Developing a successful group program involves more than just creating a plan and crafting compelling content—it relies on a strategic and well-executed marketing approach.
Now that you’ve used That Clean Life’s tools to curate engaging content and set up your group program with Practice Better, it’s time to shine a spotlight on your course to guarantee its success.
As a health professional committed to helping people on their wellness journey, implementing a thoughtfully crafted marketing plan will help keep your participants engaged and on track for the transformative ride ahead.
From tracking progress to streamlining communication, discover how the various features in Practice Better can contribute to the success of your group program for years to come.
Developing a thoughtful engagement strategy is key when you’re looking to create a successful group program. Using tools like an engagement or retention calendar before your program launches can help you get the framework in place to keep you organized and on track.
An engagement calendar can act as a guide, outlining the broader initiatives and daily activities that maximize participation. Rather than relying on chance, this approach allows you to plan and implement a variety of engagement methods, like quizzes, giveaways, and interactive sessions.
A well-organized engagement strategy provides you with a systematic way to monitor and adjust your plan based on real-time feedback. For example, you may notice enthusiasm in the group chats surrounding a specific health and wellness topic. This feedback allows you to pivot and consider hosting a group session with a guest expert on that particular topic.
Below are some tips to keep your clients engaged, but feel free to use whatever works for you.
Using group messaging as a communication tool is a powerful strategy to help encourage a sense of community within your group program. Group messaging allows you to bring clients together who share similar health goals and enables them to form connections, helping to foster a sense of camaraderie.
This approach not only enhances engagement but also helps group participants share experiences, ideas, and support, creating a friendly and collaborative environment. Group messaging will also allow you to share information, promptly answer questions, and address any concerns collectively, further promoting a supportive community.
Group messaging can help keep participants motivated and invested in their wellness journey. Practice Better simplifies the process of sending group messages by using message broadcasts, allowing you to send messages to multiple clients at once via direct chat messages, emails, or both.
Let’s be honest, everyone loves free stuff. Offering weekly giveaways in your group program is an excellent strategy for keeping your clients engaged, motivated, and intrigued. These rewards are not only exciting but can also incentivize active participation among group members.
Need help finding these freebies? Keep in mind that as a health and wellness professional, you can collaborate with different brands for sponsored giveaways, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. By partnering with brands aligned with your program’s goals, you can offer valuable products or services to participants while enhancing brand visibility.
From fun fitness gear to the latest nutritional supplements, your giveaways can cater to a variety of health interests all while maintaining participant enthusiasm and motivation.
Group programs that incorporate meal plans and recipes foster a sense of community that encourages people to stay on track with their health and wellness goals. The meal plans offered by That Clean Life will allow you to tailor dietary recommendations to the specific needs and goals of your clients. By using a wide range of filters, you can find various recipes based on diet type, allergies, and nutrition goals.
You can use the That Clean Life integration within Practice Better to add meal plans, recipes, collections, or templates to any program module. This roadmap can help simplify the complex process of making healthier food choices, giving your clients concrete nutrition guidance to help them meet milestones and keep them engaged.
By providing meal plans and recipe collections you can not only help the success and sustainability of your group programs but also empower clients to make lasting, positive changes to their daily eating habits.
Incorporating quizzes into your group program can be a fun and dynamic strategy for promoting engagement and accountability among participants. Quizzes not only assess knowledge but also encourage active participation, making the learning process more interactive and fun.
Quizzes may also be used to personalize the program by evaluating participants’ needs. For example, you may use a mindful eating quiz to gain insight into mealtime behaviors, emotional eating triggers, and awareness of portion sizes among your participants. This information will allow you to provide targeted advice on developing mindful eating practices.
A quiz can also be fun and lighthearted. For example, you may ask participants to choose their dream food destination from a list of four or five locations. This type of quiz not only adds fun to the group program but also serves as an icebreaker, allowing participants to connect over shared food and destination favorites.
Practice Better allows you to create a wide variety of custom program quizzes that can be included in your program’s content modules to help promote engagement and success.
Encouraging your participants to keep a journal is a wonderful tool to help promote engagement and enhance the success of your group program.
Keeping a record of daily food intake, location of meals, hunger levels, and mood provides participants with important insights regarding their dietary choices. The act of journaling improves accountability, as participants take ownership of their dietary choices and become more mindful of their overall health. The process may help empower people to identify areas for improvement, making it a valuable learning tool.
As a health and wellness professional, you can use these journal entries to track dietary trends, provide personalized and targeted guidance, and offer support and encouragement. Practice Better offers a journaling feature, providing a user-friendly platform that facilitates seamless communication and the real-time tracking of dietary habits for the benefit of you and your participants.
Hosting weekly community classes is an excellent way to help ensure the success of your group program while encouraging client engagement and commitment. These classes provide a platform for people to come together regularly, creating a sense of community and shared commitment to their health goals.
You can lead these sessions by sharing your expertise to help spark discussions on relevant topics that interest the group. Additionally, you may consider inviting guest experts to bring a unique perspective and specialized knowledge to the table. This collaborative approach will add variety to the sessions and will also keep participants excited and engaged.
You can add a group session to your Program to host these community classes like so:
Community classes not only help participants take a deep dive into health and wellness concepts but will also allow them to make meaningful connections, helping them to stay on track and motivated on their wellness journey.
If you’re not a Practice Better customer yet and you want a walk-through, schedule a demo with our Sales Team.
Making yourself readily available is an important key to the success of a group program, helping to promote progress among participants. Being accessible to answer questions and provide support creates an engaged and supportive environment.
By creating open lines of communication, participants will feel more comfortable reaching out for guidance, addressing any issues that come up, or seeking clarification on a topic. This openness not only builds trust but also helps participants stay on track with their goals.
It’s important to make the process of reaching out as easy and straightforward as possible. This may be through regular Q&A sessions, email, or designated, secure communication platforms through Practice Better.
Initiating a goal-setting session at the beginning of your program is another important way to help engage participants while they continue to make strides. By establishing personalized and measurable goals, participants are more likely to stay committed with a sense of accomplishment throughout their journey.
Additionally, having clear goals allows you to tailor your guidance based on these targets which can help promote a more individualized and effective program. This goal-oriented approach not only reinforces individual commitment but also creates a shared sense of purpose within the group which can contribute to the overall success of the program.
You can use Practice Better’s Forms feature to help your clients set goals.
Here’s how:
Remember to help people break down their larger goals into smaller, more manageable steps. This will help make their journey less overwhelming and provide participants with a sense of success as they achieve these smaller milestones.
An effective engagement strategy is the key to keeping participants on track and motivated throughout their wellness journey. You’ll need to go beyond just providing information and actively involve participants using a variety of techniques.
Whether it’s hosting giveaways, providing recipes, or leading community classes, creating an environment that prioritizes communication, collaboration, and individual progress is vital to the success of your program. Remember, a successful program is not just about achieving health goals; it’s about empowering people to make lasting and positive changes in their lives.
By: Emily Hirsch, MS, RD
Practice Better is the complete practice management platform for nutritionists, dietitians, and wellness professionals. Streamline your practice and begin your 14-day free trial today.
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