How To Make The Most Out Of Online Reviews
Have you noticed that your competitors have countless online reviews, but you have only a few? Have you wondered how you could get more online reviews and testimonials on popular sites like Google, Facebook and Yelp, but aren’t sure where to start?
If so, you’re on the right track.
At Baker Labs, one of the most powerful digital marketing tools we use to attract new patients to our medical clients is online reviews, and there’s a good reason why: Sharing online information has transformed the power of word-of-mouth referral from a form of one-on-one communication to potentially one-to-millions.
A whopping 90% of customers report that they read online reviews before choosing a product or a service like medical care. And 88% of consumers say that they trust online reviews from people they don’t know just as much as word-of-mouth referrals from family and friends.
In addition:
- 90% of consumers say that positive online reviews influence their buying decisions, and 86% say negative online reviews influence their decisions.
- 2X as many sales are generated by positive word-of-mouth reviews as by paid ads.
- 92% of consumers will choose a business or medical practice if it has at least a 4-star review rating.
How To Get Online Reviews
So, how do you get online reviews? If you haven’t already, evaluate which source your customers use most to find you. If you don’t have software that tracks this, simply ask your current and new customers.
For example, a doctor or medical practice might take a look at whether patients are finding them through a Google search, on Facebook, or through Healthgrades. Once the top source has been identified, the goal is to get as many reviews as possible on that site because it’s where other new patients are also likely to be searching.
In order to do this, you first need to make sure that your business or practice has a verified listing on the site so that people will be able to leave reviews. A verified listing simply confirms that you’re a legitimate company and that you’ve verified this site is a legitimate place to learn more about your business.
Here are the listing registration pages for some of the most popular platforms:
Once you’ve verified your business on a site, you’ll have a website link where people can leave reviews. Go to the review page, copy the link, and use it in any messaging you send to your customers when you ask them to leave a review.
You’ll also want to add information to your business page on any sites you have a verified listing with. An informational paragraph about what you do, photos, contact info, and hours of operation all increase engagement. For example, a TripAdvisor survey found that businesses that complete their profile have 5x more leads per month, and profiles that include hours and photos get 36% more engagement.
Make The Most Out Of The Reviews
There are other advantages to simply receiving reviews when you claim your business page on review sites. For example, with a Google business listing you can:
- Respond to reviews
- Post updates to showcase your best products or services
- Add photos that inform viewers about your business
Plus, when people search for your business on Google they’ll also see an attractive snippet like this:
When they click on “Save,” our location is saved to their maps.
Ask, Ask, Ask & Share, Share, Share
Once your sites are set up and optimized for receiving reviews, include the review links in all emails and texts you send to your current customers. If you interact with customers in-person, remind them to leave a review when you’re face-to-face.
Once you start receiving reviews, don’t let them sit idle. Share them by adding one or two to every page of your website, as well as on a dedicated page on your website that’s just for testimonials.
Share them on your social media channels, and include at least one in any email messaging you send out to current and prospective customers.
Another smart idea to drive reviews is to send surveys to all your customers shortly after they’ve had an interaction with your business. With just a few short questions, you can encourage them to leave a 5-star review if it was earned, and you can direct them to your desired online review sites.
One of our clients at Baker Labs, Baptist Eye Surgeons, had incredible success receiving 5-star reviews by sending surveys with Testimonial Tree. In fact, by partnering with Baker Labs for marketing and Testimonial Tree for reviews and testimonials, Baptist Eye Surgeons also saw their website traffic double and their Google rankings soar to the first page after implementing a simple customer survey and testimonial generation process.
Testimonial Tree’s platform automatically sends an email or text message to their customers asking for feedback after an appointment. If patients give a 4 or 5 star rating, they’re guided to share their positive review online and auto-post it on Baptist Eye Surgeons’ website.
If patients give a 1-3 star rating, the Compliance Manager at Baptist Eye receives it in an email and brings it to the attention of the doctor or staff member the patient interacted with. That way they can personally follow up to resolve the issue, without sharing it online.
In our experience, Testimonial Tree’s platform is the smartest way to get more online reviews and referrals with no additional work. To learn more, book a demo today.
And if you want to optimize your website to get more leads and increase your Google ranking, contact Baker Labs for a free marketing consultation.
