127. How To Create Effective Social Media Content with Carly Hill

Awesome. Well, welcome so much to the podcast. Carly Hill. How are you doing today?

I am great. Thank you for having me. Yeah, excited.

Me too. I'm really excited to talk about social media. As you know, we were just talking before we hit record. I haven't really spoken about social media in a while. And I know, like, with the work that Private Practice Elevation does, we've been really focused on SEO and some of that long term stuff. And so I haven't really touched on social media marketing and I'm curious to learn myself because it's not something that I feel like I do well. And so I'm really excited to have you on today.

Yeah. And I just have to say I get it because I went off on a mission to learn social media because I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

Yeah.

So, you know, we're not bored with these skills. We have to learn them.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I talked to so many people. You know, we're, we're working on the website and we're talking about marketing and doing like, we're consulting on that piece. And so many people say to me, like, I don't want to do social media. They're like, it's always, it always comes up as sort of this exhausted sort of response. And I think that that has been mine too, because I had done so like Facebook ads and I had a Facebook group for a while, and who knows, maybe we'll bring that back. Uh, and I just, finally just decided I'm just going to be on Instagram. I'll post some, you know, links to the podcast and then just put pictures of my kids and just keep it simple. So that's kind of where I'm at.

Yeah, I think a lot of people can relate to that. And my answer to that is it's not a chore. When you see it working, right. It's like there's this dread to it because it's a mystery. It's like, well, how do you do it? And there's so many different options and, like, does it even work? And it like, seems like so much work. Right. But when you have a system and you're like plugging and playing and, you know, you're batching your stuff and you kind of get the hang of things and you see it converting, that's the key, Right? Like, how do we actually turn this into paying clients? You're like, ah, all right, it's working. It's not as hard as I thought. Yeah, but it's not chore Anymore.

That makes sense. Well, before we, you know, put the cart before the horse here, let's back up and tell us, you know, a little bit about yourself, who you are, how did you get started doing what you're doing now? And then we'll hop into, you know, more of, you know, what you teach about social media marketing.

Yeah. Awesome. So my name is Carly Hill. I'm a licensed clinical social worker, and I teach therapist how to add coaching ethically, like protecting their license, keeping everything separate. Right. And then creating marketing and selling their signature coaching program. So I got into what I'm doing because of my own struggles. When I started my private practice, I really struggled with niching down and marketing and, you know, converting. And I also simultaneously had a massive realization that I was doing coaching all along. And it seems like a silly realization, but I think a lot of therapists can relate because even the difference between therapy and coaching, it's so nuanced, it can be confusing. But basically, I was working with clients who were not meeting medical necessity, and I was coaching, but I was still limiting myself, and I always functioned more of that way. So, you know, I just. When I went off on a mission to crack the code and figure out, like, what actually is sustainable for us agents of change, it really became my new mission to just teach everything I was learning for myself to other therapists so that they can have freedom and security and flexibility like we crave and deserve.

Right. So did you have. So did you have, like, a private practice and then you, like, totally shifted to coaching? How. How was that transition?

Yeah, I totally shifted now to just business coaching. I still do. I'm a Reiki master. I do, like, give back events in the community. I actually have a. A local networking group for psychotherapists in South Florida to get together and beat burnout. But is my M.O. now just helping therapists live this life of freedom and add coaching and break out of the box?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I will say, too, and I mentioned this before we hit record, I was. I've been impressed with your Instagram account. I don't know how I found you or how I started following you, but I did start following you because I saw that you were putting out great content. You were doing it well. So I'm excited to learn today.

Yeah. And it's funny because I truly don't even have that many followers. Like, you know, when we were talking about, like, well, what should we talk about when it comes to social media? One of the things I thought to bring up was these expectations like, people get so caught up in like how many followers they have. And Sally Gurupants is like so many more followers than me. And like, you know, can this really work for me? And is so much more than like your likes and your followers.

Right.

So yeah, throw that in there.

Yeah, I love that. I saw. And then I saw that in, you know, the notes that you sent me before when we were setting this up. I was like, oh, that's so true. Because everyone wants to get so focused on or you know, they get depressed. Like, oh, I just posted this thing and it only got six likes, you know, but did somebody comment, like, did you start a conversation with somebody? You know, like, you know, that's really the key. And you, you know, you mentioned that.

