant Media

I wanted to take some time to chat about some upcoming changes with you. It starts with a little of my story…. 

It’s time to get real honest and open with you all. I have struggled with mental illness since early in my life. I have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. A lot of these stem from trauma and self esteem issues. I have been in therapy for most of my life, on and off. I have found that the work that therapists and other mental health providers do is selfless and 100% life changing. I really owe everything I have to my relationship with therapy.   Lately, I have been struggling to find my purpose – to find my passion. Helping small businesses grow has always been top of my list of things I want to do but as time has progressed, I have noticed something that needs my attention. This has been a difficult decision for me to make, but I know that it is the right one. After years of working in digital marketing, I have decided to niche down and focus my skills on helping practices in the mental health industry.

The negativity surrounding mental health is something that really bothers me, and I want to do something about it. By marketing for practitioners and coaches in the field, I hope to allow them to focus on patient care instead of worrying about how to get the word out there.

It isn’t going to be easy, but I am confident that I  can  make a difference. I  put my heart and soul into my new business, and soon it will be thriving in this niche.  

I will be developing content to help mental health providers and coaches reach their ideal client to offer the same selfless service that I have been given over my lifetime. My goal is to assist mental health providers and lifestyle coaches break through the stigma of mental health with various aspects of digital marketing allowing them more time to provide care to those in need.

Over the next few weeks, I will take several steps to retarget my brand. You may see some changes coming from me and it may look messy and chaotic (which is my personality anyway). 

So, I will end this little rant with a tip for my new audience. 

*Get real serious and targeted with your content*

Content really is king and targeted content is the entire kingdom! As a provider, you have a specialty – make sure your content – whatever that is – is targeted to that specialty so you bring in the clients that you can help. 

Followers/likes mean nothing if the individual isn’t taking anything away from your content. 

An example would be … Family therapists can deliver content towards helping the dynamics of family, parenting advice, tips on surviving the teen years, divorce issues, etc.. Create some content pillars such as education, inspiration, and promotion. Then list out some subtopics under each of these that speak to the headline pillar. For example, under inspiration, you might add a quote about how it’s okay to not be happy all the time within a family. You can then create this content using a free design tool like Canva and post to the appropriate channel. 

This ensures that you are not only using valuable content, you are targeting those who you want to absorb and learn from your services. 

You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @pleasantmediallc. Be sure to check out my free marketing plan linked below if you need help putting together a plan to get your marketing off the ground. If you want to learn further about my service and how I can help, use the link below to set up a free consultation call with me! 

SET UP A FREE CALL WITH ME

Have a wonderful week! 

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How to Create a Marketing Budget for a Small Business | Pleasant Media

As a small business owner, you know that creating and sticking to a marketing budget is essential to your success. But where do you start? And how much should you spend? In this post, I’ll walk you through the steps of creating a marketing budget for your small business, and provide some tips on how to stick to it. Let’s get started!

1. Define your goals 🎯

It is no secret that goal setting is essential for the success of small business growth. Equally important is to plan how you are going to reach that goal. As Brian Tracy said, “a goal without a plan is just a dream.” Always keep in mind when setting goals for your business is to use actionable items that you can control. I have talked about this a bit in my last post; you can learn more here. 

So, what type of goals should you set for a business? Here are some items you should consider: 

  • Revenue goals – how much money would you like to earn each year, each quarter? 
  • Business expenses – how can you reduce what you spend on business expenses while still maintaining a successful workflow
  • Customer Traffic – what can you do to bring in more customers? 
  • Employee retention – how can you create an employee-centric environment to engage and retain your employees? 
  • Marketing – how do you plan to market your business? 

This may sound like a lot of work and consideration, but I promise that having goals and an actionable plan to achieve those goals will improve your business in the long run. In addition, it will help in creating and sticking to a marketing budget as you will now know where you should allocate your funds to reach those goals as most goals can be achieved with added marketing efforts. 

2. Calculate your average customer lifetime value 💸

According to an article written by Qualtrics, customer lifetime value is how valuable a customer is to your company. You can measure this by understanding what value the customer gives your business at each interaction. Say you are a candy store and you have a loyal customer that comes in to purchase about $20 worth of candy each holiday equaling about $140 each year in revenue from that customer. Now, if that customer has been there for 5 years, their lifetime value is approximately $700. 

