Are you searching for a treatment center on the internet? I sincerely hope not if you plan on getting your money’s worth. The other day, on a webinar my coworker attended, he was told that the Addiction Treatment Industry spends more money on Google Adwords and pay-per-click marketing that any other industry in the world. Think about that for a second. What does that mean for you?
It means when you call a number for a treatment center on the internet you are most likely calling into a call center, not the center itself. These call centers either work for a conglomerate of treatment centers owned by a VC (venture capital) firm or are a patient broker, selling these “warm leads” to the highest bidding treatment center.
For example, you can Google “addiction treatment St Augustine” and you will get 5 ads for treatment before you ever see our place. These Ads all advertise for treatment in St Augustine, but you would never be referred to treatment in St Augustine. If you don’t know this is what is really happening, then you can fall prey to the solutions they recommend.
Why is this happening? It’s because there is money in the exploitation of fear and crisis.
I actually had a call with a lead generation company that cold-called me to ask if I wanted to use their services. They promised admissions would come our way, because they had the top spot on Google, and received so many calls on a daily basis. They would either pretend to be us, or they refer the calls to us. I asked them to clarify and this is what I said, “So if I am hearing you right, you are telling me that you can send calls to me based on how much money I bid? So the calls go to the highest bidder?” She replied, “Yes!” as if this is what I was hoping to hear. I said, “We are a 16 bed, intimate, 90 day minimum length of stay recovery center. NO, we are not interested in your services.”
So, to summarize, you are not being directed to the best fit, but rather the richest provider.
How are we, or any other independently, family-owned treatment center supposed to compete on the internet with these huge companies that own 5 to 20 treatment centers and 1500 to 2000 beds to fill on a monthly basis?
I have heard of treatment centers spending $250,000.00 per month on internet marketing alone.
Why am I saying this out loud?
Because you need to know that real places that do real work with real people that produce real results exist. You need to know that in order for your loved one to even begin the healing process, they have to truly connect on a heart level with others and feel valued and accepted. They have to have a safe container of love that envelopes them so that they may share their deepest fears, traumas, hurts, shame and regret. They must have mentors that live the core values of honesty, integrity and service, even though they doubt those people really exist. If these seeds are planted, then they have an opportunity to blossom. But if any part of this is missed, your loved one may have a superficial experience with recovery. And that, sadly, is almost never enough.
If you could fit all that on a Google search, maybe you would find us.
More to come,
Jason Chane – CEO & Owner – The Augustine Recovery Center
