How VaynerMedia’s 4Ds Helped a Mission Driven Company Achieve More Impact

Eric Spofford and Granite Recovery Centers have a real story. They are one of the largest, high quality, affordable, addiction treatment organizations in the northeast operating numerous locations in New Hampshire, comprised of over 200 employees. Eric himself, the founder of GRC and alumnus of our 4Ds program, is a recovering addict, on a life mission to help those struggling with addiction. We were very fortunate to have him attend our one-day workshop and wow am I blown away by how quickly he’s implemented the tactics he was taught and what it has done to for his company’s general marketing presence in such a short period of time.

For starters, three months before Eric arrived, they weren’t even thinking about producing content for social media! Four weeks after attending our program they have hundreds of thousands of combined video views and thousands of followers on their Facebook page. 1 day after attending VaynerMedia’s 4Ds, Granite Recovery Centers posted a video on their Facebook page that received 18,000 views. Obviously, as a physical facility, you can only reach so many people, but what Eric has now realized is that through a smart digital strategy, his potential impact and reach has grown dramatically.

Knowing what has happened since Eric attended our 4Ds workshop, I had a member of my team follow up with Eric to get his full POV on the experience and the impact of attending the 4Ds. Here is what he had to say:

How did you first learn about the 4Ds?

By the time I actually attended the 4Ds, I had only known who Gary Vaynerchuk was for 3 months. I found his content on YouTube and immediately resonated with what he had to say. I’m also a serial entrepreneur, so listening to Gary immediately validated that we were speaking the same language. You don’t find a lot of us. So when I found his content, I felt the connection. I dove right in and eventually learned about the Deep Dive that VaynerMedia offers.

What Has Impacted You The Most About the 4Ds?

The biggest takeaway was the way to think about and approach content. At Granite Recovery Centers, we are all about providing the best product, service, and treatment to help people get better and everything else is secondary.

But when you are in this line of work, you realize that every individual who comes in has an unbelievable personal story that can potentially be shared and have profound impact on the lives of others going through similar struggles. Because of the power of social media, we’re actually able to produce these videos that can then impact thousands of people who are struggling with the same thing. Not only will it help create opportunities for our business but it will amplify our mission to impact more lives and that’s something that can’t be ignored.

What Was The Most Meaningful Session at the 4Ds?

The aspect I’m most excited about is how language and purpose can help catalyze our mission. Our session with Claude the Chief Heart Officer really put words to what we do. Leading with love, kindness, gratitude and care for every individual we serve and every individual we employee. A powerful mission, spoken correctly, can empower everyone from our facilities staff to our senior management to understand that what we do, changes lives. It literally could be the difference between life or death, broken families, and broken dreams. We take this very seriously and some of the information and language in that session inspired me to communicate in a new way. It’s paramount to our legacy. New Hampshire and the north east is ground zero for the heroin epidemic. In New Hampshire, you’re more likely to die of a heroin overdose than a car accident. It’s the number one leading cause of accidental death. We want to help change that.

What Surprised You About the 4Ds?

I came for the social media strategy and to get a better understanding of marketing, but I really wasn’t prepared for how impactful it was going to be. I don’t know why I just haven’t really thought about producing this content and how it could impact our brand and business in such a significant way. We’ve doubled down with a full-time videographer and editor and it has really worked. We’re now sharing short clips of people telling their story as well as videos from our staff sharing lessons on how to get better. I have seen the comments on Facebook. People are being impacted by what we create and we’ve only just begun.

Would You Recommend the 4Ds?

YES. I remember having a conversation with my national head of marketing who is also my best friend and we talked about how $10,000 was a lot for a day. But I really feel the whole 4Ds experience was like pouring a 5 gallon bucket of gas on a flame. I remember thinking, it’s a lot of dough but if I come back inspired with something new it’ll be worth 100.

I’m telling you right now it’s worth 250.

Ultimately, I want my tombstone to say that “this man fought courageously for a lifetime to help save lives of people that struggled with addiction.” The 4Ds directly ties into that and now I know I have a better blueprint to get there which is practically priceless.

You can check out Eric’s personal page here as he continue to position himself as a voice in the industry and follow along with Granite Recovery Center’s content on Facebook.