Now you can calculate what the customer acquisition costs are – basically, how much did you spend to bring that customer in? This is where your marketing efforts come into play. Did you list an article in the local newspaper? Did you run a Facebook ad that drew customers in? If that number is larger than the lifetime value, you will need to make some adjustments to lower that acquisition cost so that you are profiting from the interactions. This helps in creating a marketing budget as you have now determined how much you can spend on those efforts to continue to stay profitable. 

3. Research your competition 🔍

Knowing your competition and what their marketing efforts are will help you determine how much you need to allocate to your efforts. In addition, you can see where they are marketing their business and which platform might be valuable to you. Here is a great article from the US Chamber of Commerce about how to conduct competitor research. When doing competitor research, keep the following in mind: 

  • Trends in the marketplace
  • Which channels are successful and which ones are not
  • How are customers responding to the competitor’s efforts

Remember that your goal here is to not copy what the competitors are doing but to gain knowledge about what is working and what is not in your industry. 

4. Determine and set a budget for each marketing channel 📄

Now you can determine where and how you’d like to market your business and using your competitor research, you can determine which channel is best and how much you can allocate towards that channel. For example, if you are seeing success for your industry on Facebook, maybe more of your budget can be placed on boosting posts or running ads. Or maybe you see more success in website content so you can allocate more to website SEO. 

5. Track and adjust your budget as needed 📈

Marketing is never a set it and forget it endeavor. It takes frequent analysis and adjusting. The same goes for the marketing budget. While monthly analysis is important and should also be done, I recommend watching your KPIs (Key performance indicators) over a quarter – usually three months – and noting the trends. If something isn’t performing as well as you had hoped, it is probably time to adjust the spending to that tactic and put it elsewhere. 

Honorable tips: 

  • A budget comes AFTER a strategy
  • Tactics are mechanisms for a strategy
  • Consider hiring someone who specializes in digital marketing – Let’s talk – Click to set up a call 
  • Use this FREE template to set up a marketing budget 
  • Consult with an accountant who specializes in small businesses if needed 

Now that you understand how to allocate your marketing budget, it’s time to set some goals and put your plan into action. I would be happy to help you create a custom marketing strategy and walk you through the process of setting up your budget. Set up a call today so we can get started!

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Four Ways to Grow your Small Business Marketing | Pleasant Media

Here are four ways you can grow your small business marketing right now. From creating a content strategy, to adding videos, these tips will help!

1. Make sure your website is up to date and looks professional

Having an updated business website is as important as having an updated store front. I like to look at the digital ecommerce space as a huge shopping plaza. The more attractive the window, the more likely customers are going to come in and see what the business is all about. As a small business owner, you wouldn’t want an outdated, unattractive store front and old, unused inventory when you are competing with all the other places in the plaza. Same goes for your business website.

The good news, it can be relatively inexpensive to make sure your website is up to date and professional looking. The bad news, it does take a certain level of skill, creativity, and time. With the many tools available to small business owners to help design a really amazing website, keeping an updated and relevant website has never been easier.

Need another reason to keep that website updated? The Google algorithm, (the thing that makes sure your website ranks high in the search results) is deigned to push forward updated websites.

When updating your website, be sure you keep it user friendly. Don’t send your customers on a wild goose chase just to find one of your products or services. The more technology evolves, the more users want instant gratification. So avoid over complicating things.

Need help? Set up a call with me.

2. Leverage video content

Another way you can improve on your small business today is to really leverage using video. With the burst of TikTok, Reels, YouTube, and all the other video content, small businesses can absolutely benefit from using this type of content to raise awareness for their business offerings. Think about how you could really talk to your ideal customer, then just portray that in a video content piece. Some examples: How to use a product or service, behind the scenes, meet the owner, show off a product, brag about an employee, etc… The possibilities are endless.

Do try to stick with a strategy to maintain consistency. If you do not already have a marketing strategy, see tip number four.

3. Set SMART Goals

I’m sure by now, everyone has heard of SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. I’m also sure that we are all kind of burned out from hearing that we need to set goals a small business owner but it’s a tried and true method that often leads to results.

