The addiction treatment industry has changed drastically in just the last few years. So why are so many businesses still using marketing strategies from the 1950s?
You can jazz it up with peppy acronyms (PPC, OMG!) but essentially, a lot of digital marketing is just a modern variation of the oldest marketing play in the book: outbound marketing, lovingly known within the industry as “pay 'n' spray.”
With outbound marketing, you pay a lot of money to push out your brand to as many people as possible, hoping that your future customers are hidden somewhere in the mix. It’s like a firehose watering your delicate garden of customers.
Billboards and traditional media like radio or TV are the most classic examples of the “pay n spray” technique.
You can get a lot more targeted online, but it’s still imprecise. You have to cross your fingers and hope that you find the right people at the right moment: both when they’re truly ready to engage with your business, and when they’re not distracted by a Facebook notification or a text.
Making matters worse, paid advertising online is expensive. And as many treatment providers have unfortunately learned, your whole operation can get shut down overnight depending on the whims of Google, Facebook, et al.
So what’s the solution?
Over the last few years, more and more companies have been shifting to what’s known as an “inbound” marketing strategy. Inbound marketing is focused on drawing customers TO you like a magnet, instead of pushing yourself out there.
Think of it as attraction rather than promotion. ;)
Inbound marketing uses
- SEO
- website content
- social media campaigns
- email sequences
- and more
to attract prospects at every stage of the funnel, and to nurture them until they become clients – and eventually, raving fans of your business.
With inbound marketing, you own your own marketing, and it only becomes more powerful for you over time. The value of your investment grows, instead of restarting from scratch every month.
Best of all, you’ll get more qualified leads at a fraction of the cost per acquisition that you might see with outbound marketing.
But wait – Are we saying that all outbound marketing is a waste of time and money? Not quite.
Especially as you ramp up your inbound engine, PPC, traditional media, and other forms of outbound marketing can help supplement your strategy to ensure that the stream of leads to your business stays strong.
Above all, the demands of the current marketplace require that businesses have a diverse marketing strategy – one that’s able to quickly adapt to the shifting landscape.
If you’d like to learn more about why the Google Gold Rush is over, and inbound is the next wave, get a copy of our free ebook by filling out the form below.
