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.
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Feedback in Healthcare News: SHSMD Report
by FeedbackFeedback was found all over SHSMD 2010 in Chicago, the annual conference for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. The firm conducted a three-hour workshop on social media and strategy, participated in a lively panel on emerging media, roundtables and more.
Feedback also made the news:
Healthleaders article, “Stop Waiting for Social Media to Emerge” excerpted here:
Dean Browell was also listed as one of the top ten you need to get to know at SHSMD by Dan Dunlop, who later chronicled the Emerging Media panel:
You can also see a video interview and highlights from the social media strategy workshop here at the CPM Marketing blog.