Yeah, ding, ding, ding. It's that engagement. It's. And you say like they can get depressed about it. Almost obsessive about it too sometimes. Yeah, right. It's competition with yourself of like this posted so much better than this post or like, again, like the comparisonitis. But truly what it comes down to is the engagement and having genuine conversations with maybe the people who are already following you.

Right.

Check in with them.

Yeah.

You know, why are they following you? They chose to opt in and be in your world. Are you giving them any time of day and checking in and providing them value so that they can like you and trust you and know you and know that you can solve their problem? That's what it comes down to, right?

Absolutely. Well, take us back. Let's start at the beginning here. And I know that there's there's some differences, you already kind of touched on this a little bit. Differences between, you know, a therapy practice and a coaching practice, especially when it comes to social media. So what are some of the things that people need to think about when they are getting excited or they're starting to learn about using social media for marketing their services?

Yes. It's such a powerful question because we have to protect ourselves and our, and our license that we work so hard for. So as I'm sure the therapist listeners know, like, you can't really use social media ethically for lead generation purposes. It's supposed to be for educational purposes only. Right. Although, I mean, we're living in this day and age of like, you have to be using social media in like 20, 22, 20. Great. You know, and I do see therapists using it for lead generation, but ethically it is supposed to be for educational purposes only. However, as a coach, you can totally use it for lead generation purposes and be having These engaging conversations, even sharing, you know, testimonials, which you can't, you know, ethically do as a therapist either. So really what it comes down to is, and what I tell my clients is if you're having both a private practice and a coaching business and your niche is the same. Right. So going back to the difference between therapy and coaching, right. The clients in your private practice are meeting medical necessity DSM criteria. The clients in your coaching business, it's a more situational, less severe, non clinical problem. So your social media becomes your coaching social media. So you don't have to have two of freaking everything, right. That can become annoying.

It was gonna be the next question.

Yeah. Kind of pointless if your niche is the same, right?

Yeah.

You don't have to hide your credentials, but you're not using your credentials and it's like, hire me as a coach because I am a licensed therapist. Right. So you can use your coaching social media for lead generation and you're really promoting your coaching business. If someone does come in and they are meeting criteria for a diagnosis and they're interested in your coaching services, because a lot of people can only fathom, although the stigma has gotten better, getting help under the umbrella of coaching, Right. You get to put your clinical hat on and discern, are they a fit for my therapy practice? Are they meeting medical necessity or can they be coached through this? Does that answer the question? It is a little bit nuancey.

Yeah.

It can be confusing.

Yeah, it is. And I guess from there I'm just curious, like, do you recommend when it comes back to the website, that's kind of where my brain goes to with like the marketing. Do, do they need a separate website? Is coaching just a separate service underneath their private practice? How does that nuance happen?

Yeah, it's a really good question. So best practice is to have separate everything, right? Separate. So in an ideal world you would have a separate website. However, it is not a hard and fast black and white rule that you have to have a separate website. The whole point of keeping everything separate is, well, there's a lot of points. But for your website to keep it simple on a high level, we don't want your clients to be confused.

Yeah.

And it's confusing for us to understand the difference between therapy and coaching. So we can only imagine how confused our clients would be. So if you are going to keep it on the same website, I highly recommend it's very clear and distinct that your services are separate and you even have a disclaimer of sorts on your coaching page that says, you know, coaching is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If I assess and feel you need psychotherapy, I'll refer out whatever the case is.

Yeah, that's good. And that's, that's even a good starting point. Like if you do. Because I don't want somebody to be like, oh, great, I can't add coaching, it's too much work because I have to start a whole new website, you know. But yeah, I'm always thinking like, well, what's the low hanging fruit? Like, start a new section of your website. Maybe even like make it feel a little different than your private practice branding.

The colors. Like.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, cool. Well, let's get back into social media now that we've answered that question. So, so, okay, we're keeping it separate. It's more focused on the coaching aspect. What are some of the things that you recommend for people who are getting started in social media? So maybe let's go back to what we were just talking about when we first started. Like someone's, I'm not sure how to use it. I'm overwhelmed by the process. Where do we begin?

Yeah, well, there's so many platforms too, right? Like there's Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, blah blah, blah, blah. Right?

Yeah.

