According to Podium, more than 90% of the population reads online reviews before hiring a service provider, irrespective of ethnicity. Most Hispanics, like most non-Hispanics, want to read testimonials before patronizing a business. If they read lots of positive reviews about your practice in Spanish, they’re more likely to give you their business. If they find few positive reviews in Spanish or, worse, they read bad reviews about your practice in Spanish, they’re less likely to give you their business.
Google Reviews are important for your practice’s brand reputation as evidenced above, but did you know that they strongly influence the ranking of your Google Business Profile, too?
That’s right: According to Backlino and several other SEO firms, the quantity, average star rating, and velocity of your reviews strongly influence the ranking of your business’ profile.
If you’re trying to get more Hispanic patients, you need to get a steady stream of positive Google Reviews in Spanish. So, how do you do this?
1) Get a Spanish-speaking member of your staff to ask your Hispanic patients if they were satisfied with your service while they’re still in the office. If the patients reply that they were satisfied, have your Spanish-speaking staff member give them a QR code so they can leave a review on their phones while they’re still at your practice. (Make sure that they use their own data plan to leave the review…if they use your WiFi, Google will block the review because it’s coming from your practice’s IP address.)
The easier it is for your Hispanic patients to leave a review and the fresher the idea of leaving a review is in their minds, the more likely it is they’ll take the time to do it. So, don’t hesitate to “put them on the spot”. You can even commemorate the occasion by taking a photo and posting it to social media (with their permission of course).
2) Include a link to leave a review in the footer of your Spanish-language emails. If a Hispanic patient reads the messages in Gmail, they can click the link and leave a review in one step!
3) Send a request for a review through a text messaging app such as rater8 or WhatsApp. According to Statista, more than 90% of foreign-born Hispanics use WhatsApp, more than any other communication app (and oftentimes in lieu of SMS messaging). You can use WhatsApp to stay in touch with your Hispanic patients and ask them for reviews after you’ve provided them service.
If you do happen to get a bad review in Spanish, make sure to respond to it immediately. Make sure to be diplomatic, diffuse the situation, and offer solutions. Sometimes, doing this will convince the patient to remove their bad review.
