Episode 172: Emails, Opt-ins, SEO, and More — Marketing Strategies for Therapists [featuring Avivit Fisher]

Show Notes

In this episode, I speak with Avivit Fisher, the founder of REdD Strategy and an expert in marketing for therapists. We discuss the essentials of marketing funnels and strategies that can transform how therapists attract and maintain clients, especially in the constantly evolving digital landscape.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Adapting to Changing Technology: The landscape of SEO and client attraction is significantly impacted by AI and changes in social media algorithms, making local search and online reputation more crucial than ever.
2. Email Marketing as a Powerful Tool: Email marketing is a powerful, low-cost, and low-energy tool that provides continuous engagement with your audience, helping to build trust and maintain client relationships over time.
3. Creating a Cohesive Marketing System: Developing a cohesive marketing system that utilizes platforms like Psychology Today, Google Business Profile, and LinkedIn can effectively drive traffic to your website, nurture potential clients, and convert visits into appointments.

Avivit shares actionable insights and practical steps that can help clinicians stand out in a crowded space. Whether you're a solo practitioner or running a small group practice, this episode is packed with valuable tips to enhance your marketing strategy and grow your practice.

More about Avivit:

Avivit Fisher is the founder of REdD Strategy, a consultancy specializing in equipping therapists in private practice with targeted marketing strategies. Avivit has been empowering practitioners since 2017 through strategic planning, meticulous process optimization, and effective marketing tactics aimed at attracting clients. She holds a Masters in Design Management with a focus on business sustainability and entrepreneurship.

• A Free Marketing For Therapists Guide: reddacademy.com/a-marketing-for-therapists-guide
• Website: reddstrategy.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reddstrategy
• YouTube: youtube.com/@AvivitFisher
• Instagram: instagram.com/avivitfisher

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A Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad & Alma!

✨ The Receptionist for iPad:

I want to thank The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.

From new patients faced with an empty lobby and no idea where to find their therapist to clinicians with a session running over time and the doorbell ringing, some of the most anxiety-ridden moments of a therapy appointment happen before a session even starts. The Receptionist for iPad, helps you tackle some of that pre-appointment apprehension and anxiety.

The Receptionist for iPad is an easy-to-use digital client check-in system that helps your visitors check in securely to their appointments and notify their practitioners of their arrival via SMS, email, or your preferred channel.

No more confusion and less lobby checking or having clients sign in on paper logbooks. It can even help you upgrade and update your demographic information for your clients as well and even validate parking.

Start a 14-day free trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link and you'll also get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

✨Alma

I want to thank Alma for sponsoring this episode.

Building and managing the practice you want can be challenging. That’s why Alma offers tools and resources to help you build not just any practice, but your private practice. They’ll help you navigate insurance, access referrals who are the right fit for you, and efficiently manage administrative tasks — so you can spend less time on the details, and more time delivering great care. You support your clients. Alma supports you.

Visit helloalma.com/ATPP to learn more.

Transcript

PATRICK CASALE: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the All Things Private Practice podcast. I am joined today by Avivit Fisher, who is the founder of RedD Strategy, a consultancy specializing in equipping therapists in private practice with targeted marketing strategies.

She has been empowering practitioners since 2017 through strategic planning, meticulous process optimization, and effective marketing tactics aimed at attracting clients. She holds a master's degree in design management with a focus on business sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Really excited to have you on today because we kind of just discussed what we were going to talk about like five minutes ago. And I think it's, actually, a great topic as we move into the new year. And which is going to be discussing some marketing funnel strategies with all of the changes that are happening in social media, and technology, and artificial intelligence.

So, anything I missed with your bio, and anything that feels really, like, applicable right now to the audience?

AVIVIT FISHER: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me here, Patrick. And thank you for the introduction. I think you summed up in my bio very well. I can just give you my background. I come from a client side, not a therapist side. My whole purpose of creating my company, RedD Strategy, is to bridge the gap between the clients and the providers through marketing, through strategic marketing, through marketing messaging, and so on. And I think right now is more important than ever for, you know, providers, for therapists, to have that marketing message and to create that funnel that really builds a relationship with their audience and attracts the people who are the best fit for their practice.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, absolutely. I think that is necessary more than ever too, especially, as we're seeing more tech firms come into the space, and more insurance companies who are buying big group practices, and smaller practitioners and practices are thinking like, "Am I about to get squeezed out? Am I about to, you know, really struggle to get clients in the door?" So, I think that we're seeing a changing landscape here in the healthcare industry in general.

