Social media has been part of our society for 15 years now. Hard to believe, isn’t it? What began as a forum for teenagers to post photos and keep in touch with friends has become a $561 billion tech juggernaut1 where 200 million businesses have pages2 to promote their goods and services. And to get the word out about the treatment modalities you offer, including psilocybin, you need to be one of them.
Over the years, you’ve developed a great social media strategy to introduce clients and their families to your center, but something new is coming. Are you ready?
With psilocybin legalization across the U.S. just over the horizon, the time has come to supplement your social media strategy to address this life-changing development in behavioral health. But you can’t start this shift when these life-saving treatments become legal in your state. You have to start now.
Many times, massive change arrives without warning. In those cases, you have to depend on your own agility to quickly understand and respond to new circumstances (remember March 2020?). But with psilocybin treatment, you’ve been gifted the rare and valuable opportunity to anticipate change before it happens.
Here are four tips to prepare your social media strategy for this new chapter in behavioral health.
Tip 1: Create Psilocybin Therapy Video Content
People will be curious, uncertain, and, frankly, possibly a little fearful of psilocybin therapies when they become legal. Society has said these drugs are harmful for so long that many of your patients who could benefit from them will need a little convincing.
Video content is great for connecting people to true stories relevant to this new change. Create friendly, relatable content that disarms doubters while providing the answers to their most frequently asked questions about psychedelic therapies. Consider bringing on a trusted expert in these videos or, even better, a testimonial of someone who is or has benefited from psilocybin treatments.
Your clients definitely want you to produce more videos—especially around hot button issues like psilocybin-based mental health treatments. Most consumers prefer to get new information through videos and 85% say they wish brands would create more of them.3
Tip 2: Go Live
One way to add video content is to host regularly scheduled live videos. No, this feature isn’t just to share gender-reveal videos—businesses use them, too. Fifty-seven percent of marketers said they used live videos in 2019.4
Again, using a camera-ready expert who can speak to psilocybin therapies in a relatable, informative way is best. When you think your state is close to legalization, host a live video to allow curious clients to ask their questions in an anonymous forum. You could even host a live video event with the lawmakers responsible for making this change happen!
Not only will this help potential clients gain a better understanding of psilocybin, but also your center’s expertise and authority will increase as well! So when legalization does happen, your behavioral health center is the one clients call.
Tip 3: Repurpose Old Content
You likely have quite a bit of content you’ve already created about anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and emotional trauma. Does any of that content mention psilocybin as a possible treatment option for these conditions? Probably not.
Now’s the perfect time to start updating these articles to include the many benefits of psilocybin therapies. Most marketers routinely update and rewrite old content—70%, to be exact.5 When they do, they improve their SEO while providing even better information to their audience.
Tip 4: Share Important News and Updates
Since you’re on the precipice of something totally new, use social media to keep clients updated on what’s happening with psilocybin legalization. About 48% of people say they get their news from social media, so there’s a good chance your clients do too.6
Providing news updates about psilocybin legalization will also give your patients a chance to get curious about the idea before it becomes legal. Hopefully, their curiosity spurs a deeper dive into your psilocybin content, so they’re fully prepared for legalization.
Are you ready to whip your social media into shape for the ‘shroom boom’? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Schedule a strategy session by calling 888.307.7304 to get started.
For a list of references, please contact us.