New advertising regulations and also some marketing tips.....
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This email recently received may help you to overcome the problems with advertising on your website and has some good tips on marketing yourself as well:
Michael Arnold here from Therapy Marketing Tips. You're receiving this as part of my Therapy Marketing Newsletter. In this email I want to talk about some important new regulations in the UK concerning your website. Apologies to those of you outside the UK but its worth remembering that in many countries similar regulations already exist or if not they will do soon. In this email I also offer some general marketing strategies that anyone can use to grow their practice.
As of March 1st 2011 new regulations mean that what anything you say on your website must comply with the Commitee of Advertising practice (CAP) rules. These rules are enforced by the ASA - Advertising Standards Authority and were previously limited to print advertising.
What does all this mean for us as therapists? The main impact seems to be that there are now some pretty draconian rules about what you're allowed to say you can help people with on your website. For example in acupuncture you are no longer allowed to say that you can help people suffering from back pain, despite the recent endorsement of the use of acupuncture for back pain by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
Now obviously what you are still allowed to say depends on the therapy you practice.My first piece of advice would be to contact your professional body and find out from them the exact rules that apply to your particular profession.
Now to make matters worse, you can now only use client testimonials that relate to these specific conditions that are deemed allowable.
So what can you do about this?
1) You are still allowed to talk about the general benefits your therapy offers. In fact if you're not doing this already I would highly encourage you to do so. Below is an example from the British Acupuncture Council that has been approved by the CAP:
"Treatment is aimed at the root of your condition as well as your main symptoms. This approach helps with resolving your problem and enhancing your feeling of wellbeing.
You may notice other niggling problems resolve as your main health complaint improves."
2) You are still allowed to refer people to other websites that contain trusted research evidence. Again please refer to your professional body for sources that are acceptable.
3) You can still use patient/ client testimonials as long as they relate to the specific conditions that are allowable. Again if you are not using testimonials this might be a great time to start. Nothing communicates the benefits you offer better than a satisfied patient or client. Even if the range of conditions is limited people can still make inferences that you might be able to help with other problems.
4) Offer a free consultation where potential patients/clients can discuss their needs in more depth. These regulations do not cover anything you say in person to your clients or prospective clients. Again if you don't already give people the opportunity to meet you and discuss their needs before they make a financial commitment you are almost certainly missing out on a lot of potential new clients. Another great wakeup call.
5) PR and anything a journalist writes about your practice is not covered under these regulations. Now's the time to get really good at getting local press coverage.
6) Give free talks. Again these regulations do not cover anything you say when giving public talk. The best way to go about this is to contact your local community centre, local charities, sports and fitness centre or other organisations such as the Women's Institute. Many of these are happy to accept public talks that might be of interest to their members. Offer to give a free talk on something like "5 ways to beat stress" or "5 ways to beat the winter blues". Use the talk to give valuable information that can enhance people's lives. People will enjoy listening to you and you will begin to gain their trust. At the end of the talk mention your practice and how you can help people. You can then give out vouchers for a free consultation or a discounted first session. Because you gave useful information and built rapport and credibility instead of trying to sell your services straight away, you will get a far greater response.
Ok so hopefully you can see that despite seeming a little unfair these regulations do not have to reduce your ability to market your practice or attract new patients/ clients. If anything I hope this email has helped you to see that there are many ways you can use to effectively spread the word and build your practice.
