Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing to Build a Mental Health Community
If you have a physical mental health business or therapy practice, hyperlocal social media marketing is what you need to build community in that area. While social media does open you up to a global audience, this style of content marketing can also be used to connect deeper with a smaller group of people who are just as engaged—if not more so.
Plus, referencing places and things that only your local community would understand builds a deeper connection and greater rapport with potential customers and clients. This is helpful even if you’ve broadened beyond your community, like adding coaching to your therapy practice. Building both your local and global audience will support your business long-term.
The strategy you use for this will be similar to what you’re likely already doing—and you don't need an entire hyperlocal marketing strategy to make this work for your business. Here’s what you need to know to leverage hyperlocal social media marketing to grow your mental health business and community.
What is Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing
Hyperlocal social media marketing is a strategy that involves leveraging social media platforms to target and engage with potential customers within a very specific geographic area, such as a neighborhood, city district, or even a single street.
Neil Patel does a great job of explaining it like this: “It’s like your neighborhood coffee shop in the marketing world—small, targeted, and community-focused. This strategy zooms in on a very specific geographic area, like your city block or neighborhood. The goal is to connect and engage with potential customers right in your own backyard.”
Hyperlocal social media marketing allows your mental health business to connect with local audiences on a more personal level. Ideally, this then leads to local clients and referrals so you can grow your business. Here's how you can fold this into your marketing strategy.
5 Key Elements for Your Hyperlocal Social Media Strategy
You don't need to create one specific hyperlocal campaign to make this strategy work. What you do need to do is create content that resonates with your audience and connects with their pain points. Then, like with hyperlocal marketing in general, you need to weave location-specific references, hashtags, topics, and connections into the mix.
If you're ready to get your hyperlocal marketing effort off the ground, here are a few basic, but important digital marketing tactics to get started.
Create Targeted Content (and Tag Your Location)
While general educational content will always be needed—and can broaden your reach—leveraging hyperlocal social media marketing means creating some content that speaks directly to the local people.
Local Social Media Post Examples
Here are a few examples of how you can do this in a way that feels relevant and authentic:
Example 1
Brand photo of you or your team inside or in front of your location
Welcome to BUSINESS NAME!
Did you know, we’re located right in the heart of [City]! Our mission is to support the mental well-being of our community. All of our therapists were born and raised in this city and want to play a role in making it a happy and healthy place for all of us—and this is how we do that.
If you’re looking for a therapist who knows where you come from, give us a call!
Example 2
Reel tour of the inside of your office
Are you feeling stressed about this week’s Mayoral election in [CITY]?
Us too!
If you’re looking for support to work through the anxiety of 2024 elections or to support another mental health journey, we’re here for you.
Our office (which we love so much!) is located at [ADDRESS]. DM us or call NUMBER to schedule your first session.
Example 3
Carousel of images from local spots in your town
Some of our fave spots for a mental health Monday!
Tell us in the comments: which one of these spots have you NOT been to yet? Even better, tell us YOUR favorite local mental health Monday stop so we can add it to our list 🙂
Follow Local Trends
Another way to create local content is to stay on top of local trends.
What is the community focused on right now?
Can you highlight a particular aspect of the local culture?
Can you reference or highlight local landmarks?
This all comes back to planning and having a marketing strategy where this content is built into your schedule so you don't have to think about it.
Leverage Locations and Local Hashtags
Local content is good—but to make sure it reaches your immediate community, you have to get the tags right: local hashtags and location tags. This goes for whatever your social media platform of choice is, from Instagram to Facebook, and TikTok.
The location tag can be your specific city—or even your neighborhood if you live in a big city like New York. Be as specific as you think is necessary. If you’re a local business, you can also add your physical address to your account and tag that in posts too.
Local hashtags are also key to reaching people who want to work with and find local mental health businesses. If you want to be hyperlocal, focus on the exact neighborhood or community you're in—this may not be relevant for everyone, but in larger areas, it's good to narrow down. Here are a few for you to start with and customize for your location:
#LOCATIONTherapist
#LOCATIONMentalHealth
#LOCATIONWellness
#MentalHealthLOCATION
#SupportLocalTherapists
#LOCATIONCounseling
#LOCATIONMentalHealthSupport
#LOCATIONWellbeing
#TherapyInLOCATION
#LOCATIONTherapyServices
#LOCATIONMentalHealthNonprofit
#LOCATIONMentalHealthCare
#LOCATIONMentalHealthAwareness
#LOCATIONMentalWellness
#TherapistLOCATION
#MentalHealthCommunityLOCATION
#LOCATIONSupportGroups
#LOCATIONMentalHealthResources
#LOCATIONCounselors
#LOCATIONMentalHealthCommunity
Use a tool like Flick to track your hashtags and see which ones are getting you noticed. I use this for all clients and it makes it so much easier to be strategic with our hashtags.
Set Up Local Promotion Partnerships
A lot of other small businesses are doing and looking for local social media marketing opportunties as well, which can help you. I follow a few local organizations here in Vermont, like @helloburlington, @loveburlington, and @onedayinvermont that promote events and small businesses within our communities. I’m always discovering new things to do or places to go as a result. We want you to be on the receiving end of that local promotion.
One way to facilitate this intentionally is to connect with some of these local organizations in your area, whether general or mental health-specific. You can follow them on Instagram, for example, share their content, and then start a conversation about how you’re trying to reach more clients locally. This can spark their offer to share your content with their audience (who would also ideally be your target audience)—or they might even share some ideas for how to connect with other local organizations.
You can also reach out with a formal email or DM asking about any opportunities to cross-promote content so other small businesses can share your stuff and you can share theirs. Making it mutually beneficial is a great way to get a good response; everyone likes free promotion!
Plus, working with a trustworthy business within your local community will also add to your brand awareness. If a small business that your clients love supports you, they're more likely to see you as a trustworthy local business as well.
Share Local Story Content (and Tag the Businesses)
One way to get local businesses to promote you to their audience—without asking for it—is to tag them in your stories. When you go visit a local coffee shop, shop at a local book store, or even get together with a group of local colleagues, tag everyone. Once tagged, the person or business is more likely to re-share your story so they can show people like their business. It’s great promotion for them and also for you!
Other great opportunities to do this are when you're:
Attending local events
Working with local businesses
Shouting out local customers
Connecting with local influencers
Connecting with groups within your local community
Engage With Local Business Owners and Accounts
Don’t just share story posts as you visit local businesses—engage with your local community wherever you’re most active, like Instagram or Facebook. You can't just post and ghost—if you want to connect with potential customers and clients, you have to be active. Here are a few ways to do that:
Follow local accounts (like the ones I shared above, but in your town or city).
Engage with them and other local clients and people daily through commenting.
Share content that’s relevant to your audience to your Stories.
Start conversations in the comments section of these local posts where relevant.
The goal is to simply be a voice that people recognize in your community, through your content, engagement, and connection.
Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing
Whether you're attending a local event or just want to attract a local audience, hyperlocal social media marketing is key for your brick-and-mortar mental health business. Marketing can easily be global—but sometimes focusing on your local community can help your business even more. The good news is that these simple content marketing strategies will help you do exactly that.
If you're struggling to manage your marketing efforts on your own, consider a social media management agency, like Echeveria Organic. We can take over your marketing strategy and community engagement so you stay active on social—and get results to grow your business.
Do you need to get your local social media marketing up and running? Let’s talk!
