Marketing advice for counsellors
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is the UK’s professional association for therapists. As Deputy Head of Communications, I helped its members get more clients by training them to promote their work effectively.
A wise investment
When someone chooses counselling as a profession it’s because they want to change people’s lives for the better. The business side of things often takes a back seat. Not to mention that investing in marketing isn’t easy when you’re just starting out and you’re struggling to break even.
But you can’t change lives if your potential clients don’t know you exist. You need to promote your work. And to do that, you need a powerful toolkit of straightforward skills, techniques and resources. That’s exactly what I created for BACP’s 50,000 members.
PR and marketing for beginners
I gave a series of training events at conferences across the UK. I stuffed these workshops with tried and tested tips, tricks and techniques. All aimed at increasing awareness and encouraging engagement from potential clients.
I also hosted a tailored copywriting workshop for counsellors. Trainees left with a practical package of basic copywriting skills. It helped them improve their online profiles, advertisements and website copy.
A series of articles in BACP’s international journals accompanied the workshops. In them, I offer advice to counsellors on promoting their work, attracting new clients and working with the media. You can read three of these articles below.
Marketing yourself
Counselling at Work
Want to make senior staff aware of the value you add to their business? Looking to promote your services to new customers? You’ll need skills in promotion and marketing. Get the inside track on how best to raise your profile and attract new clients.
#Promote
University and College Counselling
There is a growing recognition of the need for university and college counselling services to market their department within their institutions. Ruth Clowes looks at the importance of promotion and how best to go about raising the profile of a service.
Demystifying the media
Private Practice Journal
Working with the media can be a powerful addition to your marketing toolkit and it doesn’t have to be intimidating or time consuming. Learn how to put a media campaign into action with tips and tricks from a PR professional.