By DR SIMON HOCKEN
We live in a world of reviews and our opinions count. In fact, a recent survey by The Edelman Group demonstrates that people trust the views of a “person like me” more than anything a business might say.
A recent weekend Financial Times article by Gillian Tett explored the rise of the review and the trust given to it by buyers as opposed to the claims made by businesses. According to research published on the Socialnomics Blog, only 14 per cent of people say they trust online advertising but 90 per cent of consumers trust peer recommendations online.
The research group Webbed Feet reports that 52 per cent of Facebook users say postings by ‘friends’ inspired their travel plans and 92 per cent of consumers say they turn to recommendations by their ‘friends’ when choosing a product.
Ms Tett and you and I might conclude our faith in institutions is crumbling but our faith in cyber reviews is remarkably robust (despite recent attempts to fake reviews on Amazon using paid reviewers).
So, what does this mean to a dental practice owner? Well, clearly what you say/claim about your practice online is only part of the story. What our clients say about us is now more likely to influence their decision to buy our services.
So, like it or not, if you haven’t already it’s time to embrace the world of client reviews and social media. Some of you know this is my least favourite aspect of marketing, however we are lucky enough to be in partnership at Breathe Online Marketing with a couple of guys who know exactly how to make this work for your practice, Stewart Roode and Andrew Thomas (see www.breathebusiness.co.uk/online-marketing).
If you’d like to know more about how you can use reviews to grow your practice, have a chat with:
Best wishes
Simon