What does it take to get a return on your investment in RealSelf? In this series, we’ll walk you through the approaches your peers have taken in order to get peak performance from their profiles.
New to practice · Focus on reviews
Dr. Alex Zuriarrain, a RealSelf Verified Doctor who is just two years into his Miami-based solo practice, ramped quickly to success on RealSelf by systematically developing his profile content—and specifically by attracting patient reviews with highly-personalized-yet-repeatable patient follow ups.
“Focusing on getting reviews has really helped me make the most of every single profile visit, and that ultimately helped me grow my young practice,” Dr. Zuriarrain told us. His practice offers a diverse mix of procedures, focused on maximizing every profile view by building a strong body of content. That work has paid off.
Dr. Zuriarrain averaged 13 reviews per month since his first review in September 2017. Even during COVID-19, he continued to consistently receive leads from RealSelf thanks to the groundwork he laid.
RealSelf Profile by the NumbersSpecialty: Plastic surgeon |
Dr. Zuriarrain’s Marketing Philosophy: VISIBILITY
“My advice for doctors: you have to try to make yourself as visible as possible across the internet universe. And you especially have to make sure your profile is solid and actively maintained on the destination that millions of aesthetic consumers visit every month,” Dr. Zuriarrain said.
“I’ve lit up and leveraged every feature possible on my RealSelf profile. It makes a huge difference,” he continued. In addition to being a RealSelf Network Doctor and being RealSelf Verified, Dr. Zuriarrain also enabled virtual consultations and his custom profile alert banner.
Dr. Zuriarrain posits that when researching his experience and results, consumers will check out his profile on RealSelf, then corroborate what they see there across other sites on the internet—including doing a deep dive to see whether there are any risks to working with him.
That’s why he’s hands on about interacting with consumers, building out his RealSelf profile, and managing his social media accounts. He knows that patients will closely scrutinize his work, and he wants to make sure that his best work and his own voice are represented when they do.
“RealSelf is a platform where if you invest your own time in building your profile, it will bring you clients and it will bring you patients.”
One Big Idea: Get a Review From Every Patient With the Help of Google Voice
Step 1: Start Early and Do It Often
“I started requesting reviews from the beginning,” Dr. Zuriarrain told us, in line with the RealSelf recommendation to ask all patients for reviews. Statistically, 76% of them will say yes, so baking this practice into the rhythm of your business will help build volume and recency, the two factors that make consumers see your reviews as credible.
Step 2: Create a Consistent Post-Op Followup Process
Here’s where Google Voice comes into play. Dr. Zuriarrain uses his Google Voice phone number, which is free, and pairs it with a specific followup cadence that takes the guesswork out of his followups. (Your Google Voice number is connected to your mobile phone.) Here’s how Dr. Z. does it.
- 2 days post op. “A friendly, “Hello. How are you doing? Do you have any questions? I hope you’re feeling okay.”
- 7 days post op. “How are you doing? I hope you’re happy with your initial results.”
- 7+ days post op. “As soon as I get that thumbs up—’Yes, I’m happy, I look amazing’—I say, ‘Please click here to leave a review on RealSelf. And I have no shame in asking for a five-star review.“
Step 3: Get In Dialogue With Patients
“I made a huge effort to respond to everybody’s reviews about me, and that really changed the game.” Remember, reviews are essentially word-of-mouth marketing for your potential patients.
Dr. Zuriarrain recommends inserting your voice into your customer reviews to give you yet another chance to make an impression. Use this as an opportunity to add detail and dimension to patient reviews that provide even more helpful content for consumers.
One Crisp Takeaway
Ask every patient for a review and have a repeatable system for doing it. That will translate into results for your business. Read our five-step process for getting more reviews here.
