The advent of the internet has made the world much smaller. Just think about it. Before the popularity of social networking and other communication avenues the internet provides, reviews about a company were hard to come by. Typically somebody would make a decision on who to hire either from word of mouth, or advertising (radio, TV, print, etc.). But how did you truly know a company was reputable and would do a good job? Chances are, if you hadn’t spoken to somebody about it then you didn’t know. You were taking a gamble. This is no longer the case.
The absolute most important piece of online marketing is your reputation. Just ask this Virginia Contractor who lost an estimated $300k because of ONE bad review on Yelp.
Let me explain.
In a study by the law firm Moses & Rooth, they asked over 1200 people in the United States the following:
- When you need to find a specialty lawyer how would you start your search?
- If you search for a specialty lawyer on the internet what is most important to yo
u? - If you searched for a specialty lawyer on Google, what would do you first?
They found that 44% of individuals using the internet to find a specialty lawyer are looking at reviews. They also found that when somebody searches for a lawyer in Google, 46% read reviews of your former clients.
You can read the entire study at their website.
In a study from Oct. 2010-April 2011 by Bright Local, they found:
- 67% of local consumers will read reviews prior to purchasing a service.
- 69% of local consumers trust reviews online as much as a recommendation from a friend.
- 49% of people are more likely to use a company with good reviews
What This Means to You & Your Business
All the other marketing that you may be doing, SEO, PPC, Direct Mail, TV, Radio, etc. could all be compromised if you have bad reviews online. If even 50% of people that become aware of your service search for you online and see the bad reviews, what effect would that have on your business? You are essentially spending money to simply expose the skeletons in your closet.
Before you start spending money on those other marketing methods, make sure your online reputation accurately portrays who you are and the quality of service you offer. You may be able to outrun the bad reviews in the short term, but in the long run, they will take you over. You can do this by hiring an online marketing company that specializes in healthcare SEO marketing such as Titan Web Agency, or you can manage it yourself.