Data-Driven, Human-Focused: The Future of Behavioral Health Marketing with Matthew Fung-a-Fat

Welcome to an in-depth conversation with Matthew Fung-A-Fat, digital marketing leader at Acadia Healthcare. In this episode, we dive into the world of behavioral health marketing, exploring how data and analytics can drive better outcomes, ethical marketing practices, and the human side behind every click and conversion. Whether you’re running a local IOP or a national network, you’ll find actionable insights on metrics, experimentation, and the future of data-driven healthcare marketing.

Explore mental health and addiction treatment options: https://recovery.com/

Learn more about Acadia Healthcare: https://www.acadiahealthcare.com/

Connect with Matthew on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-fungafat


Key Topics Covered:

• The importance of data in behavioral health marketing
• Which marketing metrics matter most (and which are overrated)
• Understanding the full marketing funnel: from website visits to admissions
• Qualitative vs. quantitative data: why both matter
• The role of experimentation and A/B testing in healthcare marketing
• Ethical data practices and privacy in healthcare
• Overcoming challenges with tracking, attribution, and fragmented platforms
• How to keep marketing human-centered and empathetic
• Building a useful data infrastructure for treatment centers
• The future of behavioral health marketing: AI, personalization, and beyond

Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction: Why data matters in behavioral health marketing
0:48 – Meet Matthew Fung-A-Fat & his approach to ethical, outcome-driven marketing
2:00 – Which metrics matter most? Funnel metrics, admissions, and outcomes
3:30 – Qualitative data: scoring calls, understanding lead quality
5:00 – How Acadia tracks and rates calls, and the challenges of attribution
7:00 – Key website metrics: unique visitors, conversion rates, dwell time
9:00 – Troubleshooting website performance: SEO, engagement, and clinical questionnaires
11:00 – What’s a “good” dwell time? Segmenting by service line and user intent
14:00 – Designing and running marketing experiments in healthcare
17:00 – A/B testing in action: button language, clarity, and conversion
20:00 – Learning from data: when metrics mislead and how to course-correct
23:00 – Keeping marketing human: empathy, testimonials, and voice of customer
27:00 – Privacy, cookies, and ethical tracking in healthcare
30:00 – Building a data infrastructure: spreadsheets, CRMs, and analytics tools
34:00 – The future: AI, personalization, and smarter campaigns
36:00 – Where to learn more about Matthew and Acadia Healthcare
37:00 – Final thoughts: Better marketing, better outcomes