Client Communication: What to Put in Your Hypnotherapy Newsletter
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In my previous article, I looked at the pros and cons oflaunching a client newsletter, and some of the legal considerations to be awareof. [CLICK HERE TO READ IT] This time we’ll think about what you should put in yournewsletter and when you should send it.
What should I put in my newsletter?
Let’s start with the nitty gritty. If you have a newsletter,what are you actually going to write about? How can you make it useful orentertaining enough to make people click on open and read it? Here are myideas.
Editorial or Introduction. This is your opportunity to buildtrust and rapport with readers. It can be difficult to do this without somelevel of self-disclosure, so be careful to get the right balance between warmthand professionalism. Of course, how much of your personal life you share andwhere you draw the boundaries is up to you. But you can share anecdotes orinsights related to your work as a hypnotherapist, any training you have beendoing recently and how that will help your clients, and talk about generalexperiences rather than personal details.Coping strategies. Useful and practical tips to help with specificdifficulties faced by many of your clients. This could be a brief relaxationexercise or a new breathing pattern.
Habit and lifestyle tips can be useful to encourage habitsthat will support the therapy you offer. Something like talking about thebenefits of a good night’s sleep, or regular exercise, and how this impactssmokers, those who want to lose weight and those experiencing anxiety.
Information. If you blog, include a link to your latest. Ifyou don’t, use links to other people’s articles. Google Alerts can be awonderful way of finding these easily and quickly! Collecting usefulinformation like this is called “curating” and there’s no copyright issue indoing it. In fact, you are helping the original author by encouraging newreaders to go and look at their material.
Q&A or “Agony Aunt” features can be good but have a planB in case no one sends you a question! Last time we discovered that only abouta third of subscribers open and read each newsletter, and fewer than that willrespond to such a request. Plan B couldbe to use questions you are frequently asked in the therapy room or on DiscoveryCalls.
Book reviews. Mention books you have read that you thinkclients might enjoy. Tell them what’s good, bad or indifferent in the book. Youcould ask clients to recommend books, but as above, be prepared not to receive a deluge of suggestions.
Client success stories and reviews. These are great forproviding social proof that what you do works. If you have people on your subscriberlist who are still undecided about booking with you, it might inspire them to do so.However, you must also be careful of client confidentiality. Even if you anonymisethem, they may recognise themselves when they read your newsletter. So, ensure you have written permission to use their stories or words this way.
Practice news. If you are running an event, or introducing anew therapy into your practice, let your subscribers know. Perhaps offer asmall discount for subscribers and make sure you use a strong call to action toencourage people to find out more or book a place.
Community resources. Feature local support groups, or onlineforums and social media groups where clients can reach out to others in similarcircumstances.
Competitions. These encourage your readers to interact withyou and may increase your open rate – if the prize is something they want. Youcould think about offering a free audio, or even a free relaxation session tothe winner.
Freebies! If you offer free resources, it should help to increaseyour signup and open rates. Be aware that the GDPR puts some limitations onoffering freebies (“lead magnets”) to encourage people to subscribe to yournewsletter as I discussed in my previous article.
Suitable freebiesinclude ebooks or tip sheets on issues that you work with, a set ofaffirmations, or a short audio or video on a relevant topic. A resource like https://www.plr.me/ will help you with this. Afree subscription gets you two download credits per month which you canexchange for basic handouts, lists, or pro formas. In my experience, these generallyneed a good edit to make them fit your style, but they still give you a good start.
It would be a very long newsletter (and take a lot of time)to include all these ideas in every issue. However, you can pick a few toinclude every time or feature a wider selection in rotation. The more often you sendemails, the shorter you should make them.
There are a couple of other things you might want toconsider.
Give your newsletter a name. This helps to make it part ofyour branding and it’s easier for people to spot it in their inbox. It doesn’thave to be exotic, your own or your practice name would do the trick. Or somethingthat reflects what you write about. If you have trouble with this one, has some really good ideas and some real-life examples to kick-start yourcreative mojo.Have a catchy subheading/subject line that tells people whythey should open this particular email. Ask a question, mention a freebie, or writesomething that evokes curiosity about your content.
Use a theme for each issue. A good way to choose a theme isto look for an awareness event going on at the time it will be sent out, andlink to that. (Be careful not to imply you’re part of the official event,though, or use their logos, as it could land you in trouble for copyrightinfringement.)
