1. Customer Discounts

To entice returning customers and let them know they are valued, offer discounts or rotating specials they can receive by email. These can be monthly specials or discounts that vary based on the services you are trying to promote at a given time.

2. Cross-Selling and Upselling

Cross-selling and upselling are great techniques to promote other services offered by your practice and show how each of those services can be upgraded. If a patient schedules a consultation for a facelift, you can also mention that you offer facials to refresh the results of a facelift once healed – this is an example of cross-selling. Upselling offers additional services that can be added on for an additional fee. For example, liposuction is often performed along with other fat reduction surgeries for more dramatic results.

3. Customer Loyalty Program

A customer loyalty program is a great way to build relationships with your clients and create incentives for them to return to your practice. Clients can earn points for receiving certain procedures, like 200 points for a chemical peel, then use those points to earn specific rewards, such as a facial procedure for half off after 1,000 points have been earned.

4. Personalization

Personalizing emails or web pages helps customers feel valued and this improves their entire experience interacting with your practice online and in the office. You can set up smart forms to encourage clients to sign up for email subscriptions and create a welcome email (add link once posted) that will greet them by name if they do sign up. Smart forms can also be used to welcome clients by name when they visit your website or automatically send an email on their birthday or other special events.

5. Subscriptions

Email newsletters and blogs keep your clients connected to your business, even when they are not actively visiting your practice. Cosmetic procedures can only be done so often, but subscriptions remind clients about you and keep them informed about the latest procedures you offer or information about those procedures.

6. Know Your Customers

When you know your customers and what they want, you can better tailor your marketing and content to meet them. Use client feedback to offer specials for specific procedures, create content based on their interests, and use your social media platform to answer client questions or remind them of the services they might be interested in.

7. Resource Page

Having a resource page for blogs, learning resources, videos, and more, tells clients how they can best utilize your practice. Your resource page acts as a hub where people can go if they want to learn more about a medical procedure, have concerns about a medical problem, or simply want to learn more about how you practice.

Boost Customer Retention and Your Marketing Strategies Today

At DLM, we want to build you a personalized marketing strategy that highlights your practice’s goals and creates an equally personalized experience for current and future clients. Retaining customers is a crucial part of business growth and we have the strategies to help. Visit us online to learn more about the many services we offer or schedule a 15-minute demo with our team.

The post Seven Ways to Boost Customer Retention Rate appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Managing your online reputation for both the practice and the individual doctor has huge implications for your ability to grow and attract new patients. Here’s how to go about it to keep your ratings high and your patients satisfied from their first interaction with you.

Take Advantage of Your Online Profiles

Sites like RealSelf, TopDoc, and certainly Google My Business are hugely influential for patients looking for reputable doctors in their area for any number of treatments or procedures. It’s important to be active and up-to-date on at least one of these highly popular online listing sites, especially Google My Business.

Your Google My Business (GMB) can be linked to individual physician profiles and provides key information for everything from your office hours to the largest collection of ratings and reviews. Failing to activate your GMB profile(s) can lead to a negative impression in which searchers (especially local ones) regard your practice as out of touch or even out of business.

Source Feedback Consistently

Savvy internet users note the rating, review content, and how recently the review was posted when analyzing feedback for practices. This means you not only have to have good reviews in the past, but you also have to source feedback from patients on a regular basis. With email automations and other digital tools provided by DLM Insight, you don’t have to think about sending individual campaigns every time someone comes in for a procedure. Simply set up a template one time and decide how long after an appointment someone should receive an email asking for a review.

Consistency is key when it comes to your online reputation, which is why getting constant positive reviews from recent patients is key to boosting your ratings and growing your practice.

Respond and Monitor Your Reviews

Not everyone is going to have a 5-star time at your practice, since everyone expects something different from their experience before, during, and after a procedure. However, even a few dissatisfied patients can tank your reputation and rating online. That’s why it’s important to not only be aware of them when they arise but to respond to them in a personalized manner.

Many review sites, including Google reviews, do not allow practices to edit or delete reviews left by others. Instead, your practice should have a process in place to respond to negative reviews and encourage those patients to reach out to your team directly to address any concerns they have. This may involve you offering treatments to combat negative side effects or simply listening to them air their grievances. If a review is grossly inappropriate or factually incorrect, it is also important to point it out in your response or report it to the site it’s posted on.