You kind of talked about, before we started recording, like changes with AI that are happening in the mental health spaces, changes with social media algorithms. Can you kind of expand on what you were talking about?

AVIVIT FISHER: Sure. So, this year has been actually very interesting because there's so much that has been happening. People are very excited about ChatGPT, about AI, and all these, kind of, cool tools that are based on AI. But it really changes the landscape in terms of marketing. It changes, for example, your SEO, search engine optimization of how you come up in searches. There are so many tools that write blog posts very quickly, in minutes, and it's becoming harder to rank in search engines. I'm seeing it with my own SEO. And although I do enjoy those tools, I think it also makes it more difficult to attract people to your website and to be found.

And, you know, we can talk about the good and bad about it, but I want to focus on what's possible. And I think local search is becoming very important. Your reputation and brand online is becoming very important. We see that even with big name marketers out there who are really trying to leverage their brand and their reputation.

And so, what I'm kind of seeing is that it's becoming very necessary to build, sort of, like a cohesive system that encompasses different channels, right? So, it can encompass still SEO, local search, your presence on social media, you know, podcasts, obviously. You know, all kinds of channels that trickle into your system, where you can continue the conversation via email with people who subscribe to you. And, you know, hopefully, urge some of those people who are looking for therapists to come in the door and see you.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah. That's a great take on it because I think we are going to start to have to get more creative and how we attract clients to come in the door. You know, typically, I mean, I can't speak for everybody listening, but typically, we don't have the resources to compete with some of these bigger-name companies that are taking up more space online. We probably don't have the resources to compete with some of the bigger group practices out there. So, you might be thinking like, "What do I do?"

And I know a lot of you are already like, "I don't really like being on social media, and I don't like content creation." So, I really do think that creating some email marketing, and funneling, and really providing a lot of value to your audience, and a lot of strategy, and a lot of support is a really low-cost effective way and It's also low energy. Like, to create some email marketing campaign, it does take some work, but it doesn't take an enormous amount of energy, especially, for those of you who are like, "I don't want to make reels. I don't want to make videos. I don't want to be on all the social media platforms all of the time."

AVIVIT FISHER: Right. You're absolutely correct. And what's wonderful about email marketing, I'm partial, I love email marketing. Most of my clients come through email. It's sort of timeless. You create an email campaign, an email sequence, and it can live forever, and it can keep on the conversation with people who subscribe to your list for years. I had email campaigns that have been working for me for the last couple of years without me touching them. So, that's really wonderful.

And another aspect of email is that when people go into their inbox, they're not distracted by other creators, right? So, yes, you receive the email, and you kind of sift through your email, and delete whatever it maybe you consider a spam. But if the conversation is valuable, if the person who emails you is somebody that you opted in to receive information from, you, are much more likely to read their emails, to listen to what they have to say, and really to connect with their message. So, yeah, email is still very, very relevant.

And Patrick, to your point about competing with bigger practices and maybe with tech companies, it's been my point of view, and I've been trying to argue it, actually, on LinkedIn for the past year that I think that therapists, especially, solo practitioners and small group practice owners, they don't necessarily need to compete there in the niche of their own. I think that we don't need to look at the, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars that bigger companies are spending on marketing and say, "Well, I can never do that." You don't need to. All you need is being visible locally, in your state, in your area, create a message that really connects with your ideal audience, and really continue this conversation via email.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I agree 100%. I think that it's very easy to kind of raise the alarm and get really nervous, and panicky and say, "This could never be me." But when you're a smaller group practice, or when you're an individual provider, I mean, your niche is kind of you, right? Like, your personality is really important. How you show up is really important. And that's going to attract and repel. So, I think continuing that conversation via email is really a great idea.

And I don't see a lot of practices, I'll be honest, including my own, utilizing email marketing for client inquiries or client engagement. So, can you speak to maybe why so many clinicians are probably missing the mark in that regard?

AVIVIT FISHER: You know, I work with a lot of clients, one-on-one clinicians, and I still cannot give you a straightforward answer. I just think that therapists think that, one, maybe it's intrusive a little bit to email somebody. Maybe they feel like it's too much work. Also, maybe they don't know it's… Sometimes it's just an issue of not knowing how to ask people to opt into their email list, right? Sometimes you just don't know what kind of lead magnet, what kind of freebie you can offer for people to subscribe to your email list.

