The folly of employing so-called “black hat” tactics in
online marketing was a major discussion point during a panel I moderated at the
recent National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers’ annual conference
in Charlotte. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, I like the concise definition
Jason Wurz of the marketing firm Evaero shared in a recent blog post: "Performing any activity with the sole intent of boosting your website’s search engine rankings." Jason points out that although boosting search rankings certainly is a goal for many marketers, many tactics used to do this are ethically questionable and ultimately counterproductive to the goal of increased search visibility.
Organizations may use black hat tactics to confuse consumers and families on where they are located, what services they provide, what organization they actually are, and ultimately to try to gain an admission by misleading families in crisis. One of the panelists, Ramona Cruz-Peters of Austin Recovery, shared how a competitor used her facility’s name to its own benefit, and Google is cracking down on such tactics.
Certainly the field has unscrupulous marketers who employ
black hat tactics to their own gain, but I also suspect that many might not
realize they are engaging in these practices. After all, before the NAATP panel
an audience member asked us to define a hash tag. The level of marketing sophistication
in the addiction treatment field is not on par with other industries, and
well-intentioned executives may employ black-hat tactics or hire firms that
utilize them without recognizing the error of their ways.
With all of this in mind, I would recommend marketers invest
in strong online marketing support. Search engine optimization, search engine
marketing, and other online strategies—including avoiding and combating the
ever-evolving threat of black hat tactics—requires constant vigilance as, after
all, Internet search terms and rankings can literally change at the speed of
light. During the past few years, firms devoted to ethical practices in
addiction treatment Internet marketing have emerged, and they are providing
much-needed education to marketers and executives of all stripes.
The Internet is vital to treatment centers' financial success. With any large revenue source, the temptation to game the system certainly attracts some. A field devoted to helping others can do better than relying on black hat tactics to be successful, and ongoing dialogue on this topic will benefit all.
