To put it bluntly, sentiment analysis is a process of social listening where a company (in this case, a dental practice) will identify and categorize the customers’ or patients’ attitudes to a service or product. In short, for dental marketing strategies, it is a way for a dentist to know how a patient perceives the dental services being delivered.
You might say, “But isn’t this already possible by requesting for reviews and recommendations? Don’t we already have tools that will help us understand how our target market is feeling?” No. The answer is no. Reviews and recommendations are not black-and-white (though some are). There are some ambiguities when it comes to reviews. There are “yes, it’s okay because the services are great, but the receptionist area is kind of a dull.” What does that mean? So, was the patient satisfied or not? What was more important for the patient? Will this patient come back? Are they recommending your dental practice to their network?
There is no way to know this unless the review specifically says so. But for those reviews that linger more on the negative and then mention a few positives about your brand, they will leave customers wondering whether they can trust your dental practice or not.
This is why sentiment analysis matters. They exist in a variety of forms. You don’t always have to ask for a full-on review. You can ask your patients to use emoticons to let their feelings about your services known. They can be happy, sad, bored, hungry, sleepy, or scared. There are other feelings they can associate with your dental practice. But the most important factor is you will know exactly how they feel. You don’t have to read between the lines.
This is not a new concept. You do this all the time by following your hashtags and mentions. You read reviews and recommendations written about your practices. But beginning in 2020, there will be a new obsession to know how your target market feels about a particular product or service. Using sentiment analysis will make it easier for you to create dental marketing strategies.
You can use the data collected from sentiment analysis tools to make better marketing messages. You will gain new knowledge about the way your market thinks and how they make their purchase decisions. This is such a revolutionary way of marketing products and services in the new decade.