Because through my work I do a lot of competitive analysis for my clients, so I look at their competition's websites. And I would say maybe less than 25% of therapists have some kind of opt-in form. And usually, it's, you know, "Subscribe to our email list." Or, "Subscribe to our newsletter." Without anything of value that they're offering in return. So, a lot of it is an afterthought. And I think there's a huge opportunity in email, very big.

PATRICK CASALE: I think you're spot on with all of that. And I think that if I land on a website so often, you just get, like, the quick pop-up, that's like, "Subscribe to our list." Right? But like you said, what's the value in subscribing to the list? How do I know what I'm going to get? Is there a free offer if I subscribe? Like a free guide? Or a free checklist or some tips or strategies? Typically, I don't see that.

I think a lot of people also, probably, who are listening are like, but what about HIPAA compliance when we're talking about email marketing and subscribing and opting in?

AVIVIT FISHER: Good question. And I did a lot of research into that because I was thinking about it. Most email marketing services are not technically HIPAA compliant. I think Constant Contact is the only one that claims to be HIPAA compliant.

Now, from all the research that I did, I didn't find anything that says that your email subscribers, there's no sensitivity of information, right? Because it's really a one direction conversation. It's you sending things.

Once people schedule an appointment with you, you should put them in your HIPAA compliant email that you're using for your offer, for your communication with your clients. I don't know, Hushmail or whatever people are using. But I don't think that there's an issue of HIPAA compliance. At least I didn't find through my research.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I think you're right. I think that that understanding of HIPAA compliant electronic communication is often misunderstood. And I had Liath Dalton, who is the face of Person Centered Tech, on here, last year, and we were talking about like, HIPAA compliant email, HIPAA compliant text messaging, all the HIPAA compliant things. And if you're opting into something, you are consenting to something, all right? So, like, there is that protective factor as well.

So, if someone's opting into a newsletter or email list, they have to check the box that says, like, "Yes, I consent to these emails being sent." You're also not sending like protected health information to your list. You're not sending like demographic information. You're probably sending like 10 strategies to get through the holiday type of stuff. So, like, I just want to ease your minds. If you're listening and you're like, "Ooh, that feels a little dicey. I don't know how to navigate that." So, that's first and foremost.

Now, walk us through like, what you think, I can't remember the exact terminology you used in the form you filled out, but the funnel system that you think really differentiates and sets people apart for success.

AVIVIT FISHER: So, I developed this very simple funnel system that works for therapists, specifically. So, basically, the funnel system is, if nothing else, it's your Psychology Today profile, it's your Google business profile. And I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn. If there's no social media that you want to use, LinkedIn, I think it's a great place. And all of these profiles should direct people to your website where they can either book an appointment with you or subscribe to your email list with some kind of lead magnet.

And all it is, is your Psychology Today profile needs to be talking specifically to the type of audience you're trying to attract, your LinkedIn profile, your Google business, all of them have to point people to your website, to your lead magnet, and then you can continue the conversation via email. And then, obviously, you know, some people will just stay with on your email list for a long, long time. Some people will become your clients fairly quickly.

But at least you're not losing those people who end up on your website and just leave because what happens is, I know a lot of therapists, for example, invest a lot into SEO. And when you're investing in SEO, but you don't have a way to capture those visits with an email marketing system, you basically leaving a lot of money on the table.

But not only that, people you know land on your website, they look at you. Maybe they're not ready to schedule an appointment with you yet. Maybe they're, like, having second thoughts, and the chances of them landing on your website again are pretty low. So, at least you want to give them the option to continue this conversation via email, you know, and showcase your brand, tell them what you're about, teach them about your values, about how you work with clients, maybe, or what your philosophy is and how you can help. So, it's very simple.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah. That's super simple, great tips, stuff that you all already know how to do. Like, these tips and strategies, allowing your personality to come out, your values, what you believe in, and how you support people, this is stuff you already do on a daily basis. So, it's really just putting it in email communication and structuring it in terms of, like, how you want to get that email list going.

And I imagine a lot of those people who opt-in, you know, maybe they're not ready to make a consultation call or an intake appointment when they first get on your website because sometimes information is overwhelming, and they might be looking at like 40 different therapist sites. But if they get a sense of who you are and how you work with people, and that comes out in your email list and how you're working on that funnel system, that might actually nudge them in the right direction of, like, picking up the phone and calling you or scheduling that intake appointment.

AVIVIT FISHER: Absolutely right. And I can tell you, as I said, I come from a client side, and because I've been working with therapists for so long, a lot of people around me ask me about, you know, recommendation for a therapist.

