For those suffering from a substance use disorder, the journey never truly ends. Addiction treatment plays a huge role in crisis stabilization, but your center is only one dedicated part of a lifelong commitment to recovery. So when patients graduate from treatment, drug rehab alumni marketing can be hugely important.
Tips for Meaningful Drug Rehab Alumni Marketing
We can all agree helping prevent relapses for patients on the road to recovery is a top priority. This means staying connected is paramount. Addiction rehab alumni marketing isn’t just about the treatment center—it’s also about forging a meaningful, ongoing relationship with the patients who come through your doors.
1. Building a Community
Social media is one of the most impactful digital marketing tools available, and the online world is how millions of people across the globe forge community. Studies show that positive social support correlates to long-term abstinence rates from addictive behaviors.1 Treatment centers can engage alumni by drawing them into a supportive community, which in turn strengthens your ability to connect with prospective patients.
So how exactly can social media provide meaningful resources and opportunities to interact with alumni? Just consider the various ways social media can help you promote activities and bond with graduates. You can:
- Spotlight alumni who are doing well
- Announce and promote upcoming alumni events
- Publicize new blog posts
- Offer recovery resources from your treatment center or other related websites
You have the opportunity to create a social media presence that makes your alumni feel like a valued part of your community. So post relevant information your alumni might turn to if they need help, whether for themselves or for a friend.
2. Creating Valuable Content
People return to the sites they benefit from most. Creating a meaningful community space is a highly effective way to improve your social media presence. This information fills a knowledge gap and benefits your treatment center. Similarly, if you’re putting out content your alumni actually need, they’ll continue to return to your site.
So what does quality drug rehab alumni marketing content look like? What information do your alumni need? Just 5-10% of Americans struggle with substance use disorder, so your alumni might need information for themselves as well as help explaining their challenges to concerned loved ones.2 You might consider posts that explore:
- What to expect when a loved one goes through addiction treatment
- How to tell if you or a loved one might have a substance use disorder
- Reader-friendly reviews of scientific research or therapies in your program
- Advice for transitioning out of residential treatment
These are important topics your prospective patients are wondering about. Hire a quality writer to help you provide useful information, and you’re far more likely to see traffic increase on your site. Provide content your alumni need to know, and your digital marketing gets a whole lot easier!
3. Stay Engaged
Direct contact with alumni is a great way to keep them involved. Yes, we’re talking about email! A newsletter will keep your alumni informed of your addiction treatment center’s activities, blog postings, and events.
If your alumni consent, keeping a dedicated list of their email addresses so you can reach out to them directly is a great idea. Make sure you’re offering something of value, whether that’s information, events, or direct asks for them to share their experiences. An occasional email encouraging your alumni to keep in touch isn’t going to cut it! Asking an alum to share their success story can also boost their self-esteem, and we know that self-esteem is a key factor in relapse prevention.3
When your alumni truly feel they have your support, they’re less likely to relapse and more likely to refer friends, loved ones, and acquaintances to your center. Your email newsletters can function as that gentle check-in from a friend that sometimes gets people back on the right path.
Long-Term Outlook
When you show your alumni you care about them, you improve their chances at long-term sobriety. You empower them to show up as leaders and demonstrate that the support system that helped them in a moment of crisis is still there over the months and years after treatment. Drug rehab alumni marketing is about laying the long-term foundation that makes real recovery possible.
Want to learn more about how you can market to your addiction treatment center alumni more effectively? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Contact us today at 888.307.7304 to schedule a discovery call and discuss how our behavioral healthcare digital marketing experts can help you improve your drug rehab alumni marketing strategy.
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