Demonstrate Thought Leadership

This step may be trickier to enact, due to the amount of time it can take, but demonstrating your expertise by blogging, guest blogging, or posting regularly on social media can be a great way to enhance your online reputation as a physician. People already know you’re a medical doctor, so show them with language they can read that you really know what you’re talking about when it comes to specific procedures.

Blogging and posting are free but can be time-consuming, so having writers who understand the ins and outs of both crafting readable language and SEO can save you time while growing your thought leadership reputation. This also helps you appear more approachable and is a low barrier to entry for “meeting” you even before a consultation.

Online Reputation Management By DLM

With marketing tools to help draw new patients to your business as well as automation and integrations to help your efforts run smoothly and in a scalable way, Digital Limelight Media can augment your marketing and help grow your practice sustainably. Our reputation management tool, DLM Review, gathers all your practice’s reviews from various websites and allows you to monitor them in a single place, giving access to your entire office to help gather and respond to reviews quickly. Learn more about our complete set of marketing analytics and software by calling our office or contacting us online today.

The post Doctors: Boost Your Online Reputation appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Google My Business

Just like SEO, your primary focus for reviews should be Google. Google accounts for at least 90% off all searches, so when new patients are choosing a doctor near them, they are likely to read reviews from your Google My Business account first. Don’t forget that your Google My Business reviews are also displayed on Google Maps, which means that your patients are likely to see them as they navigate to their first appointments. A large number of overwhelmingly positive Google My Business reviews will help your practice appear more reputable.

Google My Business reviews also play a role in your overall SEO with Google. The new algorithm takes Google My Business profiles into account when choosing results for local searches. This means that having a complete profile, including numerous reviews, will improve your rankings.

If you haven’t set up a Google My Business account yet and you’re not sure where to start, contact your DLM marketing specialist.  

Facebook Reviews

Facebook still has a far reach in your local community. When new patients find your Facebook page, they are likely to read reviews first. It can also be worthwhile to promote your practice on Facebook to reach new patients and draw them to your page. Since Facebook has such a wide reach, it’s key to encourage as many positive reviews as possible. You can also spotlight positive reviews in new posts as part of your social strategy.

Yelp

Yelp has nearly 200 million monthly users and is a primary source for business reviews for many people. Yelp is also a more community-oriented site compared to other platforms, so Yelp users take reviews seriously and offer detailed feedback. Research has shown that higher star ratings on Yelp will correlate with increased revenue, so it’s a good idea to encourage Yelp reviews.

Review Sites for Medical Practices

As a medical practice, there are specified sites that your potential patients might be looking at to check for reviews. These include HealthGrades, ZocDoc, and Vitals. While these sites have fewer users overall, it’s still worthwhile to improve your rating or request new reviews from patients.

How to Generate More Reviews

Encouraging more reviews is important to boost your overall review rating and improve your credibility with potential new patients. There are several steps you can take to make sure your existing patients post their own positive reviews.

First, you can start an email campaign requesting new reviews. Emails can be automated and sent to patients after their appointments, making it easy to link to the review platforms you want to target most.

Posting signage around your office can also be helpful reminders to patients to post their reviews. Consider placing signs in waiting rooms so patients post their reviews while they are waiting for their appointment.

Perhaps the most effective way to encourage more reviews is to make verbal requests when your patients are in the office for appointments. Doctors or their office staff can make these requests a normal part of their routines, reminding patients to leave reviews on the platform they are trying to target most.

Give Us a Call

For more tips on generating new patient reviews and the platform that your practice should focus on, call our marketing specialists at Digital Limelight Media. Our team creates specialized strategies that will work for your practice and reach the audience that is most important to you. Call (616) 222-3735 or contact us online.

The post Which Review Platforms Should I Focus On? appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

You can’t delete negative reviews online; only the reviewer can choose to remove their comment. So, how should you respond to a negative review? Here are a few of our best tips.

