How to Create Effective Taglines For Your Therapy Practice

Starting a private practice is thrilling and equally rewarding, but it does take a lot of hard work and passion to set up. So kudos to you for taking the leap! Assuming that you’ve already got all the nitty-gritty things out of the way, such as securing LLCs, scouting locations and setting up all your financial requirements, the next step would be to solidify your branding.

Developing solid branding is vital to any business’ success. It represents who you are in the competitive world of private practice and communicates how you intend to make a difference in someone’s life. So it’s important to take time to really dive deep into the process to create an identity that stands out from the rest. After all, most if not all may provide the same services as you. But your ability to connect through taglines and narratives that turn prospects into patients can make all the difference.

Here are 5 steps to create an effective tagline for your therapy practice:

#1 Set the Stage

Setting the stage before you start writing your tagline is like setting up your GPS before heading out to a new destination. It guides your thoughts and steers you in the right direction as you spend your time on the drawing board.

Ask yourself the following questions and start making notes:

Who will I be talking to?
What challenges do my intended audience struggle with?
What outcomes do I wish to achieve for my patients in my practice?
What are my therapy business’ core values, mission and vision?
Where will I deploy this tagline? On my website, social media, promotional merchandise or outdoor advertising platforms, or all of the above?
What emotions would I like to evoke when someone reads it?
What reactions or actions am I expecting to receive?

#2 Keep it short and functional

What do world-famous taglines have in common? They are concise, catchy and functional. They explain their brand’s unique value offering clearly and suggest actions using an active voice. Using an active voice in your tagline not only makes your message more meaningful. It also helps customers with decision fatigue and become less confused about what they have to do next – such as reaching out to a therapist like you.

Examples of Impactful Taglines:

“Tell your story, change our world.”
“Relationships are hard, reclaim the joy in yours.”
“Your story matters, let it be heard.”

In keeping it short, a good rule of thumb would be no more than seven to eight words for better recall and recognition. It should be clear and readable when placed. This is an industry best practice but not an absolute one so don’t be afraid to push boundaries and create as many options as you can during the brainstorming phase.

Some taglines may even exceed recommended word counts but still provide the same level of impact. So just keep writing until you uncover the tagline study that best aligns with your value proposition and your audience’s needs.

#3 Be Clear, Not Clever

A good therapy practice tagline should touch hearts and minds at first glance.

It should be easy to understand using plain, engaging, non-jargon words so you can connect deeply. Oftentimes, we feel the need to beautify our taglines and slogans to a point that it loses their essence. Though flow and rhythm might help with recall, a tagline need not be poetic in order to extend value.

It is also more than just promoting the services you offer because if there’s one thing we have to remember, hard selling is a turn-off. Your messaging should not sell to them, but rather help them realize the need for your services.

Let’s dissect one of the examples given above:

“Relationships are hard, reclaim the joy in yours.”

If you are a couple’s therapist, your potential patients may be suffering from grave relationship struggles. They are clearly unhappy and therefore, they need to realize that they are in need of your services to help get things in order. One way to help them realize such a need is to touch base with their pain points using an empathic approach. Once you’ve caught their attention, continue to drive them to a resolution or inspire them with an ideal endpoint.

Pain point: Their relationship with their partners.

Empathy point: Relationships are hard.

Resolution: “Reclaim the joy in yours.”

What makes this a good tagline?

It’s clear, succinct and uses an active yet empathic voice.
The pain point was widely relatable.
It compels the reader to ask the question “How?”
Autonomy. The resolution point empowered potential patients to make their own decisions on what they want to do next. What comes after, whether they’ll continue browsing your website or pick up the phone to book a session with you is totally up to them. Giving a customer the freedom to explore your brand without hard-selling is a sales and marketing technique that is discrete, suggestive and highly effective.

#4 Keep Exploring Different Writing Techniques

Writing a tagline for your therapy practice doesn’t have an exact recipe for success. The process may require a lot of trial and error and may vary from practice to practice. So try to explore different techniques in order to land the best one that would work for you. Here are some writing techniques you can start with:

* Ask a Question

Ask short questions they can say YES to. Focus on pain points and possible end goals.

“Are your childhood traumas weighing you down?”

“Time to see yourself in a different light?”

* Use a We / I Help Statement

This technique can help you get personal with your target audience and emphasize your expertise in a particular niche.

“Helping stay-at-home moms rediscover their passions to reignite the fire within.”

“Helping YOU discover healing and transform your life.”

Template:

We/I help (who) (positive verb)(positive outcomes) OR

Helping (who) (positive verb) (positive outcomes)

* Get Aspirational

Understand your audience’s goals and reinforce them with an aspirational statement.

“Be the one who breaks the cycle.”

“Seeing yourself differently is often the first step to living the life you truly want to live.”

#5 Get Feedback

Once you’ve written a tagline that you’re happy with, ask around for feedback. Approach your colleagues, friends or family members to check if the tagline is clear and if they interpret it the way you intend it to be understood. More constructive feedback may come from individuals who fall under the same patient archetypes your business is trying to target.

For better guidance, make a brief questionnaire based on the goals you’ve defined in step #1, to see if your tagline is leaning in the right direction.

Creating a memorable tagline is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do when starting a business. It is a powerful brand-related statement that enforces your persona and position in the industry. A good one elevates the brand, while a bad one harms it. So this step must be done right. In a nutshell, an effective tagline must be able to communicate the very soul and essence of what you’re trying to do in your practice, in a manner that will keep your brand top of mind and inspire transformative actions.