However, just setting goals mean nothing. You need to take action. This is why I really press for setting ACTIONABLE SMART goals. Always create a goal with a purpose, and something you can immediately begin taking action on.

One more thing about SMART goals, try to avoid making goals that are dependent on other people. We all know that we cannot control everything (though I know how much we really wish we could). Focus on the goals that you are in control over. For example, instead of saying “I want to sell 45 products per week” which gives control to a customer because you cannot know for sure if customers are going to buy this week. There are a lot of determining factors here, or outside influences that could make this not possible. Instead, try setting a goal like “I plan to promote this product line on three different media channels for the entire month.” This type of goal puts you in control, and is bound to increase your sales in the process.

4. Develop a full marketing plan and content strategy

Lastly, but probably should be the VERY FIRST thing you do is to create a full marketing plan and content strategy. There are no bones about this – it needs to be done. IF you have one, awesome! Update it. If not, create one. Start now.

Click the button below to download a free marketing plan template to get you started.

Free Marketing Plan Download

As always, have fun with it! You got this!

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The Girl Who Became a Boss

Ever feel lost? Like you’re stuck in mud and your tires are just not gaining traction. Goodness, we all know what that feels like and if you say you don’t, you’re either lying or you’re extremely privileged.

I want to go back in time a bit. The year was 2003. I was 17. I had just given birth to my first daughter, I was scared and alone. I was married and living in a small trailer in Long Island, NY. My husband at the time was working two jobs and I had no friends or family around me. I felt stuck. Now I have this newborn who needs constant care and no support system.

Time seemed to be at a stand still back in those days. I had no job, no career goals, no money. I had no purpose. In retrospect, I wasn’t in love with this life. I didn’t really want to be married and domesticated at 17. I made the choice because I had to escape a very negative situation and that was the only way I knew.

As time passed and life just happened to me, I was more and more unhappy. I had this beautiful baby who saved me from a lot of bad things that I felt I was failing on a daily basis. Point blank, life sucked.

So, what changed? Fast forward over 10 years – yes, TEN years. I did not get this for a decade!!! I decided enough was enough. I now had three children, I was divorced, and I was collecting foodstamps and HEAP. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think anything is wrong with that if you need it but that wasn’t the life I wanted.

What changed was my mindset. I decided I was not going to continue to let life happen to me. I was going to do something about it to build the life that everyone told me I couldn’t have. Born from poverty and squalor, everyone makes assumptions that you are going to be that way forever – that you can’t break the cycle. I was determined to prove that wrong.

I was in a dead end job for a temp agency that was just barely paying the bills. I saw a job posting for a local nonprofit hiring for a Projects Coordinator. I thought, what the hell? I probably won’t get this job but I’ll try anyway because I need something permanent. I went into that interview with confidence that I didn’t really have. I was honest and explained that I just needed a shot. That’s all I need. I’m smart, I’m determined, and I’m raw as hell.

They gave me a shot – and that was six years ago. While I have been there, I built up the skills to become a stellar social media manager, projects coordinator, digital marketer, and relationship builder. I have taken the steps for myself to be an expert in whatever I do. I work hard, learn hard, and give hard.

But I still felt a bit stuck. I had grand dreams of owning my own business and giving back to the community in a way I was good at. I am good at digital marketing so that’s what I really wanted to do. However, there was a wall. It was fear. Fear was stopping me. It was like by body had built up this proverbial wall to stop me from having any negative feelings, including the potential for rejection and failure. I did actually start a business, but to be honest, I was only going at it half-ass. I wasn’t doing myself or my business any justice.

Now, I want to talk about today. Well, just a few months ago leading into today. Through an amazing client, I met an amazing coach. I made the investment and my life took off! My coach, Jon Martin of High Performance Health, got me thinking about my life in ways that I never thought possible. Somehow, he was able to really guide me into the best parts of me. We dug deep together into clarity and broke through all the chaos. We changed the inner narrative.

I now run my own business – which is much different than just owning it. I still work for the nonprofit but I have so much more confidence in what I am doing. I know I am good at it. I know I am a rock star. I know…. I am worthy of all good things.