Contact Negative Reviewers Directly

When you receive a negative review, it’s best to contact the patient directly if possible. Call the patient or send them an email so you can get a clear understanding of their experience, show that you value the feedback, and try to make things right. A private conversation makes it easier to resolve the situation.

If possible, it can be helpful to offer some type of compensation or incentive to the reviewer. A modest discount on their services or an offer for priority scheduling can be beneficial in these cases. This shows that you do not want to lose them as a patient and want to ensure they have a better experience in their second visit. You can also consider offering discounts as an incentive to remove their negative review.

Respond Quickly to Stop Additional Negative Reviews

Responding to a negative review as soon as possible is important. If a patient or customer believes their concerns are going unheard and unaddressed, they are more likely to continue leaving negative reviews on additional platforms. Responding quickly helps reduce the overall number of negative reviews.

Protect Your Patients’ Private Information

One of the most important considerations for a medical practice is to protect your patients’ protected health information (PHI) when responding to reviews. For example, it is best to avoid mentioning the procedures they underwent. Instead, keep your response short and simple, using terms that aren’t specific to their medical care. Make sure that your staff understands the importance of not mentioning any PHI when responding to reviews.

Offer a Sincere Apology

Your first priority when writing your response to a negative review should be offering a sincere apology. The reviewer and potential new clients or patients will see that you care about providing positive experiences and the best possible outcomes. Your response to a negative review should always begin with a sincere apology that the client or patient had a negative experience, communicating that this was not up to your standard.

It is also important to acknowledge what went wrong. This shows the reviewer that you understand their concerns and are transparent with customers or patients. If necessary or possible, you should also provide explanations for the mishap. A statement as simple as “mistakes sometimes happen, despite our team’s experience and certifications” can show that you acknowledge the misstep and that this is not the norm for your practice.

Turn Negatives to Positives by Reviewing What Went Wrong

Negative reviews are an excellent opportunity for your team to check in on their processes. Feedback is valuable! By reviewing what went wrong, you can improve on the services you provide to ensure that current and future patients and clients have better experiences. For example, if your reviewer was upset that their appointment was late, you may adjust the process for scheduling appointments to avoid running behind. If they were upset by side effects they were not expecting, you can implement new ways to make sure that patients are educated and informed before a procedure. Encourage an open and honest discussion with your staff to solve the problems that the reviewer may have encountered.

Use DLM Review to Generate New Reviews

Once you have responded to the negative review, you should focus on generating new, positive reviews. One negative review stands out when there are fewer positive reviews brings down your average rating. Having plenty of positive reviews shows new clients and patients that this negative review does not represent the typical experience with your practice.

Read Your Reviews from Across the Web

Digital Limelight Media uses DLM Review as a reputation management tool for our clients. DLM Review collects reviews from over 80 websites so you and your account manager can stay on top of your reviews easily. DLM Review will pull your reviews from sites like Google, Yelp, RealSelf, Zocdoc, and more, then display them together on your DLM Insight account.

Analyze Your Reviews on Different Websites

DLM Review makes it simple to see your overall reputation across the web as well as your score according to each individual site. Once you know which websites have lower scores, it’s clear where to focus when it comes to collecting new positive reviews. 

Get Notified of New Reviews

Each time a new review is added anywhere online, you will receive a notification from DLM Review. This makes it easy to respond quickly both privately and online.

Automate Requests for New Reviews

EMR Integration allows you to automatically send requests for new reviews to patients after they visit your practice. Patients will receive an email or text message asking whether they had a good experience or bad experience. Those who select “good experience” will be redirected to the site you are targeting for more positive reviews, while those who select “bad experience” will be redirected to send you a private message. Any messages regarding bad experiences can be followed up with a phone call or email from your staff to resolve the issue, with no negative reviews added publicly.

Learn More About DLM Review

If you have questions about how DLM Review and our reputation management services can benefit your practice, feel free to contact us. Send us a message online or call (616) 222-3735.  

The post How to Respond to Negative Reviews appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

I had a horrible experience at a restaurant once. Ok, let me re-word that. I’ve had a few different horrible experiences at restaurants, coffee shops, and retail stores. Everyone has, right? We’ve all been there.

