Wondering aloud: Do people go to Yelp to research healthcare, or are they simply encountering Yelp reviews for non-retail/restaurant in searches?

As with all we do at Feedback, we start by examining the local culture of social media use first – because not all regions are alike (not by a longshot). In a recent study of a particular large region we saw relatively heavy use of Yelp in providing reviews of healthcare. We observed service-line specific reviews as well as general hospital comments. Obviously it varies by community, but it does beg the question that if you have heavy Yelp use in your town for other things, that even a minimal number of reviews could get high visibility. Plus, their system of reviewer ranks means the reviews have a high trust factor.

We don’t recommend putting too much or too little emphasis on any particular channel until you’ve done a thorough review and deep dive that helps you make strategic, informed decisions.

So what does everyone think about this?

We’ve spoken about Yelp before here on the Feedback blog, but we felt this was an important question. Feel free to email us at contact [at] feedbackagency.com with your thoughts.

-Dean (@dbrowell)