While I am not a “boss” of anyone in particular yet, I turned into the boss of my life. Which, to me, is so much more profound. When we finally see our worth, our entire motivation in life changes. I know this probably sounds sappy to some, which is fine. It’s not meant for everyone. It’s meant for those who need to know that where you are right now is just fine. You’re doing your best. But when you’re ready – there is something amazing out there for you. Take that leap. Take the step. You’ll thank yourself for it.

Tell me your story in the comments. Have you turned into a rock star against all odds? I want to hear about it.

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All About Consistency in Digital Marketing

What, Why, When, Where, and How of Consistency for Small Business Digital Marketing

Consistency 

It is not really a sexy word but the results from doing it can be! 

Seriously, consistency matters folks. Social Media Marketing is all about consistency. Today I am going to tell you the What, Why, When, Where, and How of consistency on social media. 

What?

Everything! Your posting schedule, engagement schedule, marketing strategy, content planning, content creation, branding, and networking all should be consistent. I know that sounds like a lot, but don’t let it overwhelm you. Remember, quality is more important than quantity.

Posting – You don’t have to do this every day. Hell, you don’t have to do this every other day.  Use your best self and post when you can but do it consistently. If you can only post 3 times a week – then do that but do it with intention and do it regularly. 

The same goes for engaging with your audience, sticking to your marketing strategy, planning and creating content, branding, and all the other things we have to do on social media to grow. You don’t have to do it daily, you just have to do it on a regular and predictable basis. 

Why?

Predictability and structure builds trust. If you are flighty and only post when you think about it without any rhyme or reason, your audience will see that and think you are not committed. And if you’re not committed – why should they be? 

Also, it helps build a routine into your workflow. You get better at it and it will save you time. 

When?

When you can! Do not overload yourself. So many people think it is necessary to post on every network, every platform, every day – even multiple times a day – I see you Instagram and TikTok. But that’s just not necessary. Find a space that works for you, master it, and use it. Use it however you can, when you can and then repeat. It’s really that simple. 

Where?

Wherever you can! Are you most familiar with Facebook? Instagram? TikTok? Post where you are comfortable to start. Once you get better at marketing on that platform, and you feel you can move to something else, learn a new one. But make sure you understand HOW to  that platform and create a strategy for it. Yes, you do need separate strategies for each platform. This isn’t a one size fits all process. 

How?

How to remain consistent. Just. Do. It. – That slogan is popular for a reason. Seriously, there isn’t a magic button or method. You have to show up and get it done. Choose the days and times marketing works for you and stick to that. Hopefully, you’ve already scheduled and posted your content for the week. So, log in, engage, network, and create. Consistently

Let me take the stress out of social media marketing for your small business. With my coaching sessions, I give you everything you need to market effectively that you will no doubt see success. Interested? Complete the form below. 

Start Here to Work with me!
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3 Ways to Add Value to Your Marketing Strategy

The importance of Value-added marketing

Value Marketing for Small Businesses

Are you providing value in your marketing plan?! If not, you are doing yourself and your business a huge injustice.

But Tina, What the heck is value marketing? 

Essentially, value marketing is the focus on providing what your consumers WANT versus what you think they SHOULD have. This is important because sometimes, we as business owners just throw content out there and HOPE someone likes it enough to convert to a paying prospect. 

But….is that working? Probably not.

Let’s talk about the true importance of providing value and what that might look like for your business and learn how to offer it using three methods. 

Connect

Give

Authenticity 

Value marketing is sort of a new concept. It is the KEY to building relationships and emotional bonds with our customers, plus value marketing increases brand advocacy and makes others feel important. 

But, how do you do it? 

Connect 

Provide content that resonates with your target audience. Is your target audience business owner moms? Share content that they can relate to like a quote about self-care or time management. This creates a connection to this target consumer and develops a trusting relationship. It does not always have to be about your business but should offer a way for your target to connect with you on an emotional level. You want your audience to be like “Oh, yes! This person GETS IT.” 

Say you’re a restaurant owner and you notice your Wednesday night sales are decreasing. You know you need to bring in more customers during the week, but how do you do that AND offer value? Well, say –  You have a target audience of couples in their 30s or 40s. You can create a romantic type post offering a quote or inspiration about the importance of quality time that connects with them. Say something about breaking up the monotonous week with a statistic. Then plug your business as a place for them to experience date night. 

