Tag: facebook

Dentist Reputation Management and Online Reviews

Disgruntled Former Employees Leaving Fake Reviews

I received a call from a dear client of mine one weekend. He had recently experienced some disappointing behavior in a long-time employee, and he had to let her go. The problem was, this employee had the passwords to his social networking accounts, blog, website CMS, and other important online media. Could she login and wreak havoc, out of anger? Would she leave fake, bad reviews about him on Yelp and Facebook?

Unfortunately, this is an HR issue that all businesses face in the Internet era. Here’s another example. Recently, MDPM had a former employee create fake profiles and post negative reviews on Yelp, all within days of each other. The profiles were new and had reviewed 0-2 other businesses. We did not recognize the reviewers’ names, and some phrases they posted keyed us in on the fact that the reviews were fake. However, we can’t get them removed. We followed the advice in this article, and we’ve been as pleased as can be expected, without crossing ethical lines and compromising integrity.

Angry Former Patients Posting Scathing Reviews

Fake and real reviews, more negative than positive, have fueled a multi-million dollar industry of reputation management. Angry people are more likely to vent online than are pleased patients. Late last year, I helped a frustrated dentist as he dealt with a negative review from a one-time patient.  The patient was unhappy about the charges for his dental work, specifically that his dental insurance did not cover what he thought it would, yet he still had to pay. The work was done, and done well. He left a long rant on the dentist’s Google Places page, visible to all potential patients. What could the dentist do? Google has no phone number to call when this happens; besides, as a third party, though they provide the means for reviews, they don’t want to get involved in disputes. Read More

Social Marketing Needs to Eat a Banana

We’re all so very busy. You know exactly what I mean. I try to get in some yoga or a walk in the  morning, then do my reading at night. On my nighstand right now are a parenting book (I have two teenagers), The Count of Monte Cristo (birthday gift and personal life goal), and UnMarketing by Scott Stratten. It’s the latter that inspired this blog post. I highlighted some interesting points in UnMarketing last night, thinking of you, and I want to share them.

What’s the deal with Facebook and Twitter? Well, social marketing is in a rapid state of evolution. You can literally see it growing. It’s like a teenager! I say social media needs to eat a banana because when I grew two inches one summer, my legs ached like a big dog. My mom, a nurse, made me eat bananas for the potassium. It helped. (On a side note, I looked up Chaquita Banana on Facebook. She has an unused profile, but I added her as a friend anyway.) (Another side note, I am not bananas.)

Scott, the guy who wrote UnMarketing, is a very smart wiseguy, and that’s a compliment. He lends great insight and perspective to how social media works right now. Like a teenager, social media will change quickly. We may not even recognize it as “social media” in a few years. Who knows? But, I figure knowledge is power, so there’s no harm in learning all I can right now.

In the book, Scott wrote that many people join social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, then give up when nothing happens. YES! I thought. Scott said that social media isn’t media. The term is misleading. It makes you think of TV or radio. He says social media is more social than media. Yep. Yep.

You have to engage to make it work.

I want to invite YOU to read UnMarketing along with me. Go to Facebook to join in the discussion.

I’m going there now to finish up this post! Remember those points I was going to share…

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