Think back to the last laptop or phone you bought. You may have compared specs, prices, and delivery times, but you probably spent just as long reading customer reviews before making your decision.
When it comes to trust, we’re far more likely to trust the experience of a real person than a seller’s product description. The same is true when clients are looking for a care home. That’s why it’s just as important to have authentic social proof as it is to have a great website.
But what is social proof, and how can you turn your clients into advocates for your care home?
The power of influence
Social proof is the idea that when people aren’t sure what to do, they look to others to guide them. In life, it’s about trying to fit in. In marketing, it’s about looking for validation from happy customers before making a decision.
Social proof comes in a few different formats. There’s word of mouth referrals, which you have no direct power over, endorsements and online reviews, which you can ask for, and case studies and testimonials, which you can curate and highlight on your website and social media.
Gathering social proof takes a bit of work. Unfortunately, people are far more likely to leave an unprompted review if they have something to complain about than if they’re delighted with a product or service.
You may well have dozens of happy clients and grateful families, but if you want to use their experience as social proof, don’t just hope that they’ll leave you a spontaneous review. Reach out to ask them for a review or to feature in a case study. Most of the time, people love being asked to share their experience and are excited to take part in case studies.
Keeping reviews fresh and up to date
When people read reviews, they also look at when they were posted. They’re more likely to trust recent reviews than comments that are a few years old – especially as many care homes have high turnover and may not have the same staff as when the review was posted. And even if that’s not the case at your care home, you can’t assume a reader will know that. Not until they’ve seen the same names popping up throughout your reviews, that is.
Make it a standard process to ask happy residents and their families for online reviews. If they post a Google review, reply to their post and thank them for their comments. If you have any neutral or negative feedback, it’s important to publicly respond to the review to apologise and set out what you’ve done to address the issue.
Great reviews don’t just mention your care services and the atmosphere you’ve created in your home, they call out individual members of your team and any time you’ve gone above and beyond for a resident or their family. Asking your team to leave reviews about what it’s like working at your home can be very reassuring for both prospective staff and customers as well.
While you shouldn’t tell people what to write, you can share examples of the best reviews you’ve had to inspire them.
Creating strong, authentic case studies
Video case studies are incredibly powerful. People feel more engaged when they can see a real person and hear them speaking. As they cost more to produce, it’s best to save video testimonials for your very best stories. Think well-rounded stories that highlight lots of great things about your care home, relatable characters who are naturally charismatic, and anything unique or inspiring.
If you have a mix of staff and client case studies, people visiting your website will be able to get a better feel for your home than if you only feature one or the other. This can be really helpful to attract new staff as well as new residents who’ll get on well with the people you already care for.
Another great thing about creating case studies – whether they’re written or filmed – is that you can pull quotes and benefits from them for social posts, flyers, or other marketing materials.
While you can pull quotes from user reviews, a case study will be written or created by a professional copywriter or film crew and shared with the person featured for review. That means you can create slightly more polished versions of their quotes for them to approve. Your pullouts will still be authentic, but the person named in the quote will have had more time to choose their words knowing that they’ll be used to showcase your care home.
On a budget? Ask someone on your team to take high quality videos and photos on their phone. If you can’t stretch to having a professional video on your website, adding a headshot next to a testimonial or a photo of your carers in action is a great way to stand out and feel more relatable. And videos filmed by staff will add authenticity to your social media channels.
So, now that you know about social proof, what are you waiting for? You may be sitting on an untapped goldmine of the most persuasive marketing material out there.
You can find out more about care home marketing here, and as always, drop us a line if you need any help.
