CDEN0110

20 I I business _ online reputation cosmeticdentistry 1_2010 _It is an undisputed fact that in the world of dentistry,noamountofexpensiveadvertisingorfancy marketing can beat the power of word-of-mouth re- ferralsfromyoursatisfiedpatients.Whatyourpatients say about you is the ultimate driver of your business success. Today, consumers increasingly turn to the Internet to locate and select a dental practice. Under- standingthisandusingtherighttoolswillhelpyoucre- ate and maintain the most relevant, valuable practice builderyou’lleverhave:theexperienceandfeedbackof your own patients shared with millions of prospective patients actively seeking a new dental practice. It’s uptoyoutochoose:willyouronlinereputationconsist of a single thread of random gossip, or will it become your most valued asset, carefully managed and nur- turedtogiveyouthebestreturnonyourinvestment? Everyoneknowsconsumerswillshareagoodexpe- rience with a few people, but they’ll make a point of telling the world about a negative one. As a service provider, you and your staff are your brand. You don’t sellwidgets;yousellyourskills,experience,specialties, personalities, hours and location—and your very exis- tenceandlivelihooddependonyourreputation. Weallworkhardtoensureourpatientshaveagood experience and ask that refer us to friends and family based on this. Now, take that most valuable scenario, expandittohundredsandeventhousandsofprospec- tive patients, and you’ve just moved from the world of offline word-of-mouth referrals to the sophisticated new world of online reputation-based marketing—or word-of-mouth2.0. We know that in the growing world of online reviews, consumers want and expect to find the local user information they seek, whether it’s a great Italian restaurant or a top-notch cosmetic dental practice. As the Internet has come of age, our universe of avail- abilityforgoodsandserviceshasexploded.Theadvent of local reviews provides a return to neighbourhood intimacy—andneighbourhoodreputation. Itishighlylikelyyoualreadyhaveanonlinereputa- tion, and may not even know it. Through online web sites, consumers can review and rate your business. There is no way to know whether their comments are legitimate. In fact, these people may have never seen your dental chair. Like it or not, these consumers are establishing your online reputation—without your knowledge, without your control—and there has been nothingyoucoulddotomanagethisexposure,untilnow. _Driving patient volumes Asyouprobablyknow,thelargestandmostpower- ful search engine is Google. Today, 67 per cent of all online searches are conducted using Google. Google sees3.2billionvisitspermonth.Youcanoptimiseyour web site to come up in the free, natural search results whenprospectivepatientsgoogleforadentalpractice. If you choose to pay for exposure, you can subscribe to Google Adwords (https://adwords.google.com/ select/Login), paying for each ‘click’ generated from Google to your web site. The higher you bid for a click, the higher your placement in the sponsored section ofGoogle. Word-of-mouth 2.0 How leveraging one’s online reputation can help attract new patients Word-of-mouth 2.0 How leveraging one’s online reputation can help attract new patients Author_ Dr Lorne Lavine, USA