Why do therapists need to know your ideal client when you write?
It’s important for you to know who your ideal client is, create an ideal client avatar, and understand the pain points of your audience. Because your audience is your ideal client. At least, it should be.
You might not want to get too specific, and that’s understandable. A lot of therapists don’t want to box themselves in and lose out on clients. But the reality is that if you’re not super clear on who you provide services to, it’ll show. One way that’ll happen is through your writing.
Whether you’re writing website copy, a blog, emails, newsletters, or social media posts, you must know your audience. And your audience is your ideal client. You need to target the people you want to work with, and in order to do that, you need to speak directly to them.
Knowing your audience is one of the key ingredients to good copywriting. The clearer you are about who you help, the clearer your writing will be. Your website will make sense. Your blogs will resonate with people and keep them coming back for more. Your emails will make clients want to sign up for your services. Speak directly to them, and it will work. If you build it, they will come.
What Is An Ideal Client?
An ideal client is someone who ticks all the boxes for you. Do they fall into your target demographic? Are they interested in a reciprocal, therapeutic relationship? Can they afford your rates?
Ideal clients are easy to communicate with. They keep coming back and are invested in the therapeutic process. [1]
If you work with women in their 20s and 30s dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and relationship challenges, then a 40-year-old man with a substance use disorder is probably not your ideal client.
That doesn’t mean you can’t help him, and I know it’s tempting to want to take on everyone. The problem with that is that when you’re writing to your target audience, you have to write to someone specific. If you write to everyone you’re writing to no one.
What Is An Ideal Client Avatar?
Once you’ve got a semblance of who your ideal client is, it’s time to make an avatar. This goes back to the importance of knowing your audience. If you have a clear image of who you want to work with and who you provide therapy to, you’ll be able to speak to those people.
You also need to know who you’re speaking to. If you work with kids, your ideal client may be the child but it’s the parents you’re writing to.
An ideal client avatar is a representation of what you imagine your client might be like. [2] When creating an avatar you need to think about all the things:
- Age
- Gender identity
- Sexual orientation
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Occupation
- Marriage/relationship status
- Whether or not they have children
- Why they’re seeking treatment
- What their diagnosis is
- What their main stressors are
When creating your ideal client avatar, get as specific as you can. Create a real person in your brain. See them, hear their voice, think about what they wear. It may feel silly, but it’s incredibly helpful as a therapist to know your ideal client avatar.
When you know your ideal client avatar, you can write directly to them. If you work with stressed-out moms and you know your email list is over 75% moms experiencing burnout, make sure you’re writing to them. If your ideal client is a child, make an avatar of the ideal client parent as well. When you write, you’re speaking to the parents, after all.
An ideal client avatar helps you know who you’re selling your services to. [2] Having an ideal client avatar helps you write directly to your people. If you work with people with substance use disorders, your copy is going to be very different than if you work with children with autism.
That’s an extreme example, so let’s go with another one. Let’s say you work mostly with grief and loss and you want to target the “sandwich generation.” These are the people raising children and taking care of their parents. You’re going to reach different pain points in your writing than if your ideal clients are children and teens grieving the loss of a parent.
Finding your ideal client avatar takes some time and thought. But it’s worth it to know exactly who you’re working with because that’s who you’re talking to with your writing. And if you’re super clear, your mental health copywriter will be clear also and provide you with the product you want.
What’s the Importance of Knowing Your Audience and How Do You Get to Know Them?
Although websites and blogs and emails feel one-sided because you write them and your clients read them, they’re not. You’re in a conversation with your audience. When you hire a copywriter, your writing is always going to have a call to action (CTA). Well-written copy gets people to do something. Opt-in to your email address. Attend a workshop. Sign up for that first consultation call for therapy.
You need to know your audience and who your ideal client is if you want to get them to do something. It’s important to always target their pain points. In order to do that, you need to know what they are.
The fact that copy gets people to act is what makes it an interactive experience. You’ll get comments, likes, and shares on your blogs and social media posts. You’ll see an uptick in people signing up for your services. You may get feedback from your audience. The internet is interactive, and so is copywriting.
Yes, it’s great if you reach people outside your ideal clientele. Maybe they’ll refer a friend. But don’t be afraid of “pigeon-holing” yourself by getting specific about who you’re talking to.
When I write, I direct my copy to therapists in private practice and centers/organizations for therapy, like clinics and larger practices. I’ll write about anything, but I prefer to write for female-identifying therapists who work with people with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, substance use disorders, and relationship challenges. I struggle to write for trauma therapists and men, although I’ve done it and it’s been fine. But they’re not my ideal clients.
It doesn’t happen right away for everyone. For me, it took some trial and error to find my ideal client avatar. I paid attention to who I was attracting and who ticked all the boxes for me. I learned the importance of knowing your audience when you write.
Writing to Your Ideal Client
If you’re interested in learning more about how I can help you find and write to your ideal client, contact me. I’d be happy to talk to you about your clients’ pain points, who you want to work with, and how you want to reach them through mental health copywriting. Together we’ll find your ideal client avatar and speak to them.
References
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