Be imaginative and choose lesser-known or unusual events to grab people’s attention. I was once interviewed on the radio to celebrate Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. We talked about why popping the stuff provided stress relief and I suggested some other stress-relieving tips as well. In a similar vein, International Pillow Fight Day (April) could inspire content around anger management and healthy ways to release frustration, or use International Cat Day (August) to talk about the use of hypnosis in treating allergies.
Make sure your newsletter is formatted to be easy to read on a phone. 81%of people check their emails that way. [1]
A tricky question to which the real answer is “It depends”.Not much help, I know, but I can suggest a few things to consider.
It’s important to send your newsletter out regularly, sopeople know when to expect it. But what constitutes regular will depend on theamount of material you think you can get together and the time you have availableto prepare your messages. If your business has lots of changes, events, oroffers to communicate, it might be better to send it out weekly or fortnightly.Otherwise, once a month is fine, with an occasional “special edition” ifyou have something important or urgent to communicate.
I send my newsletter out monthly, it’s a good balancebetween my time and energy commitment and ensuring I have useful information ineach issue. It’s also not so far apart that people forget who I am! Inundatingpeople with repetitive messages is not a good plan and 69% of people havereported unsubscribing from a mailing list because they got too many emails. [2]If you’re not sure, a bit of A/B testing might be the way to go. [3]
Of course, you can send your newsletter out at any time, andit will wait safely in people’s inboxes until they check their email. However, to getthe most attention you don’t want to be in there with fifty other messages –you might get missed.
The right time and day will vary depending on whether youaim your newsletter primarily at other businesses or at individuals. Overall, midweekemails tend to get a higher open rate because people check their emails moreoften on workdays.[4] Monday to Friday, most emails are opened between 9 am and5 pm, making the middle of the day or early afternoon a good time to sendthings out.[5]
On the other hand, if your subscribers consider your emailsaimed at them personally rather than professionally, they could have more timeto read them at the weekend. In this case, around 10 am on a Saturday is a goodtime[6], especially if your newsletter is quite long.
You can experiment and test different times and days overtime and find out what works best for you. But don’t get too bogged down instatistics. Open rates and response rates are important, but having a newsletterand subscribers is the first and most crucial step.
In conclusion, having a newsletter for your hypnotherapypractice involves a sometimes delicate balance of investing time, encouraging clientengagement, and remaining aware of professional boundaries. But I hope I’veshown over these two articles that it’s a tool that benefits both you and your clients.It can offer support to existing clients and extend a welcome to those whohaven’t yet made the decision to book. It can promote your services and helpincrease your knowledge, as you research items to include. And while thethought of starting and maintaining a newsletter may seem daunting, I thinkthat the rewards outweigh the challenges.
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Last but not least, if you'd like to receive my therapists' newsletter which goes out monthly and includes:
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
References
[1] https://www.wyliecomm.com/2022/06/email-newsletter-length
Accessed 22.2.24[2] https://myemma.com/blog/top-5-myths-about-the-best-time-to-send-emails Accessed 22.2.24
[3] If you haven't come across this term before, it essentially means dividing your subscribers into two or more groups and sending the emails to each group at a different time or day. Over time, you can see which group performs the best, but you need quite a few subscribers to get any significant stats out of it. Concentrate on getting into a regular routine in sending out your messages, and growing your subscriber list first.
[4] https://beefree.io/blog/what-is-the-best-time-to-send-a-newsletter Accessed 22.2.24
[5] https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/knowledge-base/how-often-should-you-send-out-a-newsletter Accessed 22.2.24
[6] https://mailchimp.com/resources/best-time-send-email-saturday Accessed 22.2.24
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Author: Debbie Waller is an experienced hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy trainer. She is the author of Anxiety to Calm: a Practical Guide to a Laid-Back Life, The Hypnotherapist's Companion, Their Worlds, Your Words, and The Metaphor Toolbox, all available from Amazon or direct from the author. Find out more about Debbie's services on
Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training - multi-accredited hypnotherapy practitioner training, taster days and foundation levels.
CPD Expert - accredited CPD and other therapy training (online and workshops options), expert and qualified hypnotherapy supervision
