Author: Hoopless

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard business owners say they think they need to create incentives in order to get reviews. But here’s the thing: you really don’t need to incentivize reviews. There’s a lesson in psychology that makes one simple method WAY more effective… and it may even reduce negatives reviews and create repeat customers.

The Ben Franklin Effect: A Counterintuitive Approach to Reviews

There’s something in psychology called the Ben Franklin Effect. It suggests that people like you more when you ask them for a favor. It’s believed to be caused by cognitive dissonance. (People like to be helpful, but they can’t help someone they don’t like!)

Therefore, to rationalize helping you, they tend to adjust their perception of you.

Ben Franklin famously used the tactic with a bitter rival who later became a friend. Over a century later, multiple university studies confirmed the phenomenon.

Now I’m not suggesting this simply to manipulate your customers! I’m sharing this because fear of negative reviews is the top reason clients either don’t ask for reviews, or are just way too picky. The reality is that, ironically, asking customers for reviews could actually prevent negatives reviews – and may even help create repeat customers, too!

I recently shared about this on LinkedIn, and the concept was also discussed on the Whitespark Local Update Podcast:

The Myth of “Poking the Bear”

“I don’t want to encourage the unhappy ones!” 😨

I hear this all the time. Business owners are terrified that asking for reviews will somehow unleash a flood of negativity.

In all my years of doing this with countless clients, I have NEVER seen an uptick in negative reviews when you start asking every customer.

Here’s the truth: People who are going to leave a bad review will do it anyway. Asking them isn’t what will push them over the edge. In fact, it just might do the opposite.

Real Results: A Case Study

We have a current client who started asking every single customer over SMS. In a year, they went from around 180 reviews with a 4.4 rating to nearly 400 reviews with a 4.8 rating.

Their rate of negative reviews has also declined: they have had just ONE 1-star review in the past year, texting hundreds of customers… compared to 6 in the prior year (with some 2-3 star reviews, too).

Let that sink in. More asks = better ratings, not worse.

The Hidden Benefit: More Repeat Customers

Here’s something most business owners don’t realize: asking for a review doesn’t just get you reviews… it could also gets you repeat customers, another benefit emphasized by Darren Shaw on LinkedIn

When a customer does you a favor by leaving a review, the Ben Franklin Effect kicks in again. They’ve now invested time and effort into your business. They’ve publicly endorsed you. And psychologically, they need to justify that investment.

The result? They’re more likely to come back.

Think about it: once someone has told the world how great your business is, they’re not going to turn around and go to your competitor. That would create cognitive dissonance. Instead, they double down on their decision and become more loyal to you.

I’ve seen this play out over and over. Customers who leave reviews tend to have higher lifetime values. They come back more often, spend more money, and refer more people. The simple act of asking for a review strengthens the relationship, not just the review count. I suspect this may also be because customers probably feel more personally addressed, and that the business truly does care about their experience.

So you’re not just building social proof with reviews. You’re building customer loyalty at the same time!

The Formula That Works

👉 Here’s what I see consistently works best:

1. Use SMS for the best success rate

Email gets ignored. SMS gets read. It’s that simple.

2. Ask personally or with the owner/staff’s name in the text

Generic automated messages feel like spam. Personal messages feel like… well, a personal request.

3. Ask for a FAVOR (this is important)

This is where the Ben Franklin Effect comes in. Don’t just tell people where/how to leave a review. Specifically acknowledge that the review only helps you, so you are asking the customer bluntly to help you out.

4. Ask every customer

Consistency is key. No cherry-picking. No second-guessing. Just ask.

The Text Template That Actually Works

Here’s the text template that works best for me:

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“Hi [Client_Name], this is [Owner_Name], owner of [Business]. Just wanted to send a personal thank you! Would you do me a small favor and leave a review? {{Google_Review_URL}}”

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That’s it. Simple, personal, and effective.

Take Action Today

So give it a shot. It’s one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to grow your business.

Stop overthinking it. Stop worrying about the negative reviews that probably won’t come. Start asking every customer, and watch your ratings climb!

Digital Marketing Tips For Rehab Centers

Let’s cut through the noise: If your treatment center isn’t focusing on Google Business Profile – you’re leaving admissions on the table. In fact, it’s not uncommon for over 50% of addiction treatment admissions to come from Google Maps.

Local SEO isn’t a box to check: it’s your most powerful growth engine. I’ve seen facilities double calls just by shifting their SEO strategy from statewide to hyperlocal. And I’ve also seen centers with solid call numbers make the wrong strategy pivots because they didn’t have the right attribution or tracking in place

(do you know how many admissions come from Google Maps vs your website?)

Well, this guide is built for you – and treatment centers that are serious about growing admissions and doing it the right way. We all know Google Ads isn’t sustainable in this space (it’s insanely expensive). Apply some of the tips below and you’ll be able to generate more drug rehab leads with far lower spend!

Rather listen instead? You can hear all of the following tips and more on Sam’s interview on the Recovery Reach Podcast:

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Why Most Treatment Center SEO Strategies Miss the Mark

It’s common for addiction treatment centers to want to rank statewide—or even nationally. After all, people travel for care, right?

Yes, but here’s the truth:

Local intent search = Map Pack first.
And if you’re not in the Map Pack, you’re not the first (or second, or third) thing people see.

If someone in Columbus searches for “medical detox near me”, they’re going to see three local results in a map. Even if your facility ranks #1 organically, it’s still showing up below those three. On mobile, that means you’re off the screen—and out of sight means out of mind.