So what do you do when you have the worst experience at the new restaurant in town? A number of people will do one, or both of these things to let out their frustration:

1. Tell everyone you know about your bad experience.
2. Grab your phone or iPad and leave them a bad review online.

We’re all guilty of it. We want to warn the world to never go to that restaurant and waste your money, or suffer through the terrible service, so we stand on top of the tallest mountain and tell everyone to stay away.

Here’s the catch: the medical industry is no different. You won’t see a review about how bad the steak was, but you may see something that says your front desk staff is rude, or the wait time to see the doctor was outrageous, or even worse, THEY HATE THE DOCTOR. Lets keep our fingers crossed that you never come across that last one.

My point is, you have to know where the tallest mountains are in your field. Where are people leaving online reviews? What sites should you or your current marketing/SEO/website company be monitoring? Why are reviews so important in the first place? That’s what I’ll explain in this post, and by the end of it, you should know exactly where to start your online review regime.

1. RealSelf

RealSelf is basically the Facebook for patients and plastic surgeons. Patients use it to tell their story and share their cosmetic surgery journey. RealSelf also focuses on patient-doctor interaction. So it’s very specific to cosmetic surgery and it hits that niche target market you’re looking for. This makes it important for you to have a handful of good reviews on their site.

RealSelf is powerful, because patients that go on this site are serious about going through with a procedure. The interest is already there and the patient is researching and looking for the right doctor. Let a few raving reviews do the rest for you. 

At DLM, we put a strategy in place with our clients and their RealSelf Rep to get our clients to Top Doctor status. Top Doctor status brings more awareness to our clients profile on RealSelf for the location and procedures they want to focus on. This helps them get a competitive edge on their competition. It also shows more credibility to their RealSelf profile. In order to get Top Doctor status you must do the following:

1. Answer a minimum of 75 questions
2. Maintain a minimum of 10 answers to questions every 90 days
3. A minimum of 3 patient reviews
4. A high ratio of helpful votes to your answers

If you want to take full advantage of RealSelf, we also recommend doing paid advertising through RealSelf. We have noticed through tracking the results for our clients a solid return on investment within this medium. 

RealSelf gets a ton of traffic each month. If you are not taking advantage of enchanincg your profile on this medium you are leaving money on the table. Just checkout this graph. This shows the growth since inception of RealSelf based on estimated search engine traffic. If you would like to learn more about how DLM can help with maximizing your RealSelf profile, please contact us today.

2. Google+ 

If you’ve ever Googled your name before (it’s okay to admit it), then you might already know what a review looks like on Google+. When you search your name on Google a few things should happen:

• Your name and practice should be the first search result at the top of the page.
• You should see a star rating from 1 to 5 below your name.
• You should see a blue link that says the number of Google reviews you have.

When you search your name, you should be the first result at the top of the first page on Google. Unless, of course, there is another doctor with the same name.

The 5 star rating scale is important to have. And Google won’t award you with it until you have at least 5 reviews. The stars rating helps draw the eye to that search result, while at the same time making you look like a rock star doc, which leads to more clicks to your website. Get 5 5-star reviews and you will have a 5-star rating on Google. It’s as simple as that.

The blue link to the right of the stars shows how many reviews you have total. So when you search a doctor’s name and they have 4.5 out of 5 stars with 37 reviews, they have some great reviews on Google and users will notice them first when searching.  

3. Yelp

Yelp has been under a lot of scrutiny and has taken some heat over the past year. A lawsuit was filed against them claiming that they were manipulating reviews on various businesses. They survived the case and the bottom line is: people still use yelp when making buying decisions.

Yelp is an amazing tool when it comes to restuarants and coffee shops, and still plays a role in the medical field. I tend to see more negative reviews than anything on Yelp for some reason, so this is a good one to keep an eye on. A negative review can do just as much damage in swaying a purchasing decision. A couple positive reviews will make it easier to sleep at night.

Use these sites as a jumping off point when looking for the best online review sites for medical practices. A good review can go a long way. If done right, Google+, RealSelf, and Yelp can sell your practice for you. With a little help from these 3 online review power houses you’ll be boosting your online presence in no time!

Have a few questions? We’d love to chat. Send us a message using the form below.

The post 3 Review Sites Every Plastic Surgeon Needs Great Reviews On appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.