Personally, I teach Instagram and Facebook. Even with TikTok being so hot these days, Facebook is the number one platform. There is about 3 billion users on Facebook to date. So if you're, if you don't think your ideal client is on Facebook, I would think again. Right, so you had mentioned Facebook groups. Facebook groups are not outdated. They've been around, but they are not going anywhere. And it is a great lead generation tool. Facebook groups, right there is an art and a science is setting it up. Let's just like maybe talk about across all, you know, platforms, like, where do I start? Yeah, you need to know who your ideal client is. Who are you speaking to exactly? Who are you speaking to? Like what are their pain points? What is their living hell they call it? And what's the heaven they want to get to? What's the other side? So you have to be speaking to that. Like we have three to five seconds to get someone's attention these days. So we have to stop the scroll. We have to get their attention.

Yeah.

And how are we going to get their attention? We have to, we have to post a compelling hook that says going to grab them in. So we have to know exactly who we're talking to in order to have a strong Compelling hook and grab them in and hit their pain or hit the heaven that they want to go to.

Yeah.

Right. So I think that that really is the first step and that has nothing to do with social media per se. Exactly right. But yeah, in order to build an audience and actually have engagement, you have to be hitting home with them.

That makes sense.

But then it really comes down to copywriting. You have to have bomb copywriting and call to actions.

Yeah.

Believe it or not, like, people need to be told exactly what to do. So, like, click this button. Come watch this video with me. I'm doing a live training on X, Y and Z. It's on this date. Click this button to come. Super clear. Strong call to actions to keep moving them along in the client journey.

Absolutely. Yeah. That's something that we talk a lot about too, with websites as well, where people try to get fluffy and fancy with their copywriting. And, like, there's a button that says something. You're like, what happens if I click this button? I have no idea. So be really clear. Speak on like, the third, fourth grade level, maybe even lower, to lead people directly what they need to do.

Yeah, clear and concise, not cutesy and clever. And you're exactly right. It's the same thing with websites. You know, copywriting and, you know, that comes down to, like, who are you speaking to and are you talking their language? Like, sometimes we can get caught up with, like, our process and our how. Because it's our baby, we love it and that's how we help. But, like, nobody really cares, you know, or clinical jargon. They just need to like us and trust us and know that we can solve their problem.

Yeah.

So our job on social media is to let them know that we know where they're at and we know that we can help them. And then inviting them to the next step is that next step of retraining so they can like you and trust you and know you more. Is that next step a consult call with you so you guys could just discuss if it makes sense. Working together so people don't just automatically, like, raise their hand and want to work with us all the time. We have to put ourselves out there and actually invite them. And if it is like a free training, we're inviting them to, which I think is a great, you know, lead generation tool to also build that, like, trust. No factor, you know, taking the step and assigning value to what your training is. It's not like, hey, just come to my free training. Hey, come to my free Facebook group. Like, Inviting someone to a dinner party, it's like, hey, come over to for dinner. It's like I'm making a five course meal, homemade dessert, right? And then even when they come over, we're going to give them the warm and fuzzies and be like, this is where the bathroom is. And this is like, so making them feel comfortable, engaging with them and inviting them, moving them along in this client journey.

Yeah, I like, I like how you're, you're phrasing this especially like going back to that starting point of what, what's their pain and where are they trying to get to? And I think that that is a, that's a super important frame to look through because I know from my own experience, especially when first starting out and trying to use social media, I feel like I fell into the trap of like most people were just creating noise. It's just like, hey, check this thing out, there's a new blog post there. This, there's that, like go to this link. But it's maybe not talking to their pain or talking to where they're trying to get to. So with my copywriting, I feel like I probably just added to the noise and I didn't necessarily invite them in or let them know, like, I see your pain or let them know I understand what you're trying to get to. And oh yeah, by the way, here's a resource that's going to take you one step closer. So I love that, I love how you frame that.

Exactly it. Yeah. The PAS framework is like the most like popular. You can Google it. Pain agitate self. Right. So start off, you know, are you a burnt out working mom? Like you're calling out to like your ideal population and their pain and then you're going to like poke them and you're going to agitate their pain and you're going to pain out. Like, do you dread waking up in the morning? Do you wish you were more energized? You know, it doesn't have to be like this anymore. And then we're going to solve it. You know, imagine waking up, you know, being present in the home with your kids and blah, blah, blah. If you want to know how this is possible, I just created a free guide that's going to walk you through the 10 steps to be present energized as a busy, you know, working mom comment, you know, bomb mom if you want it. And then you're getting these comments and then you can send it to them and then you can have a conversation. Then maybe you invite them to your free training check in. How did you like it? Invite them to a call, move them along in this journey. Right.

You just gave us a whole framework right there and a whole follow up system right there. Did you just make that up on the spot?

No, I teach my clients this.

Yeah, no, that's great.

