The Key to Oral Surgeon Reputation Management
Savvy dental professionals know that the oral surgery marketing landscape is changing. Patients are just as likely to call an oral surgeon after performing a Google search as they are to contact a practice following a referral. As a specialist, the tricky part of attracting new patients is making your practice stand out to people who aren’t aware of the intricacies of your area of expertise.
What do potential patients consider when choosing a provider? Even if your oral surgery practice ranks at the top of the Google search results (good job!), you’re much more likely to get calls from new patients if you’re swimming in stellar reviews. Getting new reviews, however, can be challenging.
The solution? Make oral surgeon reputation management a key goal in your digital marketing strategy.
Why Are Reviews So Important?
The humble Google review might not seem critical compared to other, flashier components of oral surgery marketing. We certainly recommend a robust SEO strategy and a cohesive social media brand, but the truth is that people simply trust reviews.
When most online users search for a service, especially one related to their health, online reviews convey trustworthiness and skill. The average patient won’t understand the difference between an oral surgeon with expertise from extensive specialized training and a general dentist who performs some of the same procedures. Many times, the patient in this scenario will call a dentist with more five-star reviews rather than a specialist.
Think about it: a patient searches for “dental implants near me” and sees that a general dentist has 200 five-star reviews while the closest-ranking oral surgeon only has 20. While you know that patient outcomes are improved with an oral surgeon’s expertise, a casual Google search doesn’t always convey that! Like a shiny toy dangled in front of a sugar-fueled preschooler, those bright yellow stars are distractingly compelling.
This is where oral surgeon reputation management comes into play! It’s not enough to hope for reviews; because reviews lead to practice growth, you’ll need to seek them out to gain more. Let’s explore some of the best ways to encourage those sweet, sweet reviews to come rolling in.
1. Ask Patients to Leave Reviews
We know, we know. You might be reading along and thinking, “Duh. Asking for reviews? What a revelation!”
The thing is, it sort of can be! When practices don’t emphasize oral surgeon reputation management, simply asking for reviews from happy patients can make a surprising impact. Seek out satisfied patients who are likely to give you five-star reviews and ask them to leave one while they’re still in the office. This is, by far, the best way to boost your numbers quickly.
Patients are much more likely to leave a review while in your office. Even if someone intends to leave you five stars later, chances are they’ll forget. The old adage holds: out of sight, out of mind. Encourage staff to ask for reviews directly while patients are in the chair. There can be plenty of waiting during a visit, so use those times to request them directly.
Print and place signs in prominent locations telling patients about your review goal. Make it convenient for people to leave five stars by creating a QR code linked to your Google Business Profile with a free generator, then print the code out. Hang the code in your waiting room, next to the dental chair, and by reception.
You can even offer an incentive: “Leave us a 5-star Google review for a free puppy!” If you don’t have any free puppies lying around, you can also offer $20 off a patient’s next treatment.
2. Create a Team Goal
Call a team meeting to make a review goal and brainstorm ideas. Perhaps provide donuts—we find that to be an effective motivator at the My Social Practice office.
Make a short-term goal—a review “sprint,” if you will—and turn it into a competition. See which staff member can gather the most reviews or make it a collaborative effort. Incentivize the team with fabulous prizes, like an office party, a catered lunch, a movie night, or the ever-coveted Starbucks gift card.
3. Automate Reviews
If a patient leaves the office without leaving a review, your oral surgeon reputation management strategy kicks into high gear through the magic of automation. Most patient management software has texting capabilities that allow you to follow up after treatment, creating a golden opportunity to request a five-star review.
My Social Practice’s oral surgeon reputation management tool allows you to contact patients via text and email with automated messages that link to your Google Business reviews. When a patient opens the link, they can quickly and conveniently share their thoughts directly to your Google Business profile:
Working with a reputable oral surgery marketing company can make this process a cinch through fully automated systems. While you focus on performing an apicoectomy, your patients will focus on telling Google how awesome you are.
4. Curate an Impeccable Online Presence
As you can tell from this article, we firmly believe in the value of requesting reviews, but organic growth is also a decisive factor in oral surgery reputation management. An effective social media marketing strategy can be a great way to encourage engagement, including reviews.
Take advantage of dental and oral surgery marketing trends by creating TikToks and Instagram Reels using viral audio and social media challenges. Create posts on Facebook and Instagram soliciting reviews using photos of staff. The more personable and fun your practice appears, the more likely prospective patients are to not only choose it but also leave positive reviews simply because they loved their experience! Check out this free guide to TikTok and Instagram Reels to get social media ideas for oral surgeons.
While working on your online presence, don’t neglect your oral surgery website. Your site should be aesthetically pleasing and offer a fast, intuitive user experience. A beautiful website is often your first impression for potential patients, so pay attention to it! You can even feature positive reviews on your homepage to further your credibility and encourage patients to add their own. To learn how to improve your website, check out our free oral surgery website SEO deep dive report.
5. Put Patients First
Another strategy for generating organic five-star reviews is creating an exceptional environment! Visiting an oral surgeon can be a stressful experience for a patient; many people will be grateful and willing to recommend your practice if you can ease the anxiety with a comfortable, positive experience. Help patients feel secure by:
- Greeting Them by Name: Show patients you know and care about them by using their names and remembering details about them throughout their visit. Note preferred names or pronunciations in their file.
- Making Conversation: People love to talk about themselves, so ask (non-invasive!) questions and make small talk. Patients appreciate a sincere effort to get to know them and will feel much more comfortable if you can connect over a shared detail. Do you both love Local Sports Team 1 and hate Local Sports Team 2? Great! Your patient will be pleased to know their teeth are in the hands of a fellow superior fan.
- Be Professional: Friendly professionalism is the name of the game. The very nature of oral surgery means patients want to be able to trust a provider completely. Avoid swearing and hot topics, and be sensitive to cultural differences to help your interactions run smoothly and maintain confidence in your overall level of professionalism.
Remember, a patient who just had a comfortable experience with an oral surgeon who genuinely cared about them will be much more likely to scan those QR codes and leave a five-star review.
Oral Surgeon Reputation Management: The Bottom Line
If you’ve never considered actively pursuing an oral surgeon reputation management strategy, there is no better time to start! Ask patients to leave positive reviews, encourage your team, take advantage of automated systems, create a comfortable environment, and boost your online presence. These simple strategies will help you get more oral surgery reviews and outpace the competition in no time.
We hope we’ve shown you exactly how valuable Google reviews are and given some actionable advice to help you gather more. So, if you like what you’ve read, why not leave us a review? After all, it never hurts to ask.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get Google Reviews from patients?
Implement oral surgeon reputation management strategies to get more reviews. These can include:
- Asking for reviews
- Creating a welcoming online presence with a great oral surgery website
- Making it convenient by posting QR codes linked to your profile in your office
- Showing patients you care during visits
- Automating review requests
Why is it important to get reviews?
Getting plenty of five-star Google reviews develops patient trust and helps boost your oral surgery website to the top rankings for relevant keywords. Oral surgeon reputation management is crucial for making your practice stand out from competitors.
Do reviews impact SEO?
Positive reviews and engagement can attract more patients to your practice. Effective oral surgeon reputation management can lead to more reviews, increasing your visibility and encouraging patient recommendations that contain high-value keywords.
About the Author: Megan Nielsen is an SEO strategist and the Grand Overlord of copywriting at My Social Practice. My Social Practice is a dental marketing company that offers a full suite of dental marketing services to thousands of dental practices throughout the United States and Canada.
