I have seen or heard this question many different times, by different therapists along the way.
“Does anyone actually get referrals from Facebook?”
“How does one market on Facebook without being “commercial”?”
Now, I’m not going to make snazzy promises that you can create your dream practice with Facebook, however, I do have good news… you can gain clients from Facebook! You can also share your message without being commercial.
Client vs. Referrals
For mental health professionals, Facebook can be used to draw potential clients to you but you know what might be a faster way of getting clients? Connecting with potential referral sources. That’s right! Not necessarily spending time connecting with potential clients but potential referral sources.
I have had colleagues in my state, that I first connected with on Facebook, refer clients to me. I have had colleagues out of state ask where my practice was located because they wanted to refer to me. This was based on what they saw me put online, as far as knowledge of the client population I serve and professionalism.
Start With Easily Accessible People
One of the things you can do is to make sure colleagues and family members know exactly what you do and be able to express the knowledge that you have surrounding what you do. They can then pass on your information, when they are on Facebook. Make sure they have an account! It works really well when people have wonderful things to say about your work vs. when it’s coming from you about yourself.
Make Relevant Connections
A few times, I have met someone on Facebook and then I took that beyond Facebook, to build a stronger relationship. For example, meeting for lunch, exercising at the park, and I even tried to meet up with a colleague who flew into my state for time with friends. Unfortunately, I missed her but we tried!
This also means NO SPAMMING, aka “Drive By Marketing.” It’s not beneficial to make announcements in the group, wildly, without even knowing anyone. Believe me, people don’t really see that as genuine. Instead, think outside of the box. I have noticed that there are several groups on Facebook that have been created for mental health professionals living in a particular state or a particular area of that state. These professionals are meeting and learning more about each other, in order to have more people to refer to.
Is there a group for your state? Well, why not start one?!
I just joined one and was already invited to a Winter social/networking event. The good thing about that is we are getting to know each other. There will be people that I met in the group at the social event. For me that’s nice. I really don’t like showing up to events knowing absolutely nobody. Yes, I am that person. I bet a few of you are that person too. 🙂
In our Facebook group, I see lots of people in our community make good use of Super Share Friday to build credibility and visibility surrounding what they do as professionals. People are making genuine connections and passing each others information along.
So, how are you using Facebook? What results have you seen? Share and get ideas from others.
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