The Value of Video in Addiction Marketing

Since the genesis of the world wide web, digital marketing has been the cornerstone of a successful business. It’s not enough to have a quality product or service to offer: Today, success is hard-won. While what you have to offer may genuinely be better, more effective, or offer greater value than other options, all businesses are essentially vying for the same consumer’s attention.

The current digital marketing landscape is pretty saturated. From a consumer’s perspective, digital ads are impersonal and a nuisance, even when sophisticated algorithms are providing ads based on their web-browsing and purchasing habits. Purchasing ad space through Google is no longer enough. We have to always be looking for new and more effective ways to engage with prospective clientele, especially when you’re in the business of providing addiction treatment. For instance, social media has become an essential marketing tool, but there are many others that should be in your marketing arsenal, including video content.

I’m sure you’re wondering how making videos will help you market your addiction treatment center. Is it really necessary? The short answer is yes, and I’ll tell you why.

WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-YOUTUBE SOCIETY

Ever since the internet caught like wildfire, there have been only a few digital developments that can rival the actual internet in terms of importance. One of those developments is, as we mentioned, social media, which basically originated with MySpace in 2003 and lead to the MySpace era from 2005 to 2008. However, also in 2008, YouTube was created.

Within just a few months, YouTube grew from a small video-sharing website created by a couple PayPal employees to one of the most-trafficked websites in existence. YouTube is second only to Google (who actually owns YouTube) on the Alexa Top 500, which is a list of the most popular websites in the entire world. But if you’re still doubting the dominance of YouTube on a global scale, considering these statistics:

• Every minute, there are 60 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube.
• There are over 4 billion videos watched on YouTube daily.
• YouTube has over 800 million unique visitors each month.
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in a single month than the three major U.S. broadcasting networks have created in 60 years.
• YouTube has more HD content than any other website in existence.
• In 2011, YouTube had over one trillion views, which is about 140 views for every person on the planet.
• Each day, Facebook users consume more than 500 years worth of YouTube content.
• There are 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter every minute.
• There are millions of subscriptions (when users subscribe to a single YouTuber’s videos) each day.
• YouTube mobile and YouTube apps get over 600 million views daily.

Have I squashed your doubt now? Clearly, the advent of YouTube has resulted in a content shift. Instead of ads on websites — which are still important, of course — YouTube has provided us with an opportunity. Rather than marketing your addiction treatment services in what are very obvious advertisements, connect with prospective clients where they live: through video content.

Let’s be clear. We’re not telling you that you need to film commercials or anything like that. Instead, make engaging video content for your target audience. Millions and millions of videos are being watched on YouTube each day by millions of users. Creating video content will allow you to insert yourself and your treatment center into that feeding frenzy and will undoubtedly increase your visibility.

Now that you see the importance of video content, let’s consider some of the most specific benefits.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION IS THE MOST DYNAMIC, ENGAGING AND MEMORABLE

There’s nothing like well-crafted written content to communicate important ideas. After all, you’re reading this article about video content for addiction treatment centers and, hopefully, are realizing that video content is a vast, untapped resource sitting right in front of you. However, there’s a big difference between written content and video content.

Written content is most effective at communicating ideas and information, but it’s difficult to attach branding or the experience of your brand to written content. When someone consumes your written content, they’re more likely to remember the information they read rather than who wrote the information for them. However, when you appeal to your audience in a visual way, you make a more visceral, memorable impression. They’re not reading your disembodied words; instead, they’re actually watching you give them a message.

As well, you can include other types of media in videos. Music, pictures, animations, and text are just a few of the things you can add to your videos to make them more dynamic. If your video consists of you standing, facing the camera point-blank, and speaking in an even tone, you’re going to lose the viewer. If you put more effort into your videos or even just speak with some excitement, it goes a long way to making a much greater impression on your audience.

THE SHAREABILITY FACTOR

Obviously, the reason we market products and services through consumable content is in the hope of incorporating a viewer into our clientele. That’s really what it all boils down to. However, it’s important to think about the various ways that can happen.

You’ve probably heard people mention that there’s one aspect of advertising that’s more effective than all the others. Do you remember what it was? It’s word-of-mouth. On the internet, word-of-mouth refers to what your clients are telling others about your business. Social media has played a big part in this, especially since it’s become such a huge part of our cultural zeitgeist. But there’s another component of online word-of-mouth, and that’s when your audience shares your content with their family and friends. Sharing content published by a business is tantamount to an endorsement and significantly extends your reach. Therefore, you want to make your content as shareable as possible.

This sounds like a tall order. After all, if anyone could make extremely shareable content, wouldn’t everyone be an internet sensation? The fact that we’re not all internet celebrities doesn’t mean that enhancing your content’s shareability factor isn’t something you can learn. It simply requires you to put yourself in the position of your target audience and think about the information that would be most useful or interesting to them.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR VIEWERS

Let’s take a look at some examples. This video about the root cause of addiction comes courtesy of Actualized.org and although it’s longer than it needs to be, it’s a great example of the type of content that appeals to this niche audience. In and of itself, the video is very clean and simple with just enough production and effects to look professional and show that someone has put some actual time and effort into this video. It shows the desire to make connections with the audience and a willingness to invest time in doing so.

Here’s one of our own videos in which Alex teaches Tim “how to not suck at Snapchat”.

At a glance, it may not be clear how the video pertains to the addiction recovery industry. However, Snapchat is a popular social media platform and communication tool that could potentially be the missing piece of your marketing puzzle. The video is ten minutes in length, has simple yet effective production, and is casual. These types of videos make the talented individuals running your company actual people in your audience’s eyes rather than the unseen “suits” who care only about numbers on spreadsheets. In other words, it’s this type of video — the fun and entertaining kind that can also be informative — that helps you to build actual relationships with your audience.

Of course, there are many other approaches that you can take in your video content. For instance, you might choose to provide a video tour of your facility. You might make a video that simply profiles some of your employees so that your viewers see your facility as being a treatment center comprised of personable professionals instead of merely a business name. You might consider starting a vlogging (“video blogging”) series to give a behind-the-scenes look. The options are endless.

When it comes to making video content, there are basically no downsides. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. There’s a huge audience for video content, so go turn this untapped resource into the key to your success.