DentaltownUK May 2018 - 36

time out

Time to review
In a world dominated by the internet, customers are
seeking out information online to ensure well thoughtout purchase decisions. In this case, the customer is
a patient and the purchase decision is choosing your
practice over your competitors.

by Leigh McLintock Defacto's Social
Media Manager, covering multiple
channels for DefactoDentists.com,
DentaltownUK and most recently
BlueGloveJobs.com. Her degree in
International Fashion Marketing
brings with it a very fresh approach to
managing social media in dentistry.

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MAY 2018 // dentaltownuk.com

Having testimonials on your practice
website is great, but unless a patient visits
your website, testimonials don't serve their
purpose. Th at is why there is undeniable
strength in reviews whether they be on social
media sites, Google, Yelp or industry specific
websites such as DefactoDentists.com.
Nowadays, reviews are arguably more
powerful than any promotional advertising
campaign. People buy from people, and
people trust opinions more than they trust
paid promotions.
Never underestimate the power of word of
mouth. Think about it - how many times have
you bought something or gone somewhere
based on a recommendation from a family
member, colleague, friend or someone on
the internet? The same applies to patients
looking for dental practices.
Reviews give credibility to your business.
If they are positive, they are likely to
guarantee you some new patients as well as
repeat patients.
People want to be certain about what
they are buying into. They want the best of
the best and they won't take risks.
Reviews won't always sing your praises you simply can't please everyone. You should
use less positive reviews to your advantage.
Note down potential areas for improvement
based on the comments and suggestions left
from your patients.
Discuss the issues with your practice
team and implement solutions to any of
the problems.

Understanding your patient's experience
from their perspective and enhancing it
wherever possible is vital if you want to
retain them.
You could even publicly respond to
a complaint so that others see that you
don't hide away from issues and that you
offer to resolve. Without customers, there
is no business. Without patients, there is
no practice.
Re v ie w s a re not on ly benef icia l
for practices. They can be particularly
useful for patients with specific needs,
for example phobic patients, parents who
are looking to register their child with
a dentist or for patients looking for a
specific treatment.
If you have a specific field of dentistry that
you focus on, reviews endorsing your skills
in these areas could see a surge in patients
wanting to visit you.
Google offer the most widely read reviews,
closely followed by Facebook and other
social media channels. Ensure that you
are represented on all of them with at least
one review. It helps massively with your
website's SEO. Some websites offer a sharing
of reviews, such as DefactoDentists.com who
share each Defacto review on to the clinic's
Google account.
So ask your patients for reviews, not
only to boost your credibility, but to
help prospective patients. A few positive
reviews ever y month could make all
the difference. ■

http://www.DefactoDentists.com http://www.DefactoDentists.com http://www.dentaltownuk.com http://www.dentaltown.com http://www.dentaltownuk.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK May 2018