Today I am going to talk about traffic and hypnosis marketing and some of the amazing sources out there that can help you to advertise your products and services. So firstly what do I mean by traffic? I am talking about directing potential customers to your business online rather than to a bricks and mortar location. Without online traffic it is highly unlikely that a hypnotherapy business would survive in 2017 which means a huge part of your marketing plan needs to factor in getting more people to hear about your business. Now even though attracting traffic sounds difficult it is actually incredibly easy especially if you pay for it however the trick is understanding how well the traffic you attract to your website actually converts otherwise you will be wasting a load of time and money and ending up with no new sales.
It is important to also differentiate between cold and warm traffic. When traffic is warm it means that the visitors to your website have already engaged with your business or actively sought you out. An example of warm traffic might be a client that you have seen in the past who actively goes back to your website a year or two later with the thought that they may use your services again. Cold traffic involves people turning up at your website and blog who haven’t actively thought about hiring you or buying your products. Your job is to convince those people to use your services or buy your products.
Here are just some of the places where you can go to create both warm and cold traffic in order to boost your hypnosis marketing business.
Google Adwords
Google Adwords is the mother of all traffic generators and with over 6 Billion people using its search engine every day you have the perfect source of traffic. Even better the people that click on your ads are highly targeted individuals and if you set it up correctly they are also motivated to spend money. Google is literally handing these potential customers to you on a plate providing you pay them a finders fee.
Sounds wonderful but of course, it also has huge pitfalls. Set up Adwords incorrectly and you may as well be burning your money. The thing with Adwords is that it is a relatively complex site which means it can be very easy to make a costly mistake. A former therapy clinic owner I knew threw away thousands of pounds on the site because her SEO guy set up her account incorrectly. Instead of attracting people to her complementary health clinic who wanted therapeutic massages, she managed to attract every sleazy man in the area looking for something a more intimate form of massage. Ouch!
If you are a newbie at Adwords and don’t want to get burned check out our online course which will show you how to set up your account without the common pitfalls.
Bing
In the UK most people still use Google but over the past few years Bing has been increasing its market share and now makes up 20% of the UK market. This means that when you are creating content or using ads this search engine needs to be considered. Also because the competition for ad space is still low on this particular search engine the cost for clicks is still relatively cheap which means it is worth considering in some niches as your return on investment will be significantly more.
Now once upon a time creating a fan page and adding useful articles and videos on Facebook was a great way of reaching lots of new potential customers. That was until Facebook started to reduce the reach. So what is reach? It simply means the number of people who would see the content in your posts. Once upon a time around 16% of the audience who liked your fan page would see your posts that has now dropped to around 2% unless of course, you pay.
Facebook Ads are becoming increasingly popular because of the sheer number of people that you can reach on the site if you are spending the cash however it is worth noting that if you are not targeting real fans of your page then the traffic is cold. That simply means that you have to find a way of turning the people who come across your content into believers who are willing to spend on your services.
Yes, you may associate the site with pins of interior decor or recipes but it is also used to drum up traffic for many businesses. Add captivating pictures that link back to your website content or blog posts and some people will click through to see what you have to say. If they like what they see and hear then you are going to have a sale or a new customer. Of course, Pinterest has also got into the habit of getting people to pay for promoted pins.
Some of the old fashioned methods are the best. Every hypnotherapist should be capturing the emails of visitors to their website or their clinics. Just remember that the people who come to see you need to have agreed to sign up to your mailing list. Once you have that email you can start to market to those customers and sell them solutions to their problem.
The great thing about email is that nobody can take your list away from you. Yes, some people will always unsubscribe from your content but in general, if you are sending out useful information it can only continue to grow. Yet your Google ranking can change in a heartbeat depending on the latest updates tanking your traffic as quickly as you built it. The money, as they say, is in the list!
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation is another way to get found and to attract visitors to your website. If you are a hypnotherapist without a website then you have a problem as that is where most people go to get information. The problem is that SEO takes time and you have to know what you are doing in order to get your content found in the search engines.
Even if you do get your SEO right and get that coveted number one Google slot for your particular keyword you still have a problem, the pesky ads. In high traffic areas, there are likely to be four other people paying to advertise above your listing which means that you are half way down the page even before you have begun. SEO can be great but the consensus appears to be that it won’t be long before the first page of Google is almost completely dominated by ads.
To set up your website correctly for SEO my Turn Your Therapy Website into a Client Magnet Can Help.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the most popular channels in the world with people. People love to view the free content on the site and they love to solve their problems by searching for video solutions. I know I have used it to solve IT problems, help with DIY and of course for fun. In the case of hypnosis marketing, it is the perfect place to upload videos either about your business or to demonstrate how you can solve other peoples problems. If you aren’t using the site then you are missing a trick.
Directories
In the UK one of the largest directories is the Hypnotherapy Directory which is a traffic source and can help to bring in referrals. This is a niche directory as well which means that the people who are searching on it are actively looking to get help for their particular problems. There are of course thousands of other directories both free and unpaid which you can place your details on to get customers in through your doors. Be cautious where you spend your hard-earned cash and never pay for a directory or a listing in a publication when you are cold-called.
People love actually seeing things which is why sites such as Instagram and Pinterest have taken off in the last few years. Now with this site, there is no point in just putting up picture after picture of your therapy practice or logo because people will unfollow straight away. For example, there is a gym near me that just puts up post after post of boring pictures of their equipment and classes. Yawn! Make sure that you are putting up interesting content about other events and places you have been and then every now and again drop a picture of one of your success stories or promotions. That way your followers won’t get bored and will be actually engaged by what you have to say.
Getting traffic doesn’t have to be hard but the key for hypnosis marketing is to make sure that it is diverse. I have talked before about not putting all your eggs in one basket. If you are getting all your traffic from one source then you need to start to find other alternatives fast. Having a number of great places where you can attract new customers is the key to propelling your business to success.
Oh and finally I have decided that my hypnotherapy marketing mentoring rates are going to increase from June of this year. This is simply because the time and effort it takes to mentor one person is significant vs the revenue I make from my online work. So if you are looking to work with me on a one to one basis I suggest you book in now as my fees are going to double from the middle of this year.