I try to make it short and sweet for you.

No, that's great. I think that anyone listening to that can kind of come away from this. At least if they hear anything, then they understand. Okay, I can use that framework right there that you just said and kind of tweak it to my ideal client, to whatever resources I have and start posting posts, you know, similar to that. And it's kind of. And also you can take like, you know, like I said, the resources you have, you have a blog post or you have a free guide or something that you could use to get that conversation going and create these posts. That's great. I love it. I'm gonna use it.

Or maybe they don't have anything and it's just like, you know, comment, raise your hand emoji. If this is you, let's start talking. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Well, one thing you mentioned that I want to go back to, you talked about not being afraid to like put yourself out there. Like as you're, you're starting to create some engagement, you're creating these posts and you want to not be afraid to invite people to take that next step. Do you ever work with folks who are, who are afraid? You know, because I, I hear that a lot where like I don't really want to put myself out there. And I think sometimes people don't go into social media marketing because it feels. Oh, I'm just, I, I don't need to put myself out there that much. I'm just gonna have a website and people just show up there. Can you talk to that? Like, how do you, how do you help work through that?

Especially therapists.

Yeah.

Because I feel like we're a little bit brainwashed to like be like in this like shell and it's like our life isn't supposed to be like known. Right. And like we're not supposed to self disclose and.

Right.

It's a lot of undoing. Right. So it's just like human nature that it can be a little bit scary sometimes to be seen. But then you put all like our therapist training on top of it. It's like double whammy.

Yeah.

So it takes baby steps. Right. Like I said though, like you gotta be on social media these days and you can't have this mindset of, like, I'll build it, they'll come. You know, not until maybe you're a little bit bigger. Right. But when you're kind of a little peon and you're just starting off, you have to invite people and you have to put yourself out there. And conversations equal conversions. And how do we have a conversation? Like, people have to like us and trust us and know us. And so that really comes from maybe them seeing our face and, like, us doing a free training or hearing our voice or reading some of our free content or whatever it is. So I always just say, like, the first is the worst. You can always delete it if you hate it. But just try to put yourself out there. Like, even if you're doing, like, your first real or something, like, it doesn't have to be your face. Like, it could just be, like, words or picture something else. Right. But just start making a presence for yourself, and then maybe you can ease into your voice and your face.

And how do you keep things from. I guess, what do I want to ask? How do we keep things from getting, like, you know, too complicated? Like, Like, I. I love where you're going right now. Like, just like, start with something simple, you know? But the goal, I think, is to get to a place where we're consistent, where we're. People are seeing us. And, you know, I could see from your Instagram account, like, you're. You're constantly adding those stories and those reels. And for me, I'm lucky if I post maybe two or three times a week just because I. I know I don't have a system for it. And I know that that's probably the thing that's killing me. So how do we. Here's my question. How do we go from, like, okay, we're just starting out, but we want to get to a place where this is consistent. And we're, you know, we are consistently adding value so that our potential clients, people we want to reach, our ideal audience, are seeing our face more, more often and creating that, like, know and trust factor.

Yeah. The answer, you kind of said it's having a system, right? So the system that I teach is like, one, figuring out who your ideal client is. Taking their hell in their heaven. Let's. Let's break that down into the. The life problems that they're having. So maybe we have, like, like five different buckets of, like, we're going to talk about, like, burnout one week. We're going to talk about, like, how can the mom Be energized. The next week, we're going to talk about mom guilt the next week, so on and so forth, you know, and then you take these topics and then you kind of plug them into maybe these copywriting frameworks that you have. Right. Or you have a calendar where you're like, on Mondays, I'm gonna promote myself and invite people to my free trainings that I do on Wednesdays. On Tuesdays, I'm gonna ask them what they want me to teach on. You know, on Wednesdays, I do my free training. On Thursday, I'm going to do a PAS post pain agitate, salt. On Fridays, I'm going to just do like a fun Friday post and I'm going to talk about, like, fun facts about me so they can just, like, know who I am kind of behind the scenes. So I'm just kind of spitballing like a schedule here, but having some type of system where it's plug and play and you're batching your content. So you sit down on a Sunday and figure out, like, what are your posts going to be for the week? And the first time you do that, it may take you a hot minute, but this is a muscle that you're building. And then you don't have to sit there on Thursday and be like, oh, man. Like, I know I'm supposed to be, like, posting and being consistent, but, like, how do I even speak to my client? How do I get out of my brain into a caption that sounds good and stops the scroll? Right. So having a plug and play system, I think is incredibly important.

