The idea of reputation management may bring to mind the unwanted task of addressing bad press or messy online reviews. However, reputation marketing is so much more. The idea is to proactively build your reputation through the acquisition of an increasing number of positive reviews. In our digital age, established patients have a massive influence on potential clients through their good or bad online reviews, ratings, recommendations, and social media posts.
Your online reputation is often the single differentiator separating your practice from all of the others in your area. With reputation marketing, your practice will actively monitor what clients are saying and consciously acquire more online reviews, thus giving you a distinct competitive advantage.
1. Consistently provide an amazing customer experience.
Each patient’s contact with your office starts with an initial phone call and goes well beyond their recovery. Ensuring they have a good experience will depend on attention to the littlest details. From start to finish, your office must provide a comfortable atmosphere and outstanding patient care. Your provider(s) will do their part with exceptional results, but your office must do the rest.
2. Train your team about the importance of your practices’ online reputation.
The power of an online reputation is more than just information for the marketing team; your whole staff needs to understand how vital reputation marketing is for building a successful practice. Let each team member know how to make the most of their position. To keep them invested, do not let their hard work go by unnoticed; offer incentives for noticeable changes. Remember this: Most negative reviews are about the office experience, not about the results of the surgery or treatment.
3. Use your technology to reach out to happy clients for reviews.
Instead of old school word-of-mouth, today’s happy patients share the love through online reviews such as Yelp, Google Reviews, and RealSelf. Unfortunately, while angry customers are quick to share their opinion online, satisfied patients sometimes need a little push. Not only remind clients when they check out but also send a text and shoot them an email. Spark some interest by offering a free gift, coupon, or discount for those who write reviews.
4. Keep your focus on the main review websites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
There are so many online review sites that keeping up with them all can spread your efforts too thin. Keep it simple by focusing on the main sites: Google, Facebook, Yelp, and RealSelf. These are where potential patients will come to first for information.
5. Create a system and consciously acquire reviews every week.
You have a good foundation of reviews, so keep the momentum going. The quantity and frequency of reviews are important to keep you at the top of Google search results. This will take a thought-out system for bringing in reviews, including a mention while the patient is still in the office, during the post-procedure check-in phone call, and finally through a follow-up email. Keep track of the weekly numbers and adjust your system as needed.
6. Use a software platform like MD Internet Marketing Reputation Marketing.
Reputation marketing software will provide a dashboard for your online reviews, alerting your practice when something new is posted. Easily stay on top of how many reviews are posted and better understand your patients’ experiences. This software gives you the chance to see negative reviews right when they hit, so you can address these negative comments right away.
7. Track your top competitors.
How many reviews do similar cosmetic surgery practices in your area have? Where do they rank in search results? While you are carefully following your own review acquisitions, be sure to do the same for your rivals. If their review stream far exceeds yours, figure out why. Is their service better? Do they offer more treatments? With this information, you will know what points need a little more work.
8. Don’t be tempted to buy reviews or get your staff to post reviews.
Buying a chunk of reviews or letting your employees write fake reviews can feel like such an easy way to bulk up your ratings. This sounds too good to be true for a reason! Perceptive patients are getting better about distinguishing fake content. However, your biggest trouble will be with Google, who has no difficulty sniffing out fake reviews. Google can, and has, removed 100’s of suspicious reviews in the recent past so do not risk it.
9. Designate a review champion.
Give one internal team member the responsibility of overseeing your online reputation. This hero will oversee monitoring reviews and requests as they come in, ready to tackle any problems or negative posts.
10. Respond to negative reviews.
You must respond to negative reviews immediately. Patients who are the slightest bit unhappy will share their frustrations online and these can be devastating to your online reputation. Responding to a negative review almost immediately will show the public that your practice is reasonable and is eager to make things right. Always leave the unhappy patient feeling listened to and satisfied.
Start managing your marketing plan with the help of MD Internet Marketing. We will sit down with you, assess your current online reputation, and walk you through a plan of change that will bring in new patients while increasing revenue. Call MD Internet Marketing at (954) 993-5154, or, fill out our Contact Us form to speak with a marketing specialist. We are not an SEO firm but a marketing management company, designed to help cosmetic or plastic surgery practices just like you.