By now, I’m sure you have heard about the recent changes that Google implemented into their PPC guidelines. There is new information coming out every day, but regardless, PPC is no longer an option for many treatment centers.
Because of this, we are expecting a huge influx on marketing budgets to be spent on Facebook ads. In order for a treatment facility to stay in business, it needs to market their services to people who need help the most. It is only natural that we will see this budget be transferred from Google to Facebook, but it may not be that easy.
What makes Google so effective for treatment marketing is that there is intent behind the search. If someone searches for a “drug rehab” we know what they are looking for. Subsequently, the conversion rates on that traffic are higher than traffic that is brought in through Facebook.
However, it is still possible for treatment centers to bring in new clients through Facebook. In fact, all forms of social media marketing can be effective for treatment centers. It will take some investment, some upfront costs and some patience, but here are the best methods to do so.
Step 1 – Specify Your Audience as Much as Possible
The best thing about advertising on Facebook is that they know EVERYTHING about you. That data can be very valuable to treatment marketers. (I know I feel uneasy about it too).
The mistake people make is that they build a generic ad and let it run until they either spend all their money or get frustrated by lack of results. Here is the exact process we use…
- Start with a target demographic. We want to narrow our ad sets down to location. Which states are you looking to target? Start with three states.
- Next, build 5 ads per ad set. Each ad should have a different picture, different copy and a slightly different message.
- Target your interests. You could start with something as simple as “sobriety” or you could get creative with it. For example, we have even targeted people who like “Miller Lite.” It was pretty effective.
Step 2 – Optimize Your Ads
After you run your three different ad sets, you need to constantly be trimming the weeds. Within your ad sets, which of them are performing best? Why do you think that is? Remove the ads that are under-performing and come up with slight variations of the ads that are performing well.
With advertising, it is very difficult to get it right on the first try. If you do, try not to congratulate yourself too much. It is probably beginners luck. 
Over the course of weeks and months, you should start to see your ad sets really converting. On that note, let’s make sure we talk about the importance of measuring conversions.
We use a system called Dialogtech. All of our tracking systems are very sophisticated and for good reason. However, don’t let that intimidate you. All you have to do is designate a certain phone number to a landing page (more on that later).
That way you know that every time that particular phone number rang, it was a lead that came from your Facebook advertising campaign.
Step 3 – Be Sure to Send Facebook Traffic to a Dedicated Landing Page
Granted, you probably want to have this step finished before you even build your ads. But within the actual conversion funnel, this is the last stop your users and potential clients will get to before they either make the decision to call or not to call.
Building the perfect landing page is a real skill and an art form. You have to understand design, conversion, directional cues, psychology and try to put yourself in the mind state of the person you are trying to admit as a client.
This is all very important because without the perfect landing page you will burn through cash.
No matter how great your ads are performing, none of it will matter unless you are converting that traffic into phone calls and admissions. That is the point, isn’t it? Do not underestimate the power of your landing page.
And please, please, under no circumstances, send traffic to your homepage. It can be tempting, But it is lazy, amateur and does not provide the best results.
Finally – A Run Down of How to Measure Effectiveness
I have seen this happen many times.
Facebook has very detailed analytics, but they also give you numbers that make it seem like your ad is performing well when it isn’t. Here are the real metrics to pay attention to.
- Cost per click (CPC) – How much money are you spending each time someone clicks on your ad and is sent to your landing page?
- Cost per lead (CPL) – Divide the amount of money you spend by the number of phone calls you got from the Facebook campaign over a given time frame. That is how much money you pay to get a phone call.
- Cost per admission (CPA) – How many advertising dollars do you have to spend to get 1 admit?
That’s it. Obviously, we can get more sophisticated than that, but don’t let silly stats like reach or rank get in your head. Your ad is either converting or it isn’t. We want to be sure to focus on what really matters.
Getting Started
We have seen how powerful of a tool Facebook can be. Admittedly, turning Facebook traffic into clients does not have the same conversion rate as say search engine optimization or PPC. But, I expect to see this strategy become an integral part of the treatment industry over the next few years.
We will learn how to better build recovery communities, foundations, and groups that can act as both a resource guide and a marketing tool. Ultimately, I feel that Facebook is going to be a strong marketing tool for treatment centers and behavioral health organizations in different verticals as well.