Yeah.

To be consistent and not just post about fluff.

Right.

You're organized.

Yeah. And that's, that's along the lines of what I teach with blogging is like, you have to set time aside to come up with topic ideas to put on your website and also block a time to then write those. And, you know, I've gotten very good on for myself and my business on that side of things and, you know, the podcast side of things. I just don't have a system for social media. I kind of used to, but then I think I just got tired. I got a little burnt out from it. And so it's something that I think next year we're going to get back into. So that's. That's super helpful. And that even as you're speaking, I'm thinking through, okay, what are the. What are the buckets that my clients might fall into? What are their pain points? Or what are the things that we could talk about through the days of the week. So that's super helpful.

Yeah. And it's pretty much the same thing like blogging, email marketing. Like, you could be on the same schedule and you can actually cross reference things.

Yeah.

So, like, if you're talking about like burnout in your blogs for one week, you know, you can hyperlink the post you did on your Instagram and your blog about burnout, right?

Yeah. Reuse that content in that case. That's another thing too. As you start to get more content out there, then you've got a whole resource so that you can continue to repost and cross post on different platforms and all that stuff, which can also save you a ton of time too, which I'm all about.

That's a wonderful point you just brought up because a lot of people do think that, like, oh, I'm gonna have to create content for forever.

Right.

You know, and I'm constantly gonna have to be creating new content for the rest of my life. That sounds miserable. Nobody remembers what you posted two days ago, let alone a month ago. So if you're just starting out, like, go really hard and just create a lot of content and then copy and paste. Copy and paste. Repurpose, repurpose.

That's good. Yeah, that's good. I love it. Well, we gotta wrap up our conversation here. I want to know what are, are there any other, like, key points that people need to be aware of when it comes to social media? I know we, we didn't really get into specifics on platforms, which I think is totally fine. I think like, this is, this is great because this is really going to be helpful for people and they're sort of their, their barriers that they're trying to overcome to even get started. So that's totally cool. But like, what are some other maybe like last tips that you want to leave with people when it comes to social media marketing or things that you've learned that work or do not work?

Yeah. I would just say don't be afraid to share your offer because we're using social media to convert, to get a paying client so that we can transform their life. Right. So going back to like, that invitation, but also like just extending the offer and letting it be known what you have to give to them so that you could make it easier for them to raise their hand and be like, yeah, that sounds bomb. I want that.

Yeah.

Right. So it's a, it can be a little bit uncomfortable to like, be our own promoter sometimes and, and feel a little uncomfortable, but I just want to, like, give everyone permission that's listening, like, it's okay to promote yourself and share your offer. You're actually doing a disservice if you don't. And you're. And you're sitting on something that's really good, that can. That can help people. So just share it and just let them know, like, I just created this thing behind the scenes, and if you want it, like, let me know. No pressure, right? Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Amen to that. Because, like you said, like, you have something that can change the world. It can really impact someone's life. I think especially too, if, you know, some. Some of these folks who are doing coaching and therapy, like, you are impacting lives and helping people with some really major challenges, you know, and, like, that makes the world a better place. And I know for myself, at the end of the day, like, yes, we work primarily with folks in private practice therapy practices, but at the end of the day, I think my own mission and our mission for private practice elevation is for the clients who are seeing our clients really, you know, is to really impact the world. And so I come back to that. Even with our own offers. When I get a little, you know, nervous to be too promotional or salesy or something like that, it's just like, wait, I've got something that's actually impacting the world because we're helping clients find our clients and solve their problem, so. Totally agree. Love it. Well, thank you so much, Carly. It was really great chatting with you and just some really great insight. I know I. I've got my wheels turning now and sort of some goals and things for next year around social media. Can you just let us. Let us all know, where can people find you if they want to learn a little bit more about your. Your coaching and just the. The tips and resources you have?

Yeah, yeah, because I have a ton of free stuff, so.

You do. I've been following you on Instagram. There's always more.

People think I'm crazy, but I don't struggle. So I just. My heart can't help it. Therapist to coach, Accelerator. Facebook group is where all my free resources are, and they can also find me on Instagram. Carly Hill Coaching. My website's carlyhillcoaching. Com, but I would highly recommend that Facebook group therapist to coach, accelerator.

Awesome. And we'll link all that stuff up in the show notes so that folks can find you. And thank you so much for your time, Carly. It was great chatting with you.

Yeah, thank you.