The Pitfall of “Going Statewide”

Focusing too broadly means:

• You lose local relevance
  
• You miss the Map Pack
  
• You don’t win statewide or locally
  

When I was the digital marketing director for a multi-location facility in Ohio, we shifted from statewide to city-first. The result? 12–15% year-over-year growth in call volume without additional spend.

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The 3 Google Local SEO Ranking Factors

Google has three core ranking factors for local search. Understanding these isn’t optional—it’s critical.

1. Distance

You can’t fake this. Google prioritizes proximity. If your facility is in West LA, you won’t show up in the Map Pack for East LA unless you do some serious lifting (or move).

2. Relevance

This is all about your content. If you want to rank for “Residential Rehab in Los Angeles”, you need a page that says exactly that. “Residential Treatment” alone won’t cut it.

Quick Tip: Put your city in the H1s, title tags, and slugs.
“Medical Detox”–> “Medical Detox Phoenix”
“IOP” –> “IOP Program Los Angeles”

3. Prominence

This is your authority. It’s built from:

• Reviews (especially on Google)
  
• Branded searches
  
• Driving directions requests
  
• Media mentions
  
• Backlinks
  
• Social presence
  

Google tracks how many people are engaging with your brand—even before they click your website. So yes, even PR and brand awareness campaigns can help in Local SEO.

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Want to Rank in the Map Pack? Start Here

These aren’t fluff. These are battle-tested strategies we implement at Hoopless to help our treatment center clients dominate their local markets:

✅ Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

• Fill out every field (yes, even the ones buried under “Info” and “Services”)
  
• Use at least 5 categories, up to 10 if relevant
  
  
  Examples: Addiction Treatment Center, Alcoholism Treatment Program, Mental Health Service, Psychiatric Hospital, Counselor, Psychiatrist, Psychologist
  
  
• Add all relevant services—especially the ones Google auto-suggests in GBP
  
• Use a dedicated tracking number (see below)
  
• Add images, description, and hours
  
• Embed driving directions on your website for each location
  

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Advanced Tip: Use Service Area Pages (The Right Way)

Want to rank just outside your physical location? Build dedicated location pages for nearby neighborhoods or towns. But don’t pretend you’re located there (Google hates that, and so do users).

Example:
Page Title: “Addiction Treatment near Smithfield”
Body Copy: “Located just 15 minutes south of Smithfield…”
[Embed Google Maps Driving directions!]

Be honest. Be specific. Use map embeds and driving directions.

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Use Grid Rank Tracking to See the Real Picture

If you’re searching on Google from your treatment center and see your facility in the Map Pack: that doesn’t really mean anything. Because distance is a factor, you’re pretty much always going to rank first for all sorts of keywords from your facility. But two blocks away? That might be a completely different story.

Tools like Local Falcon or Localo show you where you rank across different parts of your city—not just a single search result.

You might be #1 in South Phoenix, but #15 in North Phoenix. That means half your market can’t even see you.

These grid scans give you tactical insight into where to double down or where to build location pages.

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Attribution: Don’t Guess Where Your Leads Are Coming From

This is where most treatment centers—and even agencies—get it wrong.

If you’re relying only on Google Analytics or G4 to understand how SEO is performing, you’re missing 60–70% of the picture.

Why?

Because many calls never hit your website.
They come straight from your Google Business Profile.

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How to Fix That: Call Tracking Metrics + Dynamic Number Insertion

If you take one technical thing away from this post, make it this.

✅ Use a unique tracking number for your Google Business Profile

This is the only way to track calls that come directly from the Map Pack.

• Use a number not found anywhere else on your site
  
• It should forward to your main line
  
• Track it as a separate source in your call tracking platform
  

✅ Add UTM parameters to your GBP website link

This powers dynamic number insertion (DNI) when someone clicks from GBP and lands on your site.

Example:

https://yourtreatmentcenter.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb

It also will let you track keyword click and impressions in Google Search Console! Just filter by pages and select the URL that shows the UTM parameter. Now you can differentiate homepage traffic from Google Maps traffic. 

✅ Use DNI in Call Tracking Metrics (CTM) or CallRail

When someone lands on your site with the UTM above, you can swap the phone number on the page to match the source with DNI.

This tells you:

• They found you through local search
  
• They clicked your GBP link
  
• They called after reviewing your website
  

You now know exactly what part of your SEO strategy drove the call.

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

At Hoopless, we don’t just “do SEO.” We track:

• Map Pack presence across your service area
  
• Call volume by source (Map Pack vs. website)
  
• Keyword performance by location
  
• Click-to-call rate
  
• Call quality and lead outcomes
  

If you’re not measuring what matters, you’re probably overvaluing vanity metrics like traffic and rankings—while undervaluing the stuff that’s actually driving revenue.

Step Up Your Treatment Center’s Marketing With Local SEO

Local SEO for treatment centers isn’t about traffic. It’s about calls, admissions, and impact.

If you’ve got a physical location and a solid program, you’re already halfway there. Now it’s time to win the Map Pack (and clients will follow).

Want help implementing all of this?
We build and manage local SEO campaigns specifically for behavioral health and treatment centers. From building beautifully on-brand websites to fully managed SEO and Google Ads campaigns (yes, we help handle LegitScript), you can get a fractional full-service digital marketing department without the added employee overhead.

Reach out today to book a free discovery call.