And there are so many people who I would speak about somebody, a provider, and give them a phone number, and they just don't follow up. And you know, they feel intimidated, or they're having second thoughts, or you know, they kind of push it aside and stuff like that. But they will go and check them out online first. So, you know, when people check you out, they should have something from you to remember you.

PATRICK CASALE: Oh, absolutely. And I think, you know, we get into this, like, analysis paralysis, right? Where we get inundated and flooded with so much information. And if you're looking for a therapist, you're probably not just looking at one specific website. You're probably looking at many. And that stuff can start to really run together.

And sometimes the big step for people is like, simply calling a therapist, or simply, like emailing a therapist. And then, they're like, "Okay, I did the thing." But then they kind of retreat back because that was a really overwhelming step to take, and maybe they're not quite ready.

So, having this list, right, having this funnel system, having an email marketing campaign, it allows you to foster and grow that know, like, and trust factor, which so many of us need before committing to something where we're going to be vulnerable about everything that's going on in our lives and the struggles that we're having.

AVIVIT FISHER: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, some therapists also are feeling uncomfortable reaching out back to people who, you know, booked an appointment and maybe, like, canceled it after, or just filled out the form to book an appointment and never responded. And so, there's this conflict for therapists sometimes, like, how many times should I follow up with this person? Or is it intrusive? So, when somebody's on your email list, it kind of takes care of itself in some ways. And there's an added benefit to that as well.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I agree. I agree. And when you're talking I'm thinking out loud, like, what kinds of calls to action do you include in these campaigns? Or do you suggest these therapists can include in these campaigns? Would the call to action simply be, if you're ready to take action on, you know, your journey schedule your consultation call, or your intake employment?

AVIVIT FISHER: Right. It can be as simple as that. It can be, schedule a consultation. If you have a group practice, and maybe your email campaign, a nurture email campaign has an email where it introduces different practitioners, and gives like a background of your different practitioner. And then, maybe you have a button to say you're ready to take the next step, book an appointment here.

And then, also, sometimes it's very helpful, in addition, to the call to action to give the process of what's going to happen next, okay? So, we're going to receive your request for an appointment, then we will email you within 24 hours, and X, Y, and Z is going to happen. That's also very helpful.

PATRICK CASALE: That's really great advice. And if you're listening, you might be thinking like, "Oh, that sounds great in theory." But then I forget, or I don't have this system automated, or I don't have a good process behind the scenes. And I would really encourage you to tighten that up because, God, I can't even speak to how many client conversions don't occur because there's no follow up, or it falls through the cracks, and then, all of a sudden, all of those inquiries that you thought were going to become clients, none of them become clients, or very few become clients. And that really impacts their care, and also your bottom line, and your day-to-day.

And I see it all the time, just really needing to refine those processes for follow up. So, I think that this is great advice because this is something that you can easily incorporate.

Now, I have another thought of people thinking like, "Okay, I want to start an email marketing campaign. I don't know what to use." And I know a lot of people are like, "Do you just use MailChimp? Is that something as simple is like starting it that way?" Or do you have better suggestions for people who are listening?

AVIVIT FISHER: Well, I personally love kit. It used to be Convert Kit. That's my preferred system. You don't have to use it. If you want to use MailChimp, you certainly can. I don't think it really matters what you choose to use. It really depends on what your level of comfort. Like, what kind of interface you feel most comfortable with because, you know, again, you're not a huge company that's going to require a very sophisticated email marketing system. All you need is maybe, you know, when somebody signs up, a method to deliver the lead magnet, the freebie that you're offering, and an email campaign of like five to eight emails, which is a nurture sequence, it's called, and every system can deliver that. So, it really depends on, you know, what's the easiest for you, and depends on the price that you're willing to pay because they're priced a little bit differently.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I agree. I know a lot of you who are listening are more perfectionistic or like, "I don't know where to start." So, just pick one. That's always my advice when it gets too overwhelming. Like, MailChimp is fine. There are free versions, and it's very simple.

I used to use ConvertKit, and I really liked it a lot. I moved, you know, all of my business to Kajabi, and that's like an all in one. So, I got rid of ConvertKit, but, like, I really did think that it was really robust and really useful.

And having that nurture sequence, you know? Some of this is going to take you a little bit of time and energy to create the nurture sequence, to create the copy for the emails. But ultimately, once you do it, you don't really have to do it again. So, there's a little more work on the front end. But then once you get everything set up in place it kind of runs itself, and it kind of like can become this recurring system. So, it really does make your life a lot easier.

