Since Google cracked down on search ads for rehab, it can be hard to figure out how to get started with rehab marketing. The nature of the business makes thoughtful marketing more important than in other industries.
Addiction treatment is challenging to market ethically, but it’s not impossible. You can still use digital marketing to your advantage to help reach the right people. There are a few best practices that you should know to get started.
We’ve rounded up the top ten ways you can use digital marketing to promote a rehab center. Read on to learn more!
1. Understand Your Patients for Rehab Center Marketing
Before you move on to any of the other suggestions on this list, you need to figure out exactly who it is that you want to attract with your rehab marketing.
What are they seeking rehab for? How old are they? Where do they live?
You should determine who needs your services before you start designing a marketing plan. Marketing works best when it’s specific, so if you can be clear about who you want to reach, you’ll be more successful.
2. Start A Blog
Blogs are a great way to increase visitors to your website. Creating valuable insight on drug rehabilitation for your potential patients regularly will improve your website’s position in search results.
You can optimize your blog to rank for a specific keyword if there’s a service you really want to be known for. Search engine optimization is a key part of rehab marketing.
Not sure what to write about? You could provide information that current and potential patients might find useful during recovery. You might also share treatment tips and give information to families.
3. Use Facebook Marketing for Rehab Centers
Never underestimate the power of social media when it comes to rehab marketing!
Out of all the social media sites, Facebook has been the most useful for marketing in this industry. Your rehab center should have its own page that’s updated regularly.
You can also pay to promote certain posts to ensure that your content appears more frequently.
Facebook is an instrumental tool to grow your online audience. If you’re looking for a social media site to concentrate on, this would be a great bet.
4. Follow Rehab Marketing News on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is often forgotten about when it comes to digital marketing. In this case, it can be incredibly useful.
If your rehab center has a presence on LinkedIn, you can use it to follow news about addiction treatment, rehab marketing, and other developments in the field. Plus, your name will be in front of other addiction treatment professionals.
Many people learn about rehabilitation centers through word of mouth, which would seem to make digital marketing less important.
However, when you build relationships online with fellow drug rehabilitation professionals, this increases the likelihood of recommendations to your center.
5. Talk About Success Stories
When people are looking for a rehabilitation center, they need to have faith that the staff at the center are going to help them overcome addiction.
Once they reach your website, they’ll probably be looking for some reassurance that you can help. Don’t make them search for it! Put success stories somewhere easy to find on your website.
Testimonials from healthy past patients are especially helpful since they provide value to people who are trying to make a decision. Success stories can positively affect your center’s public perception and trust.
6. Put Your Audience First
When building their online presence, a lot of rehab centers fall into the trap of only publishing the services they offer. This makes sense in theory since people want to know what you do.
However, this is actually a common mistake in rehab marketing. You should always put your potential audience first when it comes to marketing.
This means putting a personal touch on your content. Try offering more insight into your center by posting firsthand experiences or describing specific treatments instead.
7. Track What People Are Saying
Reputation management is especially key for rehab marketing. If there are people posting negative things online about your center, you need to know.
You can start by putting a Google alert on the name of your rehab center, or you can just search your name regularly. If you do happen to see a negative review, resist the urge to delete it. This can actually do more harm than good.
Instead, respond to the upset person and offer to get in touch with them to work through the issue. This will leave a good impression with people who might come across the review.
8. Encourage Positive Reviews
Of course, the best thing that can counteract negative reviews is a positive review!
While testimonials on your website are equally helpful, positive reviews left on other websites can help drive traffic to your homepage.
Encourage past patients who are happy with their experiences to leave positive reviews online. All you need is one positive review to help someone to choose your center over a competitor’s.
9. Analyze Your Website SEO Strategy for Rehab Centers
We’ve discussed how important a blog is to rehab marketing, but that doesn’t mean that you should neglect the rest of your website.
You should be constantly analyzing its performance to see where you can improve and where people engage most often. What links do people click on most? Where do they spend the most time?
Information like this is valuable for any digital marketing strategy.
10. Make Videos
Moving forward, it seems like it’s impossible to have a smart rehab digital marketing strategy that doesn’t include video.
Videos are taking over the Internet. In fact, they’ll probably make up more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019.
Consider making videos that explain your services, or you could give a virtual tour of public areas of your facilities. There’s no end to the possibilities with video, so feel free to get creative!
Get A Professional Consultation
If you need a second opinion about your rehab marketing strategy, we at Northlake Digital can help you create a successful plan.
We want to show you how to market your rehab center with access to the same brilliant strategies that huge corporations use. We offer high-quality services with a personal touch.
Let us help you with anything from social media strategy to the SEO of your website. Get in touch today to find out how to get started.