The goal here is to just connect with your consumers. Relate to them. Show them that you are human, just like them. 

Give more than you take

Is your page just constantly pushing out products or services? That might work for some, but that’s really rare. People are not on social media to be sold to. They want value. So, give more than you take. Offer tips, tricks, tutorials, FAQs, host Q&A’s and so on. Platforms are really doing well to set you up for success here so take advantage of it. 

The key here is to offer your audience something with no strings attached. You cannot expect that just because the person interacts with you in some way that they are going to become a customer. You are in business to help people. Building revenue will come along with that. Once you shift your mindset to this, the rest will come naturally. 

Be Authentic

The majority of people are sick of seeing photo-shopped images of models trying to sell them something. People want to see reality. They want to see it raw. They want to experience life through your services/offers.content. 

Be you. Not what you think others want you to be. If you aren’t the only one suffering is you AND your audience will catch on sooner or later. 

Connect, give, and be authentic – you will succeed in your marketing if you do these three things. 

Which one can you start implementing today? Tell me in the comments below.

Need help adding value to your content? Book a consult session with me today!

Book a FREE Consult

*Bonus*

I’ve put together a calendar full of value added ideas for June! Want it? Get it below

Get the FREE calendar
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4 Time Saving Tools for Small Business Owners

Four time saving tools img

Oh hey! 🖐

Look, as a busy mom of three daughters, a full-time employee, a partner, a household manager, and a small business owner – I understand the NEED to save time. Time is such a valuable commodity and we often forget that it is our most important asset.

Let’s walk through the top 4 tools that I use Every. Single. Day. to help me save time and stay on track. 

  1. Google Calendar 📆

Seriously. It sounds super simple but it’s super necessary. I schedule everything in my google calendar using time blocking (I’ll cover time blocking in a separate blog post). This tool saves my day and keeps me on track. 

Got an upcoming appointment? Put it in the calendar. 

Got an upcoming meeting? Calendar

Need to connect with a client? Calendar

Need to take your medication? You guessed it, GOOGLE CALENDAR! 

Using a daily calendar allows me to be super intentional with my time, which I absolutely love! 

2. Asana… 🗃

…or any other project management tool.

Having a project management tool that works for you is literally the bread and butter of organizing your time. I personally like Asana but any one of them will work. Example – Trello, Monday, etc… Just Google “Project Management Tool” and you’ll find one. 🧐

Here’s how I use Asana… 

I add all the current projects I have going on in all areas of my life to include personal, professional, and even wellness. I add the task to Asana and then add all the steps that I need to take to finish the task or complete the goal. Then I assign due dates. 

When I say projects – I don’t necessarily mean huge projects that need a timeline, budget, etc. I add my exercise, personal wellness, and Social Media engagement routine all to Asana – under different categories, of course. 

This is even more beneficial if you have a team so you can share these project timelines with your team and delegate appropriately. 

3. Hubspot 📈

This is a full service, client relationship management system. 

What does client relationship mean? Well, if you are a service-based business, like me, you will need a way to connect and maintain your relationships with your customers. Hubspot is a very simple, and thorough, way to do that. 

Hubspot allows me to log client and lead interactions and build on that relationship. Plus, there are so many different ways to utilize the offerings in Hubspot – I’ll leave the details to the experts. 

There are a ton of other CRM platforms out there – I just prefer to use Hubspot. Again, Google CRM and…poof ✨ You’ll find something.

4. Canva 🖼

Your content creation sidekick!

Graphic design – TRUE graphic design, can be complicated – and I don’t know even ONE small business owner who has the time to learn the ins and outs of graphic design.

Enter….Canva.

I could talk about Canva all day! 

The ability to create custom graphics, sized perfectly for your chosen channel is alone a huge time saver. Seriously, you can create graphics for social media, newsletters, business cards, websites, blogs – the list is almost endless.  Plus, Canva offers templates, stock photos/videos, logo help, and so much more. And – the free version is outstanding and very robust. 

But…

Just for you – I have developed a FREE Canva Template for Small Business Social Media! 

Get the FREE Canva Template

So, reply below… Do you use any of the tools mentioned? 👇