Now, for those who are listening who are like, "I don't know if I understand how to create these things, or these tags, or these automations, or these freebies." What are your thoughts on that?

AVIVIT FISHER: Well, first of all, all those platforms have their own tutorials. So, it's easy. But also, I have a very simple marketing for therapist guide that I created for therapists that goes over different channels, including marketing as well, in a very simple way. So, if you don't know where to start, you can just simply download it. It's free. And it goes over everything.

And, you know, the tagging system doesn't have to be sophisticated. I would not focus on tagging, right? Like, if you're just starting out, I would just write out the sequence. I would figure out what your lead magnet is, what you're giving away. Maybe it's a quiz, maybe it's a PDF, maybe it's a video, whatever it is, figure out how you're going to be delivering it, and figure out the first five emails that you will send out to your new subscribers.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I think it can be, like you just said, simple and easy, straight to the point. Think about who your target audience is. Think about who your ideal client is. What are some of their pain points? Make a freebie that addresses some of those things. Give a little bit of strategy and solution, some way that they can come away from your site with immediate value, something that you can put into action immediately. It does not have to be overly complicated. It really should not be overly complicated. It should just be like, here are five strategies, or 10 tips on how to manage A, B, and C. Or here's like, like you said, a quick video, or a handout, or a PDF. Make it easy.

You talk about this stuff in sessions all the time. Start thinking about the things that you're talking about constantly with your clients, the strategies that you're kind of talking about constantly with your clients. That can be your marketing. Like, that can be your solution. So, offer that up for free and give it away because that's really going to create, again, that know, like, and trust factor. And that client is going to be able to incorporate that on their own without a lot of guidance or oversight, and already feel like, "Oh, this person has helped me a little bit."

AVIVIT FISHER: That's right. And also, what it does for you, when people who learn a little bit about you and get the value from you, get in the door to see you as a therapist, the chances of turnover of clients is going to go down a little bit because you have done the work of building trust a little bit. Obviously, you build trust in sessions in a different way, but a person is much more open to work with you when they go in the door, when they know a little bit about you, what you can do for them, and how you can help them.

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely, 100%. Well, this has been a really good conversation today and I appreciate your expertise. I also feel like you maybe put me on some list of like, best people to follow a couple of years ago via email. And I got that I was like, "Oh, thank you." I didn't even know what it was or who you were. So, it's really nice to put the face to the name and to connect this way as well. And it's really cool to see the ways that you're helping mental health professionals and entrepreneurs out there as well, too.

AVIVIT FISHER: Well, thank you. Yeah, and you know, I've been following you. I thought you were a great resource. Two years in a row, I've been putting out a guide of best online resources for therapists. And I think I segmented it through like podcasts, newsletters, courses, and I think you ended up, I think, in a best podcast to listen to. So, yeah.

PATRICK CASALE: I appreciate. Full circle moment for sure.

AVIVIT FISHER: Yeah, and I appreciate being here. Thank you so much.

PATRICK CASALE: You're welcome. Tell the audience where they can find what you have to offer, how they can work with you. I know you have that free guide that you mentioned that we will include in the show notes, so everyone has access to that link too. And that way everyone can connect.

AVIVIT FISHER: Absolutely, so yes, my free guide it's called Marketing for Therapists guide. Basically, it's sort of like a jumping board in terms of marketing. It has everything, and I'm going to be updating it. I don't know when this episode is going to air, but I will update it for 2025, for sure.

And my website is reddstrategy.com. You can find a lot of free resources there, in addition to the guide. And the easiest way to connect to me is on LinkedIn. I'm present there. I post a lot about marketing for therapists. In fact, that's all I'm talking about. So, please follow me. And you will learn a lot about promoting, and marketing your private practice, and attracting clients.

PATRICK CASALE: Cool. We'll put all that information in the show notes so you have easy access to all of that. And thank you so much for coming on, making the time, and this will probably come out a couple weeks after the new year, so should be right around the corner.

AVIVIT FISHER: Perfect timing. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it.

PATRICK CASALE: You're very welcome. To everyone listening to the All Things Private Practice podcast, new episodes are out on every single Saturday on all major platforms and YouTube. Make sure to like, download, subscribe, and share. Make sure that you also sign up to come see me in Scotland at the Doubt Yourself, Do it Anyway summit next July. Doubt yourself, do it anyway, and we will see you next week.