Shifting Marketing Strategies for a Private Pay Practice: A Guide for Therapists
Congratulations, therapist!
You’ve made the brave choice to start a private pay practice. Financially, it makes the most sense–it’s difficult to make ends meet when you are in-network with every insurance company under the sun.
But just as your finances are shifting with this change, your marketing strategies must shift as well.
In this post, I’ll explain how (and why) your marketing strategies need to shift when transitioning to a private pay practice and potential marketing strategies you can start implementing to ensure a full, cash pay caseload.
Let’s get started!
How (and why) your marketing strategies should shift when you start a cash-pay practice
Marketing a private pay practice is entirely different than marketing an in-network practice. Here are a few reasons why and how you need to adjust your marketing strategies.
Your ideal client has changed
When you go private pay, your ideal client will likely change in some way. Whenever you’re marketing to a new audience, you have to adjust your messaging.
To navigate this process, I recommend reading Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller. It’s an excellent, easy-to-read guide on how to hone your messaging so you can attract your ideal client.
You need to invest in marketing
What got you here won’t get you there. When you were in-network with insurance companies, you probably didn’t have to market at all. The insurance companies likely referred a ton of clients to you, but those days are over.
Now you have to actually invest in marketing, whether that be with your time or your finances. You have to become more comfortable with the concept of investing (spoiler alert: all businesses invest), or you’ll experience a lot of stress about the process.
And remember: the ROI (return on investment) of your marketing efforts is higher since you’re making more money per client. Investments (in most cases) pay off, but use your best judgment and ask around before investing with a marketing company.
You need to explain why cash pay is worth it
Your website serves many marketing purposes, but now, you have an additional message to convey: that private pay therapy is worth the investment.
Make a compelling argument for cash pay on your website. This can be done in an FAQ, but I’ve also seen therapists dedicate a whole page on their website to why cash pay is worth it, why they no longer take insurance, what out-of-network mental health benefits are, and more.
You need to specialize
If you were a generalist when you accepted insurance, now that you’re out-of-network, I strongly recommend becoming a specialist.
Stepping into your identity as a subject matter expert will not only help you build your reputation; it will help you justify your cash pay policies (and even higher rates!). You’ve likely heard this dozens of times, but it’s worth repeating here: nail your niche. It’s the key to loving your work and successfully transitioning to a private pay practice.
You need to remember that the focus is quality, not quantity
This may be more of an internal shift than an external shift, but your mindset towards marketing in general needs to change.
You’re no longer marketing to the masses–you are attracting a highly refined, smaller caseload. Now that you’re running a specialized, private pay practice, you don’t need dozens of consultations per month! You only need a couple highly aligned client leads per month, so adjust your expectations on the results of your marketing.
Digital marketing strategies for private pay practices
At my marketing agency for therapists TherapieSEO, 90% of our clients are private pay. Here are a few marketing strategies I recommend for my private pay clients (and you!).
Uplevel your website
A premium practice needs a premium website. If you haven’t already, invest in your website! Now that you’re private pay, your practice needs to communicate a higher level of professionalism and polish on your website.
You have lots of options when it comes to developing a refined website, but Hold Space Creative’s Squarespace templates are a great place to start (we use these at TherapieSEO!).
Better directories
The general consensus I hear about directories like Psychology Today is that they’re not a good fit for private pay practices. Many potential clients using Psychology Today are not willing to invest in private pay therapy, so the lead quality isn’t what it needs to be.
That’s one of the reasons I started Best Therapists, a new kind of therapist directory. We take a quality over quantity approach by only featuring five to six therapists per city and specialty, and we target keywords like “best therapists in New York City.” Potential clients who use keywords with the word “best” in them are more willing to pay for the best!
We also require our therapists to pass our vetting process, so we can confidently say that the therapists listed on our directory are truly some of the best providers out there.
Services (like directories) more targeted to private pay therapists are a better investment. Conduct an audit of what you’re currently investing in to make sure that what you’re paying for actually aligns with your practice.
SEO
If you know me, you know that I’m an expert in the SEO for therapists industry. So of course I have to recommend SEO (aka search engine optimization) as a marketing strategy for cash pay practices!
SEO is a direct investment in your website, which is (in my opinion) the most important asset in your business. In many ways, SEO is a brand-building activity. In this way, to be successful on Google, you must make a name for yourself online by becoming recognized by Google as a subject matter expert. This takes time. There’s no quick fix to this process, so SEO is a long-term strategy. It will pay off for years to come, but it’s a lengthier, more intensive process.
Google Ads
In some cases, you may not have the capacity (or desire) to invest in long-term marketing strategies. In that case, I highly recommend Google Ads.
Google Ads is expensive, but if the ROI is there, it’s worth it. When calculating ROI, don’t focus on the amount of money you’re spending on ads. Instead, focus on the number of clients you’re signing for that ads budget. To understand your ROI a bit better, consider the metric cost per acquisition.
Cost per acquisition is the amount of money you spend to sign one client. For example, if you spend $1,000 in Google Ads and sign two clients, your cost per acquisition is $500 per client. Cost per acquisition is typically higher when investing in Google Ads, but you’re still getting your money back. If the average revenue you make from a client is around $5,000, your $500 cost per acquisition was worth it in the end!
If you invest in Google Ads, make sure you trust the Google Ads company you work with. If possible, work with companies that specialize in the therapy industry. I’ve heard stories about therapists investing in ads that were displayed in states they weren’t even licensed in!
Start marketing your cash pay practice
You have a ton of options for marketing your private pay practice, and you should feel at least a little excited about the marketing strategy you choose! Remember that you don’t have to do everything and that some strategies work better for certain ideal clients.
Whatever you choose, stick with it and be prepared to invest. You expect your clients to invest with you, and the coaches and marketing professionals you work with expect the same of you.
Good luck–you got this :)
guest post by
Kristie Plantinga
Kristie Plantinga is a mental health nerd, writer, and marketer living in Colorado. She is the founder of TherapieSEO—a marketing agency serving therapists and coaches—and Best Therapists—a therapist directory that vets therapists so therapy-seekers can focus on fit, not quality. When she’s not writing about mental health and dreaming up creative content strategies, Kristie can be found snuggling her multiple terriers, sipping a homemade dirty chai, and half-helping her husband cook Lebanese food.
