Value-Based Marketing for Mental Health Clinics
As a mental health professional, you have specific values that guide your work. You feel empathy and compassion for others. You likely also feel hopeful for the future and approach wellness nonjudgmentally. You probably are sensitive to differences in people and how they choose to live their lives, aiming to embrace and empower them. Regardless of the standards you bring into the profession, you want to work with others who share and uplift those values. That’s where values-based marketing comes in.
What is Value-Based Marketing
Values-based marketing promotes and aligns with specific values, ethics, and principles. Because of the nature and importance of mental health marketing, it’s apparent that some specific values are critical to both mental health professionals and those seeking help.
Values-based marketing aims to connect with consumers on a deeper level by making the connection between these shared values and helping build a more meaningful relationship.
At Content Journey, we take the concept of values-based marketing one step further. We follow a set of guiding principles for all the mental health marketing we produce. We want to make those connections between your mental health organization and the people you want to serve. We also want to work with organizations whose values we connect with on a more expert level.
So an organization working with a marketing agency that shares their values to attract clients who also have these same values all in the name of wellness. Can you think of a more effective approach? We certainly can’t.
Understanding Customer Value in Mental Health and Addiction
Value-based marketing is critical when marketing services for mental health and addiction treatment. But unlike marketing other products or services, there are significant obstacles for mental health and addiction clinic marketers to overcome.
Clients who need the services of mental health and addiction clinics often must first overcome the stigma associated with those services. They may feel shame for needing those services.
Clients must also understand the services and how they can access them. Value-based marketing strategies can address many of these issues by raising awareness and debunking myths about mental healthcare and accessing treatment.
Bringing your company’s core values into your marketing can also help you attract the right audience. While many clinics and treatment centers offer the same types of services, the values you bring to those treatments are the differentiating factors. Think about your target audience and the core values important to them. Customers relate more to brands that care about the same things they do.
When your marketing efforts are aligned with those values your customers believe in, brand awareness and your potential customer’s perception of your brand improve. Creating content around those values allows you to encourage a dialog with your target audience, which can help you build community. This approach will help you build online engagement, strengthening your brand.
Developing a Value Proposition for Mental Health and Addiction Services
To practitioners, the value of mental health and addiction services is clear. But to potential clients, it may not be so apparent. Even if the value of your services is crystal clear, that doesn’t reduce the fear of seeking out a different way of life. Crafting a value proposition that displays or syncs with your organization’s values will help your clients understand what to expect and relate to what treatment will be like with your mental health or addiction clinic.
Crafting a Value Proposition
Your value proposition is essential to your marketing strategy and should be displayed on your website and other marketing materials. A good value proposition comprises three elements: the headline, the subheadline, and a visual element. These elements should reflect your organization’s values through words and visuals.
The headline should be clear and concise, and it can also be creative. It will explain the benefit your client will receive from services with your clinic. The subheadline will expand on the headline and clarify the value introduced in the headline by explaining what you’re offering, who this offer serves, and why you’re offering it. The visual element can be a video, infographic, or image, and it’s there to enhance your message.
Communicating Benefits and Outcomes of Services
Your potential clients likely have questions about your services and want to know more. A great way to help them better understand your services is by explaining all the benefits and outcomes of your services.
Start by listing the benefits of your services. Keep it concise and make sure it’s clear why the customer needs this. Then, describe why these benefits are valuable by sharing the outcome of receiving that benefit. You can do this in one or two sentences.
Addressing Customer Pain Points and Providing Solutions
Your customer’s pain points are consistent problems they face. These could be part of their personal or professional lives and may be physical, emotional, or logistical. Addressing these pain points in your value-based marketing will make your customers feel understood and show how you can help them address their issues.
Personalization and Customer Segmentation in Value-Based Marketing
The more personal a message — the more it aligns with their own needs and values — the more it will resonate with your audience. Understanding segmentation and personalization in value-based marketing can help you create messages that will land with your audience.
Segmentation
Segmentation is finding similar groups within the larger pool of potential customers. Based on behaviors, location, or demographics, marketers can create a segment of their potential customers that are likely to need the same messaging types before investing in services.
For example, suppose you offer a men’s intensive that focuses on continued recovery from alcohol addiction. In that case, you want to speak to men who are in recovery from alcohol addiction but who may be finding continued sobriety challenging and need support. These men want to stay sober for themselves and their loved ones, but they need to work through their stressors and learn how to deal with a new level of triggers.
Creating these segments helps marketers better communicate with their audience by giving them the information they need based on their unique traits. Understanding the different segments your audience may fall into helps you tailor your message and share value-based messages that resonate with that segment.
Personalization
Personalization is the process of identifying a specific customer within a segment. When using personalization, the messages are all about how your business can solve this particular customer’s pain points. To do this, you have to understand the customer’s intent and create personalized experiences around that intent.
Continuing our example from the men’s alcohol intensive, you could personalize the message in a way that names the person shows you understand that their desire to stay sober for themselves and family members doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. You can explain specifically how your intensive will help them refocus on their sobriety and give them additional tools to fight cravings or triggers.
While segmentation is excellent for sending targeted messages, personalization is even better. Your value-based marketing is even more effective when you can provide that value tailored to the individual in your messages. Newsletters are a great place for personalization and targeted messages and can be automated based on choices the customer selects when subscribing.
Building Long-Term Relationships through Value-Based Marketing
Value-based marketing can help you build long-term relationships with customers. Rather than constantly seeking new leads, you can build relationships with loyal customers who share your business with others. The key to doing so is to create trust.
Creating Trust and Rapport with Clients
Transparency is crucial to create trust and rapport with clients. Clients must understand the process before they begin treatment, and transparency must continue throughout treatment.
During treatment, your services must deliver the benefits outlined in your marketing. And when treatment ends, allow your clients to submit feedback regarding their experiences. Knowing how to gather client feedback will help you better hone your services to meet clients’ needs and make them feel like their opinions and concerns are valued.
Providing ongoing value and support beyond treatment is also essential. Your email list can help you stay in touch with clients long after they receive treatment. Your clients can hear about new offerings or services, and they can also forward this information to people they think might need it.
Finally, consider sharing client testimonials. This first-person narrative helps potential clients see how your services helped others, which can help them make a decision about seeking treatment.
Ready to Implement Value-Based Marketing for Your Clinic?
Creating a value-based marketing strategy doesn’t have to be difficult, especially when you share values with your marketing agency. Contact us today and learn why our marketing know-how and mental health expertise are just some reasons to make Content Journey your wellness marketing agency.
