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If you’re promoting a drug treatment facility, your marketing copy should include:
Marketing an addiction treatment center or drug rehab facility is no easy feat. Unlike selling a product like beautiful dress, you can’t simply describe its color and fabric. Explaining what happens in treatment is a lot more complex, not to mention how sensitive you must be in writing the subject matter.
The person you’re targeting is likely a parent, spouse, sibling or other close family member making a heart-wrenching decision about how best to care for a person with an addiction. That family member wants to make the right decision, one that will give them peace of mind, knowing their loved one is in a good place where they’re getting the treatment they so desperately need.
The services your addiction treatment facility offer are widely needed. The numbers are clear.
Drug overdose deaths hit an all-time record of 93,000 in 2020, rising by almost 30% in the United States, according to the CDC.
“Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine also increased in 2020 compared to 2019. Cocaine deaths also increased in 2020, as did deaths from natural and semi-synthetic opioids (such as prescription pain medication),” the NCHS said in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic created a devastating collision of health crises in America,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“We are seeing an increase in drug consumption, difficulty in accessing life-saving treatments for substance use disorders, and a tragic rise in overdose deaths,” Volkow said.
As a drug treatment and addiction recovery facility, you have an opportunity to save and greatly improve lives. Your work is important. Now you just need to get the word out about your services.
Because of the sensitive nature of the addiction recovery subject, the marketing materials for your treatment facility – whether they’re a website, brochure or flyer – must strike the right tone. They must reveal your expertise and proven success in the field while showing compassion and understanding.
As a rehab copywriter, every word of your marketing materials must be carefully chosen. The written content should instill confidence in the reader that your facility is the right choice. In your copy you want to clearly communicate the following:
With a topic as sensitive as addiction recovery, your prospect is likely to do online research. If your treatment facility is not found online, you’re missing many prospects who are, however, likely finding plenty of your competitors. A professional website is a necessity if you’re to compete successfully.
When deciding what content to include, you want to provide detailed information that answers the questions prospects likely have in mind.
Your rehab copywriting should begin by explaining the addiction recovery treatment options you offer. Figure out which of the categories below define your services so that the reader can determine if your facility is a good fit for their needs.
Inpatient Treatment – Typically for short stays of under 30 days, inpatient treatment involves an intense medication, therapy and counseling schedule.
Residential Treatment – This holistic treatment option is for long-term stays of 2-4 months and seek to change the lifestyle of an addict. These programs often use peer counselors versus medical staff and promote a sense of community between the patients.
Detox – The average length of stay for detox is 227 days, according to The Recovery Village. Medications help ease the transition from using and are often combined with psychosocial treatments.
Outpatient Drug-free Programs – Typically lasting an average of 164 days, these programs employ counseling versus medication to help fight addiction. Patients usually continue to live in their homes.
Talk about your treatment approach and how it aligns with patient objectives. “In addition to stopping drug abuse, the goal of treatment is to return people to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and community,” according to The National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Research that tracks individuals in treatment over extended periods, reveals that most people who get into and remain in treatment stop using drugs, decrease their criminal activity, and improve their occupational, social, and psychological functioning. You can be sure that these are among the objectives of your prospect seeking help, so communicate your program’s effectiveness along these lines.
As you write the copy, you want to strive to meet the following objectives:
When you successfully create compelling web copy, it will resonate with family members choosing between drug rehab facilities for their loved one.
Family members need to feel confident your facility is the right treatment option for their loved one.
If writing content for your own website isn’t something you feel comfortable doing or you recognize that your time is best spent elsewhere, consider working with a professional copywriter.
An experienced website copywriter who knows what addiction treatment and drug and alcohol rehab facilities are and understands the concerns of your clients can create your website copy. She can highlight those special qualities that make your treatment center or drug addiction therapies the right choice. And she can accelerate your facility’s success in the market.
A professional copywriter can help draw attention to your drug treatment facility’s best qualities.
Whether you’re writing the copy for your website by yourself or hiring a drug addiction copywriter, be authentic in your messaging. Your copy should explain in real terms why your facility or services for adults with substance abuse problems are excellent. Use minimal clinical terminology and assume a friendly tone. Remember, you’re there to provide guidance.
Questions can often be a good way to start, such as “Does your loved one need help?” and, “Are you concerned about a family member with an addiction?”
Don’t be tempted to use fear-based marketing; it’s offensive and unnecessary. Instead focus on benefits such as quality of care, experienced staff and long-term success rates.
When the copy on your website is well-written, as well as optimized for search engines so it ranks high on Google, it should generate inquiries for your facility. However, you don’t have to rely solely on your website for lead generation.
Consider also writing other marketing tools to build your brand, gain trust and increase your exposure to prospects. Here are some examples:
In an article on Inc.com, Anna Johansson recommends investing in multiple marketing strategies and closely tracking results to find out which ones work best for your addiction recovery facility. “Only with measurable data points will you be able to determine which tactics earn you the highest ROI, and help you avoid the pitfalls of addiction recovery marketing.”
As an experienced professional working in the addiction rehab industry, you know the expertise of your staff is critical to the quality of care at your facility.
Similarly, a rehab copywriter has expertise that can help you maximize the effectiveness of your marketing materials and extend your reach to people in your community who need the important services you provide.
A professional writer can help you maximize the effectiveness of your treatment center’s marketing materials.
Contact a copywriter for assistance in promoting any of the following businesses:
See what a difference working with a professional substance abuse copywriter makes.
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