Social Media Trends, Instagram, and You

I do a lot of my marketing on social media. In fact, I built much of PsychFusion through our shared Facebook group, and many of the future clinicians that I connect with came from Facebook.

Still, I think it’s important to set expectations about what social media can do for therapists, and what is actually possible through social media for the average clinician.

Specifically, I want to talk about Instagram, although this applies to essentially any social media account.

Recently, I’m hearing a lot of therapists talk about how they want to use social media to get clients. Their reasons for this vary, but include:

  • They follow a lot of therapists themselves on social media, all of whom have big followings.
  • They have spoken to marketing specialists that have told them social media is “in.”
  • They know someone that found a lot of clients through Instagram or a related service.

It is absolutely true that social media can be a great way to get clients and to meet people. I follow several therapists myself that I think are very insightful, and I know regular people that follow mental health experts as well.

But the thing is – most of them follow the same people.

The average person is not following their local therapist who posts once a week with generic content. They’re following the same large accounts – accounts that post frequently, pay for advertising, have sponsors, and more.

Do you think people gladly and frequently follow a random therapists in their local area? Or is it more likely they only follow the select few that have already built large following?

They’re also following accounts that have a LOT to say and know how to do it in creative ways. These are individuals that are creating unique content regularly – no stock photos, no stock video – and doing so in ways that are engaging enough to capture attention.

They’re also lucky.

They’re lucky because maybe they caught the attention of a big account, or maybe they have a face that is aesthetically pleasing, or maybe they just happened to have one post go viral in a way that helped them grow faster than they would have otherwise.

Does this mean that you shouldn’t do it?

No, you absolutely can. But you have to be aware of the limitations and risks. You have to be willing to put yourself out there frequently, spending a lot of time creating high quality content that you’ve edited and planned. You also have to never give up. You wouldn’t just be a therapist. You’d also be a content creator, and content creators create that content daily, sometimes multiple times a day.

If that doesn’t sound like you, then it may be best not to rely on websites like Instagram – or any social media – as your sole way of attracting attention. You’ll hear many stories of therapists that have made sites like Instagram work for them. You can too. But be aware that it’s not a solution that is going to work for everyone. In fact, it’s a solution that will probably only work for a few people. Know yourself to know if social media is likely to work for you.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shopping Cart
Skip to content