Niche-Focused Marketing for Mental Health | Jennifer Christensen from Beacon Media and Marketing

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Jennifer from Beacon Media and Marketing, co-founder and CMO with them. How are you doing today, Jennifer?

Jennifer Christensen: I’m doing great. Thanks so much.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on today’s episode. Well, I’m sure, Jennifer, our listeners are tuning in wondering what Beacon Media and Marketing is all about. So, in your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Jennifer: Absolutely. We are mainly a healthcare-focused digital marketing agency. We focus on inbound and innovative solutions for our clients. Our main focus is mental health, so mental health marketing is really our core niche that we serve.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, awesome. Great to hear that. And so that way our listeners can get a good understanding of your company. What would you say is the key problem you like to solve for clients?

Jennifer: Really, for mental health marketing, it’s definitely the website as the foundation. So a lot of what you’re helping with, we focus on UX design and making sure that pathway, that customer journey, is super solid for our clients. Then we’re delivering everything from local SEO to paid ads that are exactly what clients are searching for, branding, and video. We’re a full-service agency, really focusing on all those things that drive new clients for our clients—mainly lead generation, but also retention for their current clients and an easy pathway for people to find them and get the help they need.

Ernesto: Definitely important. And you were mentioning that mental health is your focus. Would healthcare, particularly mental health, be your primary vertical, or do you target other segments as well?

Jennifer: Health is really our core focus. I would say it’s more health and wellness, and we’re not doing marketing for hospitals. We’re marketing for scaling health and wellness clients. This could include functional medicine, aestheticians, and women’s healthcare, but about 80% of our clients are in the mental health field. This includes scaling practices, group practices, and even a franchise with hundreds of mental health clients under one umbrella.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great to hear that. So, if I were in the healthcare or mental health industry, how would I typically find out about Beacon Media? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you?

Jennifer: Yes. We were a local agency five or six years ago in Alaska—a pretty small market. When we decided to expand, we focused on fields we were passionate about and excelled in. We created our own inbound marketing plan using a mix of SEO, targeted paid ads, retargeting, and video. We also revamped our website to attract the right clients and showcased case studies as we built our success. This helped us establish ourselves as a leader. Eventually, we started getting keynote speaking engagements at the Mental Health Marketing Conference and invitations to speak nationwide. Now, if you look up “mental health marketing agency,” we come up as number one. Our clients know we can deliver because we’ve done it for ourselves.

Ernesto: That’s awesome. So our listeners can check you out at beaconmm.com. What role does your website play in client acquisition?

Jennifer: Our website drives 80% of our client acquisition, definitely.

Ernesto: Wow. Is there any advice or tools you’d recommend to listeners aiming for similar results?

Jennifer: We’ve worked extensively on our UX and test constantly. We test different landing pages, ensure strong content on every page, and answer as many questions as possible for potential clients. For example, our mental health industry page alone accounts for 30% of our overall traffic—not even our homepage! It includes social proof, case studies, and testimonials. We’ve also added pricing and package information to improve transparency. This has increased our conversion rate from 1.2% to 4.5%. Even with organic traffic declining due to AI, our numbers have risen because search engines pick up our highly relevant content.

Ernesto: That’s fantastic! Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you as a leader. As co-founder and CMO, what are your key tasks on a day-to-day basis?

Jennifer: My role is split between Chief Innovation Officer and CMO. As CMO, I guide our team in delivering the best marketing for our clients. We have an incredible team of over 30 people, and our Strategy Director leads most of the CMO-related work. My role is more about mentorship and providing guidance. Externally, I focus on educating clients about trends and tools that ensure their success. Internally, I mentor staff and support their growth to maintain our goal of being the last agency clients ever need.

Ernesto: Amazing. How do you stay up-to-date with marketing trends and strategies? Do you have a preferred channel?

Jennifer: I love YouTube for deep dives into specific subjects. I also read leadership and AI-focused books, blogs, and listen to podcasts. My current favorite podcast is the Marketing AI Podcast. Attending conferences like the Mental Health Marketing Conference is another valuable resource. I try to focus on the most relevant ones rather than spreading myself too thin.

Ernesto: Great insights! Let’s move to the rapid-fire round. Ready?

Jennifer: Go for it.

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Jennifer: 10X.

Ernesto: Love that one! If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d want to fix as a marketer?

Jennifer: Having technology that could clearly analyze data across all channels and explain the best use of funds.

Ernesto: If you could automate one repetitive task, what would it be?

Jennifer: Responding to emails and communication. From a marketing standpoint, I’d automate UX and data analysis.

Ernesto: And finally, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were starting your marketing journey today?

Jennifer: Take your time to figure out who you enjoy working with and focus on solving deep, complex problems. That’s where the value is. Also, niche down early—it would’ve saved us years and helped us grow faster.

Ernesto: Fantastic advice! Before we wrap up, what’s the one thing listeners should remember about Beacon Media?

Jennifer: We strive to be the last marketing agency our clients will ever need.

Ernesto: That’s a bold and inspiring goal. To our listeners, you can check them out at beaconmm.com—they help you grow, scale, and thrive. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us!

Jennifer: Thank you!