If you search online for hearing aids, hearing care, or hearing loss, then there’s a strong chance that you’ll discover Listen Lively.
Over the past few years, they’ve grown into the most visited hearing-related website on the internet with an average of 34,000 people visiting their website every month from Google.
On top of this, they’re spending an average of $46,000 on Google Advertising (paying Google to run adverts toward you) every single month, attracting a further 14,200 people to their site.
This means that they hold the number one position for all paid traffic for “hearing aids” in the US by spending more than anybody else.
And with $31,000,000 in funding since the start of 2019 – they have a large pot of money to spend on advertising.
They have certainly made a splash in the world of hearing care as one of the first direct-to-consumer companies to advertise so prominently.
What Is Direct-to-Consumer And How Are They Different?
By being direct-to-consumer, it means that they sell hearing aids via their website without the need to visit a hearing care professional.
Instead, you have an online hearing test and then a pair of hearing aids are programmed and mailed to you to self-fit with instructions. You then have a remote team available for phone support if you need any help/assistance.
It’s very different to traditional hearing care where you have your hearing comprehensively tested in a sound booth, your hearing aids professionally programmed, and years of follow-up care, adjustments, cleaning, and support.
But with more and more of our patients asking for our opinions on them, we decided to conduct an experiment.
It May Just Be The Riskiest Experiment That We’ve Ever Run
We asked two of our longstanding and trusted patients – who have 20 years of combined experience as hearing aid wearers – to “mystery shop” Listen Lively.
We asked them to be fair, impartial, and share their brutally honest feedback. They agreed.
- They visited their website for the first time
- They went through the testing process
- They purchased online
- They spoke to the sales team
- They received their hearing aids
- They fitted their hearing aids
- They asked for help when they needed it
- And they checked what happened in situations when a device is lost (and other common situations that occur as a hearing aid wearer).
Best of all, they documented their entire experience on video, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What Was Their Feedback From The Experiment?
The truth is, there were positive experiences and negative experiences.
But rather than try to explain this to you, why don’t I just show you the video that documents their entire experience and summarizes their key lessons?
Go and grab some popcorn and a soda.
Considering A Local Private Practice Or Listen Lively?
If you’re considering whether to work with a local hearing care professional or choose Listen Lively, then you have a decision on your hands.
Although, I believe that I know what the right answer is for you, the truth is – it’s your decision to make.
Listen Lively is certainly a great company with a great leadership and very sophisticated systems, but the key question that you need to ask yourself is what is the most important to you?
If you prefer to avoid face-to-face contact, live a lifestyle that doesn’t pin you to one geographical location, and are happy to work with somebody remotely, then Listen Lively may be the ideal option for you.
But alternatively, if you want to successfully tackle a long-term health challenge by working hands-on with a local expert, and you understand that achieving better hearing requires much more than just a hearing aid, then working with a local professional would be best suited for you.
Whichever option you choose, I’m personally delighted that you’re taking a step toward better hearing and not adding to the growing number of people that are needlessly living with an untreated hearing loss.
It’s just important that you understand all the details before making the right decision for you, and I sincerely hope that this experiment and video has helped.
