CASE STUDY
From Stuck to Scalable: How The Lakes Reclaimed Control and Drove Real Growth
The Lakes Treatment Center is a lakeside drug and alcohol addiction treatment center located on the beautiful Lake Tulloch, Northern California.
SEO
Ads
Design
Content
The Results
Top 3 Rankings Growth
Organic Traffic Growth
ROAS
Qualified Leads Increase
THE PROBLEM
Where The Lakes Was Before the Turnaround
Before partnering with 12 Steps Marketing, The Lakes Treatment Center faced a series of marketing and operational setbacks that hindered its ability to reach the families and patients who needed its help most.
For years, The Lakes had been tied to a large national digital marketing agency that promised results but delivered little more than empty reports and excuses. Their website was in shambles—slow, outdated, and built on code they didn’t even own. Every attempt to make updates or improvements turned into a bureaucratic nightmare. The agency controlled the design, hosting, and analytics, leaving The Lakes completely dependent and powerless to make changes.
Despite paying premium retainers, calls weren’t coming in, and admissions remained inconsistent. The center’s digital presence failed to reflect the warmth, trust, and professionalism that defined their clinical care. They were bound by a multi-year legal contract with no clear way out, forced to watch their brand and visibility deteriorate while competitors continued to expand.
What The Lakes truly needed was a transparent, results-driven marketing partner—one that could rebuild their digital foundation from the ground up, restore control of their online assets, and finally make the phone ring again with qualified leads ready for recovery.
Trapped in a One-Sided Contract - The Lakes was locked into a long-term contract with a large digital agency that over-promised and under-delivered, leaving them no control or exit options.
Outdated, Broken Website - Their old website was slow, poorly designed, and built on proprietary code they didn’t own — making every change costly and complicated.
No Transparency or Accountability - Marketing reports were vague and performance metrics unclear. The Lakes had no visibility into where their budget was going or how it impacted admissions.
Declining Leads and Admissions - Despite years of marketing spend, call volume remained inconsistent, website traffic flatlined, and new patient admissions struggled to keep pace.
THE TURNAROUND
Rebuilding The Lakes’ Brand and Marketing From the Ground Up
After partnering with 12 Steps Marketing, The Lakes Treatment Center experienced a complete marketing turnaround. What began as a struggling partnership with a large, unresponsive agency became a story of renewed control, clarity, and measurable growth. 12 Steps Marketing rebuilt The Lakes’ entire digital foundation — from creating a fully owned, patient-first website to implementing transparent reporting and analytics that revealed what truly drove results. With a clear, data-backed strategy, The Lakes gained the freedom to make informed marketing decisions without hidden fees or restrictive contracts.
Their new online presence now reflects the warmth, trust, and professionalism that define their care. Through multi-channel campaigns spanning SEO, paid search, and local optimization, The Lakes began consistently reaching more families seeking help — and converting that visibility into admissions.
Within months, they saw significant growth in qualified leads, a steady rise in call volume, and a measurable lift in admissions. Beyond numbers, The Lakes regained something invaluable — confidence in their marketing and ownership of their brand.
What was once a broken system now operates as a sustainable, growth-driven engine — helping The Lakes continue its mission: guiding people toward lasting recovery.
12 Steps Marketing helped The Lakes regain control of all digital assets — domain, website, hosting, and analytics. We eliminated agency lock-ins, transferred ownership, and set up transparent systems where The Lakes could access everything at any time. Now, they finally own their marketing — and their future.
12 Steps Marketing completely rebuilt The Lakes website with a modern, mobile-first, patient-centered design. Every page was optimized for conversion, accessibility, and emotional connection. The result was a beautiful, fast-loading website that not only reflected the heart of The Lakes but also turned visitors into qualified leads.
12 Steps Marketing introduced end-to-end tracking and analytics, providing full transparency on what’s working and what’s not. From call tracking to lead attribution, The Lakes could finally see exactly how each dollar spent was driving results — creating trust, clarity, and accountability.
By blending SEO, paid search, local optimization, and patient-focused content, we built a marketing engine that consistently drives calls and admissions. Within months, The Lakes saw measurable growth in qualified leads, steady call volume, and restored confidence in their marketing investment.
THE RESULTS
The Results That Spoke Louder Than Promises
Top 3 State Level Rankings Growth
Organic Traffic Growth
Return on Ad Spend
Qualified Leads Increase
Hear From The Client
Coming Soon…
THE DESIGN
When a Rehab Center Reclaims Control, Real Growth Begins
At 12 Steps Marketing, we helped The Lakes Treatment Center turn years of frustration into measurable success. After being trapped with a large agency that controlled their website, withheld transparency, and delivered poor results, The Lakes needed a complete digital rebuild — one centered around patients, trust, and ownership.
We started from scratch, designing a patient-first website that finally reflected The Lakes’ compassion and credibility. Every detail — from page structure to messaging — was crafted to guide families toward action and help more people find hope in recovery. With transparent reporting, full asset ownership, and a data-driven marketing strategy, The Lakes regained control of their online presence and began generating qualified calls and steady admissions.
At 12 Steps Marketing, we don’t just design websites — we build growth engines that empower treatment centers to own their brand, attract the right patients, and thrive independently.
