When a new patient comes to your door, they’re probably at or very near rock bottom. Up until the point you meet them for the first time, they’ve made many mistakes and are caught in the downward spiral of addiction. As a result, they come to you broken, scared, and sometimes wholly alone.

They are very often in a state of complete desperation. And, unfortunately, there are centers without scruples that use this helplessness to their advantage. They target vulnerable prospective patients and their families by promising the world in exchange for exorbitant amounts of money. In practice, they provide little of what they promise, something these patients and their families find out too late.

Addiction treatment centers like this have no transparency or compassion for their patients and are only interested in benefiting off their patients instead of treating them. But your center isn’t like that. You come through for your patients, and care about their recovery.

Patients deserve to know what they’re getting into when they start their treatment journey. For most, healing from their addictions is a life-or-death proposition, which is why transparent advertising is so crucial.

Marketing transparently requires complete and total honesty in the public portrayal of your addiction treatment center. Transparent addiction treatment advertising includes how you depict your center on your website, social media pages, and all other digital spaces. Marketing with transparency sets you apart from your competitors for all the right reasons. But to do market both transparently and effectively, you have to know how.

Make Treatment Information Accessible

Most prospective patients begin their search for an addiction treatment center on Google. When they navigate to your page, they should have access to all the materials they need to weigh their options. A beautifully designed site with photos and videos is great, but transparency is about substance.

While we’re not suggesting exposing proprietary aspects of your treatment approach, you can put the shareable details about your treatment programs in an easy-to-find spot on your website. Prospective patients in need of your services should be able to identify what types of treatment you provide, the demands and expectations of each treatment program, the staff assigned to each program, and even the cost.¹

Providing this information up front demonstrates to prospective patients and their loved ones that you’re motivated by finding the right treatment path for them—not just charging for services for the sake of charging.

Set Realistic Expectations

Setting expectations is fundamental in addiction treatment. Recovery is a long process, and families that have been through the process multiple times know that. They are likely savvy enough to reject outlandish claims made by less ethical centers. Those just starting their recovery journey will learn quickly that there are no quick fixes in addiction treatment. Failing to present your outcomes truthfully hurts your reputation, damages the public’s perception of addiction treatment, and harms the patient’s relationship with their recovery. We know you want to encourage your patients to inspire change—and you will, if the information you provide about your treatment center’s offerings is realistic.

Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Instead, be honest about your addiction treatment center, the amenities, staff, and even your success rate. Setting clear, achievable expectations from the start boosts your transparency and increases patients’ trust in you. And trust is the foundation of every success story.

Tell Authentic Stories

Hopefully, you’re already using testimonials in your marketing. People love a good story. More than 50% of people think video testimonials are helpful, and another 37% believe video testimonials offer more accurate insights into a business or organization than their own advertising.²

When you film testimonials, be selective about the stories you tell and cautious about how you tell them. Make sure they accurately represent every aspect of the recovery journey that your treatment center supports. Every story should feature real photos and videos of the actual people involved—never stock photos!

If you’re transparent in your marketing, you shouldn’t be using stock photos at all. Prospective patients expect to see real pictures of actual patients and clinicians in your real center. Stock photos have no place on your website, social media, or other visual marketing. Period.

Transparency in marketing your addiction treatment center is possible. Contact Dreamscape today at 877.958.9180 to learn more.

 

For a list of references, please contact us.