It may seem hard to constantly develop content ideas but once you have an idea of what we call a social media content strategy, you will be able to create content with ease! So what is a social media content strategy? According to Hootesuite, a social media strategy is an outline of everything you plan to execute and hopefully accomplish on social media. It provides your social media team with actionable items and also lets you know when you are reaching your goals… or not reaching them. In order to create an effective content strategy, you need to develop social media marketing goals directly aligned with your overall business goals. This ensures your strategy’s direction and just makes it easier to choose your social media goals. Your social media marketing goals should be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
After developing your goals, you’ll want to do as much research on your audience as possible. This could include secondary and primary research. If you want to move forward with primary research, an effective way to do this is through focus groups and surveys. For more information on developing surveys, you can check out last week’s blog here. Checking out your competition’s social media content is another great way to supplement your research. By looking at your competitors, you can see what’s working well for them and draw inspiration from their content. Following your research and goal setting, you’ll want to choose some metrics to track your goals, these are also known as key performance indicators (KPIs). Your metrics can include, impressions, number of followers, likes, engagement rate, etc. Those metrics will help you measure your goals overtime and indicated where you need work. I also recommend creating a content calendar for your social media pages. It will keep you organized and prepared for any upcoming dates. Plus, having a roadmap of your content will significantly increase your efficiency.
Now for the fun part – creating your content! Here are some really fun and engaging content ideas for therapists and other mental health professionals:
Tell a story or first-person account
As a mental health provider, your audience will always appreciate genuine and “real” content from your pages. This can be in the form of a live broadcast, YouTube video, or just a video upload to one of your social media feeds. The goal is to entice your audience with a story related to the work you do. A great example comes from From Head to Curve on YouTube. Click the photo below to watch her Mental Health Therapy Story Time video!
Advocacy
Being a part of an industry that so heavily relies on human connection and community, it only makes sense for you to advocate for other mental health professionals. By using your social media channels to promote other members of this community, you help your colleagues and other important causes generate engagement and reach. This will also help you to build your own professional network and build powerful relationships that will benefit you in the future. See below for an example of an important issue to re-share on your social accounts from Instrgram:
Mental Health Techniques and Tips
You can also share wellness tips in the form of videos, infographics, and even your own blog! Sharing simple but useful tips in a easily digestible way not only helps your audiences but positions you a reliable source of information in your field. These types of posts also have the potential to reach a wide range of people outside of your current audience through shares, retweets, etc. Here’s an example from one of Comfortable Conversations Inc.’s recent Facebook posts:
References:
Design Wellness. (2021b, June 15). 8 Engaging social media content ideas for therapists and counsellors. https://designwellness.co.uk/blog/8-engaging-social-media-content-ideas-for-therapists-and-counsellors/
Newberry, C. (2021, December 17). How to Create a Social Media Strategy in 9 Steps (Free Template). Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-marketing-plan/#Step_1_Choose_social_media_marketing_goals_that_align_to_business_objectives