If you’re thinking about how to market your therapy practice, there are a dizzying swirl of strategies, budget calculators and well-meaning advice that can make your eyes glaze over. And somewhere in that overwhelm, it’s easy to feel like you’re going to mess up your marketing budget and your therapy practice will never grow unless you pour thousands into Facebook ads, TikToks, or rebranding every six months.
The truth is, none of that is universally necessary. Every therapy practice we work with has a different answer to this question. Some people need to budget for a video editor, time to film and a social media manager. Other people need to budget for Google Ads. And still others want to take more of an organic approach to marketing and they need to budget for article creation and editing.
Everyone is different.
Understanding the needs of your business and the clients you want to attract to your therapy practice is the first step in getting a real number about marketing.
How To Think About Your Marketing Budget
Your marketing budget should be thought about as a percentage of your annual revenue. As a solo or small practice, this can seem daunting because you’re really allocating part of your monthly income to all the things that it takes to run your practice. This. Is. Normal.
According to Statista, their annual survey among chief marketing officers (CMOs) in North America and Northern and Western Europe indicated that, “7.7 percent of their employers’ revenues were allocated to marketing in 2024, down from 9.1 percent a year earlier. In 2016, that share peaked at over 12 percent.”
That number is often higher when you first start your practice because you have to consider initial expenses like a new website, business cards, head shots and signage.
Maybe you didn’t major in finance. Maybe spreadsheets make your eyes glaze over. That’s okay. Your zone of excellence is in the people business. But getting a basic understanding of your therapy practice marketing budget can give you confidence around where your money is going and why.
Done right, you won’t be throwing money at the wall and hoping something sticks. It’s about understanding where your money is going, why it matters, and what you’re getting in return.
Here’s a general rule of thumb:
- Established solo practices often spend 7–10% of gross revenue on marketing.
- New or scaling practices may spend up to 20% in the early years.
Then there’s:
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much it costs to get one new client.
- Client Lifetime Value (LTV): How much that client brings in over time.
- Return on Investment (ROI): What you’re getting back from your spending.
Thinking about your marketing budget with a long lens is important so you don’t get caught in the little details and costs. They matter of course, but to grow a strong brand you need to spend money to make money.
Ideally, a formula should emerge for you around the costs of running your business against your income such that you feel positively about your marketing investments. And when you don’t, if your strategy is well planned, then you will see clearly what needs to change.
Starting with the basics, if you spend $700 this month on your Psychology Today profile ($29.95 at the time of writing this article), website hosting ($4.99 a month on Siteground for the first year), and a Google ad at $20 per day and that gets you two new clients in one month, each of whom comes back weekly for therapy sessions over three months, then you’ve already made that money back and more.
The breakdown of marketing costs and revenue looks like this:
| Costs | Revenue |
| Psychology Today = $29.99 | Two new clients at $150 per week = $1200 |
| Siteground = $4.99 | $1200 x a 3 month engagement = $3000 |
| Google Ad for 31 days = $620.00 | |
| Total spend = $654.95 | Total revenue = $3000 |
Net difference: $3000 – $654.95 = $2345.05
That’s a good profit, but none of this happens without a smart marketing strategy at every level including developing your website, writing and running your Google Ads, and creating your Psychology Today profile.
Without it, this revenue isn’t achievable.
Where Should Your Marketing Budget Go? The Honest Breakdown
Website
We’re not going to tell you to build a one-page site. That’s like showing up to a networking event with your name scribbled on a sticky note. If you want to be found on Google (and yes, you do) you need a well-built, SEO-informed website. This doesn’t mean ten fancy pages. But it does mean:
- A clear homepage
- A strong about page
- A service page (or two)
- A blog (yes, really, it’s good for SEO)
- Contact page + Google My Business integration
No website? You may as well go to Moo, print business cards, and hand them out at weddings.
Directories
These are their own marketing beast. They can be helpful, but they can also be where good leads go to die if you’re not actively managing your presence. Don’t set it and forget it, you have to review and update your profiles regularly. And remember, even a stellar Psychology Today’s profile won’t save you if your head shot looks like a yearbook photo.
Ads
This is where things get scary. Ads can work, but they can also be a money pit. And unless you know exactly what you’re doing (or hire someone like us who does), you may end up paying for clicks from people who bounce the second they land on your site. Or for marketing leads for cleaning people, photographers or gentlemen in other countries who want to sell you marketing for $.25.
If you want to know the truth, we have a new client who spent $50K/year for three years trying to get her business off the ground. That included Google Ads, Facebook Ads, two different websites, and multiple marketing consultants. She hired smart people before finding us. She worked hard.. And it didn’t work.
Why? Because the strategy for how people buy your services wasn’t well thought out. Marketing is a full time job because you need data and research to know how your potential customers look for help. Analyzing your particular niche and unique skills is necessary to understand how strangers who need your help spend time looking for you.
When we know that, we can slot you in in the right ways so you’re discovered.
This stuff takes time. It’s not that you’re doing it wrong. It’s that you’re building something sustainable, and the internet doesn’t owe you overnight success. Even the most successful therapists you follow and want to emulate took years to get there.
What is the 70/20/10 Rule?
When you think about marketing, one consideration for spending marketing dollars is this: spend 70% of your budget on things you know work. Spend 20% on emerging technologies or strategies that work but are new to you and spend the remaining 10% on experiments.
Your marketing spend should be allocated into a pie chart of options that align with how you want to market your therapy services. If you are not inclined to do videos, don’t allocate budget or time to Instagram (even if your favorite therapist is on it). Your pie chart is unique to your business.
When considering your marketing budget, it needs to be developed and ideally included some (or most) of the following items:
- Website content – landing pages and blogs
- Social media – print, video or both
- Imagery – head shots, images for your blogs and/or videos
- Networking – peers, community networking, trainings and conferences
- Directories – these are secondary search engines and you want to be found in places where your clients look for therapists. Most of our clients are in Psychology Today and 2-4 others at any given time. Some are free, others paid and ideally give you a diverse connection with potential clients
- Advertising and paid marketing like Facebook or Instagram boosting
One Story, Many Lessons
At Crownsville Media, we’ve seen what’s possible when the right strategy meets steady support.
One therapist came to us with a website that wasn’t showing up in search, very few leads coming in, and a growing sense of burnout from trying to do it all. Within five months, with the right marketing budget, strategic SEO, a design overhaul, and a clear call-to-action strategy, the phone started ringing again.
We won’t claim we’re magic, but we will take credit for being methodical and experienced, because what we do works.
That is as true today as it was before AI emerged and we are committed to being here as a marketing support long after AI becomes normalized and part of our everyday life.
Here’s the truth: You don’t need to become a digital marketing expert. You just need a system that works for your private practice with people who understand the world you’re working in, and want to see you succeed.
It’s Time To Ask For The Right Help
There’s no shortage of people willing to take your money. But not everyone will help you get where you want to go.
What you need is support that’s detailed, experienced, grounded. Someone who understands what therapists need, not just flashy funnels and TikTok trends. That’s where Crownsville Media comes in.
We’ve helped private practices build websites and marketing systems that don’t just look good, they bring in the right clients. With us, you get thoughtful strategy, solid writing, and grounded creativity that reflects your values and helps your practice grow.
If you’re ready to connect, please schedule a complimentary consultation on our calendar today.
